Five New Year cleaning jobs to make your home sparkle
23 January 2019January is the perfect time to sort through those over-stuffed drawers, deep clean that greasy oven and vacuum under the sofa. Whether you’ve only been living in your new home for a few weeks or a few years, the New Year is the time to get organised. Start as you mean to go on! Devonshire Homes reveals five top cleaning tips to help you get started:
1. De-clutter your wardrobe
Make some room for the new clothes you’ll be purchasing in 2019 by de-cluttering your wardrobe. Finding it hard to part with that sparkly sequin dress or that cosy jumper that’s ten years old? Give the backwards hanger trick a go. Take every piece of clothing out of your wardrobe and then put them all back with the hangers facing the wrong way around. Over the next few months, every time you wear an item of clothing and you go to hang it back up in your wardrobe, hang it the right way around. Come early summer, any items of clothing that are still facing the wrong way around can be donated. If you haven’t worn it by then, chances are that you won’t miss it!
2. Deep clean your oven and kitchen sink
Grab your kitchen gloves as it’s time to give that greasy oven and dirty sink a good clean. Both your oven and sink will likely be covered in grease and oil after the Christmas festivities so now is the time to start anew and give them both a deep clean. There are some great oven cleaning kits available to buy which feature step-by-step instructions. For the sink, a simple solution of baking soda and warm water will do the trick, finished with your favourite stainless steel cleaner. Battling with a blocked drain? Pour some boiling hot water down your drain followed by half a cup of baking soda. Leave this to sit for a few minutes and then pour one cup of vinegar and one more cup of hot water down there. Leave this for 5-10 minutes and then flush through once more with some boiling water*.
3. Give your fridge some TLC
January is often the month when we’re much more aware of what we are eating and drinking. Start the New Year off with a clean, gleaming fridge. Take out everything in your fridge and put it all on your kitchen worktop. Give your fridge a good wipe down and put the items back in. Look at the use-by dates as you go and anything that has expired can go in your food waste bin or compost heap.
4. Deep clean the guest room
It’s likely that you won’t be welcoming many guests into your home throughout January so now is the perfect time to clean the spare room while it’s not in use. Tasks can include flipping the mattress and changing the sheets, dust hard to reach places, clean the windows and give the whole room a good vacuum. Once you’ve completed your deep clean, your guest room will be ready to welcome the first guests of 2019.
5. Don’t forget your sofas
The festive celebrations may feel like a long time ago, but is it likely that there are still crumbs from all that party food still lurking? Now is the perfect time to think about those forgotten places such as underneath the sofas and even the sofa itself! Take off all the sofa cushions and give it a good vacuum, this will help reinvigorate the pile of a material sofa.
Looking for a new home in Devon? Devonshire Homes currently has a range of homes available across its four sites: Ladywell Meadows, Chulmleigh; Tarka View, Crediton; Mazzard View, Landkey and The Tors, Bovey Tracey. For more information, visit our ‘Current Developments’ page on our website.