Small Tricks for Cleaning Your Home After Finishing The Renovations
The sight of a newly remodeled kitchen or living room can be a very pleasant view. However, the dust and debris left behind for you to clean will cut down your enthusiasm.
Cleaning after renovations can be a challenging affair. In this piece, we are hoping to help in your task of cleaning up all the rubble.
Keep in mind that if you have undergone a major renovation where most of your furniture and other installations had been moved out, then you can probably skip a few of these tips.
photo/ StockSnap
Putting Things in Order
Before moving to the cleaning, the first thing you need to do is to collect and put away all the leftover construction materials and tools. These can include leftover tiles, mortar, paint cans, and construction tools.
Make sure to put these away in order and in a way that will help you find them later if needed. Also be sure to collect and store away all the paperwork, receipts as well as warranties, fixture manuals etc.
Window & Vents
The first order of business you will need to attend to is to get rid of those annoying dust particles floating around the house. An easy and effective way to get rid of these dust particles is to open the windows and place a fan blowing out.
Though this takes time, it’s imperative for you to remain patient as the place will purify itself soon enough and you can move on with your cleaning task.
Once most of the dust has gone outside, move onto the vents. Unscrew them and clean with warm water. Be sure to check the air filter as well and if painting work was done, the painters may or may not have removed the air filter.
If they had removed it, put it back in as furnace can get damaged without a filter. In case the painters had forgotten to remove it, then consider getting a new one.
The Floor
Cleaning the floor will require a combination of vacuuming and then sweeping with a wet mop. Just make sure you don’t sweep the floor at first as this will result in the dirt and dust getting scattered across the room.
Using a vacuum cleaner with a filter of high efficiency would be the most effective in picking up even the smallest bit of dirt. Simply going over an area once won’t be enough; be sure to go over an area multiple times. If the floors are carpeted, repeated the same process with the vacuum. For wooden or tiled floors, follow up the vacuuming with a quick mopping.
Cleaning Concrete Floors
Concrete Floors are a completely different entity from wooden or tiled floors. These are the most difficult type of floors to clean after a renovation.
Add to this the nature of roughly textured concrete floors and it becomes even more difficult to clean. In such cases, you will need vacuums that can provide additional power to draw dust from even the deepest crevices. There are special models for concrete floors so be sure to get a vacuum that will help in your task.
Removing the Stains
The final bit of cleaning task you will be left with are the stains that you will find both on the floors as well as on the walls. Soda water can be used to clean stains, just take a cloth, dip it in soda water and rub it on the floor until the stain disappears.
In case the leftover stain is due to paint or enamel, try using nail polish remover to get the job done. Stain removers such as TSP (trisodium phosphate) can be used to remove other stains such as cement or glue stains.
Walls & Ceilings
If your walls had just been painted, then just stick to dusting them. In the case that the walls are covered with wallpaper or other sensitive materials, then consider vacuuming them.
High places can be reached with the help of brush attachments. In normal cases, i.e. if the walls have old paint on or no paint on them, then you can use the services of a wet mop to clean these places. While using the mop be sure to squeeze the mop properly before and after cleaning.
Furniture and Electrical Appliances
For cleaning up of your sofa or other similar pieces of furniture, employ the help of a wet cloth dipped in a mixture of water and detergent. As in the case of a mop, make sure the cloth you are using is not dripping wet which would effectively carry dirt from one room to another.
Electrical appliances are also safe to clean with mildly wet cloths, just make sure you have your printer plugged in while cleaning it. Vacuum cleaners can also be used to clean dust of upholstered furniture. One part of the house that most people forget to clean are the lighting fixtures; unless you have installed new ones, be sure to clean them.
Remember
Some of the hard steps will be relatively easier if you are willing to put in work when the renovation is happening. Keeping dirt out of the house during the time of renovation by cleaning dust and debris each day will help avoid the accumulation of the same.
Author: Steven Boucher
Steven Boucher is a writer, DIY enthusiast and home improvement lover. He is a real fan of innovations and creative ideas.
