Easy Cleaning Methods for Hard to Reach Places

How to Clean Hard to Reach Places

Cleaning is a chore few people look forward to. It can be very tedious and requires a lot of time and effort. Worst of all, most of the time you are only cleaning the easy to reach areas that everyone can see.

It is easier to be like an ostrich burying its head in the sand and pretending those areas do not exist. Being out of sight makes them simple to keep out of mind. Sadly, the reality is that they exist and they get dirty. If you do not clean them regularly, grime builds up that makes the job twice as hard as it should be.

Here is some advice on how to clean hard to reach places in your house where dust and dirt are lurking.

Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans

Getting up to reach your light fixtures and ceiling fans each week is not ideal. However, you should dust them every few weeks. You can secure a microfiber cloth onto a mop or broom handle with an elastic band. A feather duster will work as well, but the downside is that it dislodges dust and does not capture it like a microfiber cloth.

Every six months or so, take glass light fixtures down. If they are small enough, you can put them into your dishwasher and clean them. At the same time, you can get some help to remove the blades of a ceiling fan and wash them. While using a ladder, make sure you get someone to brace the ladder to prevent a fall.

High Shelves and Cupboard Tops

Dust accumulates quickly in hard to reach areas. Few people pay too much attention to the tops of cabinets and cupboards. If you do not clean them frequently, the dirt buildup will become hard to clean.

Buy a disposable duster with an extendable handle to allow you to reach up high. Choose one that has a pivoting head so that you can maneuver it to flatten across the surfaces. Every couple of months, you should get onto a stepladder and examine the surfaces.

You might have missed a few spots while dusting. For a severe grime buildup, use a sponge and warm water containing a little household ammonia. Rinse the area with a clean cloth, then dry it.

Aluminum Tracks

The tracks on which glass doors, windows and shower doors slide on are easily overlooked and get dirty quickly. When they are exposed to water, there can also be a buildup of mold. They are tricky to reach as you are often working in a confined space.

Use one of your vacuum cleaner fittings to clean up most of the dirt each week. Tackle your shower door every couple of weeks. Use warm water with household ammonia. Use a cloth or small scrubbing brush to get into all the nooks and crannies.

You can also use a solution of water and vinegar to get rid of any soap scum. When you are spring cleaning, it is a good idea to remove screens that make cleaning the tracks difficult so that you can give the rails a good cleaning.

Behind and Under Appliances

Most big appliances are hard to move. However, they accumulate dirt beneath and behind them, which needs to be cleaned. Think, for example, about your fridge. It might not be a fixed appliance, but you are hardly likely to be moving it around every week to clean underneath it.

Use a microfiber mop with a flat head to reach underneath appliances while you are mopping the floors. You will need to get down to the floor to get the mop to go right under the appliance. Every few months, you should try to move your fridge and oven to clean behind them.

Use water and household ammonia to clean the tiles on the floor and walls. Clean the back of the appliances using a brush and vacuum cleaner to remove the dust. Use a damp cloth to clean grids and fans.

There may be grime buildup on the back of your oven. The best way to clean it up is to use a stronger concentration of ammonia in the water.

Corners

Not even the best cleaning supplies and equipment can reach into all the corners of your ceilings, floors and shelves. It is also hard to reach between the buttons on a keyboard or the grouting on tiles. Another example is reaching the confined areas of your Venetian blinds, like where they attach to the cord.

Never get rid of old toothbrushes. They are amazingly helpful if you dip them in water and ammonia and scrub in those hard to reach areas. To get between keys and buttons, use a Q-tip. Dip it in your cleaning solution and run it across the surface to collect all the dirt and dust.

In Conclusion

Those hard to reach areas in your home should not become a weekly obsession, or else you will spend your whole life cleaning. Of course, if you leave them too long, you will have a mammoth task getting them clean. Include measures to keep them clean into your weekly routine. Make sure you are very thorough with these areas when you do your big clean, which most people do every six months or so.