Winter Home Cleaning Guide: Tips for Cleaning Your Home During Winter

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Keeping your home clean is the key to living a happy and healthy life, and this guide will help you solve unique home care challenges you might face during the winter season. Winter brings special challenges that can complicate your ability to keep your home in top shape for all those holiday gatherings. Snow, slush, salt, and increased mold growth can make your home feel less welcoming and can damage your surfaces. This guide offers practical tips and solutions for keeping your home cozy and clean this winter.

1. Clean Up All the Dust in Your Home

Winter can be a challenging time when it comes to dust. Throughout the winter, we keep our doors and windows closed. This means less ventilation, which can cause dust, and the allergens that come with it, to accumulate. With allergens and irritants locked inside, those with allergies can find themselves with issues.

Dust means that indoor air quality tends to be lower during the winter months. Dust on heaters can burn or create an irritating smell, but you also need to concentrate on reducing the overall load of dust in your home for optimal comfort and health. Regular dusting reduces the concentration of airborne pollutants and creates a healthier indoor living space.

Some areas that you might want to give special attention include:

• Baseboards and trims
• Tops of appliances and furniture
• Tops of doors and windows
• Window sills
• Behind furniture
• Crown moldings
• Fans

2. Cleaning Your Furnace, Vent Covers, and Air Ducts

Speaking of dust, you might not know that it can affect the efficiency of your heating system. Dust that accumulates inside the ductwork during the off-season gets circulated throughout your home during the winter. One thing you can do is to have your ducts professionally cleaned before the heating season begins.

You can also do a few winter cleaning tasks to help between professional visits. You should also replace the filters regularly so that air can pass through them easily. This will help dust from building up and circulating through your home. You can vacuum vent covers and the openings of the ducts, but only a professional can give them the thorough cleaning that they need before the heating season. Keeping your heating system in good repair can also help reduce allergens and irritants in the home.

3. Protecting Your Home from Winter Salt Damage

When salt is used on sidewalks, roads, and driveways to help prevent ice, you can pick it up with your shoes and track it indoors. Similarly, walking through slush can also bring in road salt. This can cause damage and discoloration to flooring, including hardwood surfaces. This damage can be especially pronounced near doorways that lead in directly to the indoors. Tracked-in moisture and salt can also damage carpet, leading to stains, odors, and discoloration over time.

Salt is corrosive and can destroy the finish of some flooring. To avoid this, you should mop your hardwood floors regularly to remove salt residues. You can also use protective coatings, such as a sealant or floor wax to create a protective barrier over your flooring. You should clean and dry any carpeted areas by the doors promptly to prevent salt damage. Placing a rug that can be easily cleaned by the door also helps protect the flooring and carpet. You could also use snow cleaning and de-icing alternatives, like sand or clay kitty litter, that are less harmful to the flooring.

4. Keeping Winter Slush and Mud at Bay

Slush and mud can be tracked indoors. This can cause stains and make flooring surfaces slippery. Cleaning your shoes before coming inside can help prevent this. You can also use a shoe rack, tray, or mat near doorways to help keep floors clean. Another winter cleaning tip is to keep a broom, mop, rags, or a squeegee by the door so that you can clean up messes immediately instead of forgetting to do it later. Cleaning the paws of your pets can also help keep this area clean.

5. Reduce Mold Growth from Damp Conditions

Most people think of mold growth as a summer problem, especially in northern climates. Even though it is cold, tracking in snow can create damp conditions and allow mold to grow. This can begin in as little as 24-48 hours after the area becomes damp. A combination of moisture, organic material, and the warmth of your home creates the perfect environment for mold growth.

Preventing mold growth means cleaning up any wet spots as soon as they happen. Preventing snow melt from entering your home by using weather stripping around doors and windows. You should also make sure they close properly in the winter. Using mats and cleaning your shoes will also help prevent snow and ice from entering the home and causing damp spots.

6. Mats, Mats, and More Mats

Mats are the first line of defence to battle snow, slush, mud, and dirt. They are easy to clean, and absorbent mats can handle wet and snowy conditions. Mats can protect flooring, reduce the area needing to be cleaned, and prevent slipping hazards. You should place mats inside and outside of every entry point. You can also add mats to high-traffic areas, such as hallways, inside the garage, porches, and sunrooms. Make sure to choose mats that are durable and that make winter cleaning easy.

Luxoclean Can Make Your Winter Cleaning Simple

Winter poses special challenges when it comes to keeping your home clean and healthy. Regular snow cleaning during the winter months can help prevent allergies, prevent damage to surfaces, make your furnace operate more efficiently, and make it look and smell fresh. Winter cleaning is also a chore, and that is why Luxoclean offers cleaning services for houses, apartments, condos, and offices throughout the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph areas.