Welcome to our Spring Spruce Up series! The B&B Agents have put together a bunch of great how-to posts to get you inspired while you’re spending all this extra time at home.
We know you’re busy and struggling to adjust to all of this, so please don’t feel pressured to do all of these projects, but we also know that sometimes just accomplishing one small task a day can help you feel good, stay motivated, and have some control in an uncharted time.
Most of these projects can be done in an hour or so, while the kids are playing outside or doing school work on the iPad. We’ll save the bigger ones for the weekends.
All of them will help make your space feel bigger, fresher, brighter, and you’ll be happier to spend a bit of extra time in them.
Cara’s Adventure: 1 Hour to a Laundry Room that Sparkles!
It’s no surprise that the laundry room gets dirty – it’s the central cleaning station for your home! However, compared to the bathroom or the kitchen, we often neglect the laundry room during our house cleaning regimen.
We’re usually more focused on washing the dirty clothes that pile up inside the laundry room than on cleaning the laundry room itself. Plus, it’s not a highly frequented part of the house, so it’s easy to just toss things inside and close the door, with the good intention of attending to it later.
Before:
If your laundry room doubles as a utility room and an overflow storage room like mine does, stuff quickly accumulates!
Still, every so often your laundry room needs some cleaning love! Every month or two, a deep clean will keep your space organized, clean and free from funky washing machine odors!
Follow this checklist to make your laundry room sparkle again:
- Put away clothes and other clutter that has accumulated.
- Organize detergents and cleaning supplies. Toss anything that is old or unused (think dried out sponges)
- Wipe down the washer and dryer
- If your washer is front-loading, wipe down the rubber gaskets on the inside of the washer door.
- Remove and clean the washer detergent tray.
- Empty the dryer’s lint trap. Vacuum the lint trap and any debris from it’s slot.
- Scrub and rinse the utility sink
- Remove the trash and insert a new trash liner. If needed, wipe down the trash can.
- Vacuum and mop floors
After:
Pro Tip #1: Add one half cup of distilled white vinegar along with your laundry detergent to whiten your whites, brighten your colors, eliminate odors and soften your laundry naturally, without using commercial fabric softeners that are bad for the environment.
Pro Tip#2: Every couple of months, fill each of the detergent and fabric softener dispensers with distilled white vinegar and run a complete wash cycle with hot water and no clothes, remove soap scum and dissolve any built up mineral deposits.
Amy Tackles the Laundry Room
The laundry area is another often over-looked cleaning task. It’s dusty and gets be full of sticky detergent drips plus who knows what else. Today I spent about 20 minutes cleaning the washer and dryer and the surrounding area before I started laundry. My first load was the towels and washcloths I’d use to clean the area up.
I started with a quick vacuum to get the first round of dust up. Then wiped everything down with some spray cleaner and a cloth. I found all kinds of gross build up, even inside the washer where it’s supposed to get clean every time you use it!
I pulled out this little filter that says I should do so every two months…I’m pretty sure I’ve only done this one other time. A bunch of stinky water and chunks came out. Ew. I cleaned all that up and reassembled.
My regular vacuum hose did a good job on the outside areas but wouldn’t fit down the slot.
I used the car attachments for the vacuum we had in the garage to get inside there.
I was actually SHOCKED at how much lint was down there, enough to clog the tip of the vacuum several times! I am sure our dryer will work much more efficiently!
Lastly, I emptied the cabinet above, vacuumed it out and wiped down the shelves. It was also pretty dusty and sticky in there!
Taadaa! Now it’s nice and clean and ready to get our dirty stuff clean and dried. I feel accomplished and a bit less gross about doing laundry in the basement. In my next house: upstairs laundry for sure!
Thanks for following along! Please share your tips and tricks, or show us the yucky stuff you find on your
Spring Spruce up!