What Should Be On Your Winter Cleaning Checklist

If you haven’t done Winter cleaning, like other seasonal cleanings, then you may be interested in finding out what should be on your checklist. Today I’m sharing what I personally do for my Winter cleaning.

I also explain the importance of doing Winter cleaning and point you to some helpful articles I already have on deep cleaning certain rooms and items in the house. I also give recommendations on when to start your Winter cleaning.

If you’re ready to find out what needs to be on your Winter cleaning checklist, read on.

Why To Do Winter Cleaning

I’ll typically do deep cleaning of my kitchen and bathrooms once a month. However, I firmly believe in doing a seasonal cleaning at the beginning of each season.

While Spring and Fall cleaning typically is a little more intensive than Winter or Summer cleaning Winter focuses more on organization and decluttering. With the house closed up and more time spent indoors it’s the perfect time to weed out the things you don’t use.

Doing a whole house winter deep clean helps to cut down on dust too. In the Winter the dust really has nowhere to go so it settles, gets kicked up, and resettles. Deep cleaning helps to reduce the amount of dust in your home.

Since the house is locked up tight in the Winter cleaning helps to make sure that your indoor air stays clean. Since you’ll likely be cleaning a bunch of surfaces, furniture, and appliances, you’ll help to stop the spread of germs.

Finally, as it gets cold outside rodents and small disgusting creatures like to make their way into the home. Doing a big deep cleaning gets rid of crumbs and other things that tiny creatures will be in search of.

Midsection of woman carrying basket of cleaning supplies at home

When To Do Winter Cleaning

Unlike with most seasonal cleaning where I say to clean throughout the entire season winter cleaning should wait until after the holidays. The holidays are hectic enough on their own without adding the stress of a major deep cleaning to your schedule.

If you are hosting Christmas, do your normal event cleaning beforehand and make sure to give yourself a couple of days to relax afterwards. Then you can start the winter cleaning projects.

This also gives you the ability to take an inventory of your Christmas decorations and what needs to be replaced after the season. You can organize and declutter your Christmas decorations while it’s all out and readily available.

What To Do For Winter Cleaning

Below are the tasks I do for my own Winter cleaning. Add them to your own, or use them to help build your own Winter cleaning list.

Clean Your Appliances

When you are cleaning all of your appliances make sure you also disinfect the outsides of your appliances. Stop germs, keep food fresher, and your family healthy by making sure all of your appliances are spotless.

Make sure you include cleaning your garbage cans and cleaning out your pantry too. Disinfect handles and door pulls as well to help stop the spread of germs in your home.

Clean Your Furniture

Start the new year off with clean and fresh furniture. Get some furniture cleaner and a soft bristle brush to get your furniture clean and smelling great.

If you have kids and pets in the house like I do cleaning your furniture every few months is important in order to keep your home fresh. So scrub down all your furniture and get it spotless and clean.

Clean Your Rugs

This is a great time to use a carpet cleaner on your rugs and get them clean. It will help to get rid of dust and allergens stuck in your carpet that normal cleanings may not catch. It’s also a great way to keep your carpets looking like new so they last longer.

You may need to take large rugs to cleaners to get them clean but in some cases you may be able to wash them by hand in your own home.

Dust Your Blinds And Wash Your Curtains

Get rid of any leftover dust and allergens stuck in your blinds and curtains from when you had your windows open for nice weather. I detail how to clean different types of blinds in this post here.

Most curtains can be washed in a gentle cold cycle in your washing machine, however, check your curtain tags for care instructions.

Getting rid of dust and allergens on your curtains and blinds help to make your whole house look cleaner. There is less of a chance of stains from dust getting wet and sticking tightly to fabric or blinds.

Declutter Your Holiday Decorations

Since you will already have all of your holiday decorations out you should take time to go through all of them. Get rid of anything that’s broken and can’t be fixed or things that don’t fit your holiday decor.

This is also a great way to figure out what you will need to replace and get it at a discounted price if you wait till after the holidays to do your Winter cleaning.

Deep Clean Your Bathrooms

Get your bathroom thoroughly deep cleaned so that you can get rid of all those hidden germs in corners and dark spaces. Use this time to organize and declutter any expired beauty products that you have too.

Deep Clean Your Bedrooms

You’ll also want to deep clean your bedroom to get rid of dust and allergens that may be stuck in your bedding or mattress. You’ll want to move your furniture around and clean under your bed, nightstands, and dresser too.

I detail my own bedroom deep cleaning routine in this post here.

Winter Cleaning Checklist

Seasonal cleaning helps you keep your home looking cleaner throughout the entire season. Winter cleaning helps you to avoid extra dust, musty smells, and germs in your home.

Winter cleaning is highly focused on decluttering, organizing, and getting rid of allergens that might still be floating around in your house from the warm season. You are also likely to have more time to complete the deep cleaning because of how Winter likely keeps us inside more.

What types of chores are you planning on adding to your Winter cleaning checklist? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite cleaning tips boards.

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