by Shawn Olson

Created on: February 06, 2011

Clean a Room like a Professional

Clean like a professional in 6 simple steps. The following 6-step cleaning instructions are for living areas, such as your family rooms, bedrooms, and other “dry” rooms.  

Professional Tools. Get your professional tools together to clean your room. These include a damp rag for dusting, a feather duster for dusting detailed items, furniture oil (optional, depending on taste and/or manufacturer’s care instructions), a high duster for the ceilings and light fixtures, a vacuum with a hepa-filter and it’s various attachments,  glass cleaner and cotton rag, and a mop. 

One-second pick up. This rule is a vital first step. Take only one minute to pick up stuff that doesn’t belong: clutter, shoes, papers, etc. If the room is very cluttered and overwhelming, you can accomplish this task quickly by throwing everything quickly into containers. Put these items away later; your task at hand is to clean the room, and it won’t get clean if you get lost in the details of putting things away. 

Dusting. Grab your high duster and start dusting the parts of your room that are out of reach; such as tops of windows, doors, lights, and ceilings. Next, get your feather duster and damp rag out to dust everything else. Start in one corner of the room and work clockwise until you have completed the outside of the room, and then dust in the center.  Hand-dust all flat surfaces and furniture with a damp rag, picking up items as you go. Keep your rag damp with a spray bottle filled with wood cleaner or water. Use your feather duster on items that are difficult to rag dust, such as lamps, detailed knick-knacks, frames, books, etc.  Always damp dust your woodwork to clean dust and fingerprints; especially your baseboards. 

Clean the Glass.  As you are dusting the room, grab your glass cleaner and a cotton rag to clean glass tables, mirrors and picture frames. As needed, touch up fingerprints on inside windows. Wash both the inside and the outside of sliding glass doors each time the room is cleaned. 

Floors.  Vacuum your floors. In carpeted rooms, move the head slowly, back and forth twice, over each spot. This slow movement and repetition helps to get sand and dirt out of the fibers and pad of your carpeting, which will help it last longer. It is a good investment to buy a professional vacuum with strong suction. A hepa filtered vacuum also keeps the dust in the bag, instead of blowing out all over your newly dusted room.  Light chairs, ottomans and other light items should be moved and vacuumed under. You don’t need to edge your rooms every time you clean them, but you need to do it regularly; such as every other month. Even though you can’t see the dust, it will gather along the edges and build up, because your beater-bar vacuum head will not get the edges.  If your room has hard floors, damp-mop them now with a wood or floor chemical.

Finishing Touches. Finishing touches are the last step to a clean room. Place rugs back where they belong, straighten items that you moved while cleaning, fold blankets, straighten pillows, close doors and turn out the lights.  

A house of order and cleanliness is a peaceful place to come home to. Enjoy your clean home!

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