It's Autumn. Shorter days, crisp mornings signal winter's approach. As leaves start to fly, revisit your spring cleaning list and add a few seasonal extras to prepare your home for the winter. Our Fall Cleaning Chore Checklist will help you prepare your home for the coming of winter:
Inside Your Home:
- Wash all windows. Use glass cleaner, or one squirt of dishwashing liquid 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 dusty canvas, cotton, and treated fabric blinds. Use a low setting with a brush attachment. Vinyl shades can be wiped down with a dampened microfiber cloth if they need a little more attention.
- Clean ceiling-mounted light fixtures.
- Vacuum and spot-clean upholstered furniture and cushions. Deep-clean if necessary. Move furniture and vacuum beneath and behind it.
- Wipe down the kitchen cabinets. Empty them, wash them down, replace liners (if you use them), declutter, and reorganize for holiday cooking.
- Dust off the refrigerator condenser coil. Use your vacuum’s brush attachment and gently vacuum it. For bottom-mounted coils, use a long, narrow brush to clean coils of dust and debris.
- Get the carpets cleaned. Have carpets professionally cleaned if needed. Warm October afternoons speed carpet drying. Carpet cleaning firms begin to get busy by the end of October, so schedule now for best service.
- Spruce up your computer. Dust the CPU, clean and wipe down the keyboard, and dust off the monitor with a microfiber cloth.
- Straighten the closets. Declutter, reorganize and get your winter clothes ready to wear.
- Clean from top to bottom. Vacuum drapes and window treatments. Clean window sills and window wells. Vacuum baseboards and corners.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. It’s always a great time to replace batteries when the time change happens.
- Replace the furnace filter. If you haven’t changed your furnace filter within the past three months, do so now.
- Sweep the chimneys & clean the dryer vent. Have the wood-burning fireplace and chimneys professionally inspected and swept. The same company can typically do the dryer vent too.
- Declutter and clean out the attic.
- Turn mattresses front-to-back and end-to-end to equalize wear.
Outside Your Home
- Check weather stripping and caulking around doors and windows. Repair or replace as needed.
- Check and clean the gutters. Check periodically for debris as the leaves fall from trees.
- Clean the patio furniture, umbrellas, children's summer toys and store them away for next year.
- Drain and store garden hoses and install insulating covers on exterior spigots. These cover can be found at Home Depot and Lowe’s and are very inexpensive.
- Check the exterior paint on your home, railings and decks. Touch up as needed and remember to prime the wood first.
- Inspect external doors, windows and garage doors. Do they close tightly? Check weather-stripping, caulking and door thresholds. Repair or replace if needed.
- Wash exterior windows.
