March into a clean home
FIRST THINGS FIRST
- Clean outdoor patio/ deck
- Check that all outdoor plumbing is working properly
- Clean refrigerator coils
- Clean your garbage disposal
- Clean/ replace window treatments
IT’S TIME TO GET OUTDOORS
March in Texas means that we are welcoming the start of Spring! Spring Break is this week so it is the perfect time to spend time outdoors, where we will start our maintenance list! Start by cleaning your patio or deck, replace any outdoor lighting that is no longer working as intended, clean cobwebs, and if your budget allows replace any furniture that needs some sprucing up!
While you are outside go ahead and remove your water spigot covers and verify the flow looks normal when you turn the water on. If is sprays wild, you may have a broken pipe, if not go ahead and put on your hose for the season!
Moving indoors, our first item is to vacuum your refrigerator coils. Dust, grease, and dirt get stuck to the coils behind your refrigerator and it makes your appliance ineffective at best… and dangerous at worst. The best way to clean the appliance is to use a vacuum, but make sure you unplug the unit first! If you don’t have a surge protector on this outlet you may consider it. The last thing you want is a dead refrigerator after a lighting storm…. The next kitchen appliance we are going to clean is your garbage disposal. stat by sprinkling a half-cup of baking soda into the opening of the garbage disposal, and then pour in a cup of white vinegar and allow it to sit. After 10 minutes, turn on the garbage disposal and allow hot water to rinse away the baking soda mixture. As an alternative to baking soda and vinegar, use chopped citrus peels.
I saved the worst, at least in my house for last. We are going to clean the blinds…. With two dogs we have dog hair that gets stuck to our window treatments and it is a PAIN IN THE BUTT to clean so I do not do it as often as I should. I use the attachments on our vacuum to start and then I use a duster on a second pass to clean further. Let me know if you have any tips or tricks of your own, I’ll add them to my list!
Time to get to work!
