Your Fall Cleaning Checklist:

What to Tackle in October

As the leaves begin to fall, the change of seasons is a great time to tackle big cleaning tasks to prepare your house for the winter.
Read below for what you should do make sure both the inside and outside of your house is in good shape once the weather gets unpleasant!

Inside Your House

Windows: Use All-Purpose Cleaner, or add a bit of One Soap in a spray bottle filled with water, and wipe down with a microfiber cloth. Pick a cloudy day so you can better see any streaks.
Vacuum: All those spots you’ve been neglecting. Yes, we mean take off your couch cushions and get right in there. Vacuum your drapes, vinyl shades, light fixtures, too. Spray your drapes with Wrinkle-B-Gone for that crisp, clean, wrinkle-free look.
Closets: Go through all your clothes and donate whatever you can. While homeless shelters see donations spike during the holidays, they are in need of items year-round. Donate what you can before it gets cold, and be sure to make sure it's washed well (with Laundry Soda, of course)!
Heat Sources: Replace your furnace filter, especially if you haven’t changed your furnace filter within the past three months. Sweep your chimney. Have a wood-burning fireplace? With chilly weather coming in, it’s a good time to have it professionally inspected and swept, before you start using it more frequently.
 

Outside Your House

Weather Stripping: Check your weather stripping and caulking around your doors and windows, so you don’t lose any precious heat. It’ll be much easier to do it now, rather than when it’s freezing and you’re working with an open window!
Gutters: This is a great time to check your gutters and make sure they’re ready for the upcoming weather changes. Don’t forget your downspouts!
Patio Furniture: Time to store away your patio cushions! Don’t forget to give everything a good wipe down – it’ll make your life easier when spring rolls around.
Did we miss anything in our Fall Cleaning Checklist? Tell us in the comments!

The sun is out, the weather is great, and the kids are at home. Believe it or not, but August is the perfect time to get ready for the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Take advantage of the weather and with the extra hands around the house, and deep clean now to welcome fall and back-to-school (even better). We’ve got an easy to-do list for you, tackling everything from inside to outside and the tools and products you’ll need. Happy cleaning!

INSIDE

• Focus on your home's ‘public’ rooms first: the living room, family room, entryway, guest bathroom, etc.
• Clean from the ceilings down to the floors. Begin by vacuuming the drapes and window treatments, followed by cleaning window sills and window wells. Vacuum baseboards and corners.
• Vacuum upholstered furniture. To get rid of any stains, use the Nellie’s All-Natural WOW Stick, or take to the dry cleaners if necessary.
• Wash interior windows.
• Clean the walls: dust, wash, rinse, and dry any painted or wood-paneled walls with a mix of warm water and Nellie's All-Natural One Soap in Fragrance Free.
• Turn mattresses front-to-back and end-to-end to ensure equal wear.
• Launder all bedding: mattress pads, pillows, duvets, blankets, and comforters, making sure you can tuck the family into warm and cozy beds. Don’t know how to tackle this? Don’t worry, we’ve got some how-to’s for your mattress, pillows, and duvets.
• Straighten out your closets – declutter, reorganize, and switch to your transitional summer-autumn wardrobe.
• Prepare the kitchen for more nights inside: clean and organize kitchen cabinets, paying extra attention to baking supplies, pans, and equipment. Give your cabinets a wipe down with the All Purpose Cleaner.
• Clean kitchen counters of all appliances that you have not been recently used. Clean counters look cleaner, and provide more room for cutting, chopping, and prepping.
• If you can, pull the refrigerator away from the wall and vacuum the condenser coils. For bottom-mounted coils, use a long, narrow brush to clean coils of dust and debris.
• Spruce up the computer: dust the CPU, clean and wipe down the keyboard, and dust off the monitor with a microfibre cloth.
• Check the dryer exhaust tube and vent for built-up lint, debris, or even birds’ nests! Additionally, make sure that the exterior vent door closes tightly when not in use.
• Schedule a fall inspection for your furnace – don’t wait for the first cold night!
• Drain any sediment from your hot water heaters.

OUTSIDE

• Clean the patio furniture and get ready to store it away along with umbrellas and the kids’ summer toys.
• Touch up the paint on your home’s trims, railings, and decks. Use a wire brush to remove any flaking paint (be sure the prime bare wood first).
• Check caulk around the windows and doors, re-caulk if necessary.
• Inspect external doors and garage doors. Do they close tightly? Fix them now with weather-stripping and door thresholds if needed to make sure you’re not dealing with a draft in a few months.
• Wash exterior windows with a mix of warm water and One Soap in Fragrance Free.
• Drain and store garden hoses.
• Check gutters and downspouts. Clear of debris if necessary.