A 30 Day Cleaning Challenge
Don’t you just love a challenge?
The new year always inspires me to challenge myself, but now I’m going to challenge you. What is my challenge exactly? I want you to complete this list of cleaning chores by the end of 30 days. Do one challenge each day and stick to it. At the end of the 30 days, your home will be sparkling clean. No more excuses! Let’s get started!
♦ Day one: Grab all of the clothes in all of your closets and drawers. Place them in piles on the living room floor (the best way to do this is by owner of the clothing.) Now sort them into even smaller piles: to keep, to put in storage, to give to charity. Don’t stop until all of the clothes are sorted and put back away.
♦ Day two: Clean the baseboards. Start by using the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner and vacuum off hair, dust, and dirt. Then, spray an all purpose cleaner on your baseboards and scrub them clean. Rub a dryer sheet over them for an extra finishing touch.
♦ Day three: Clean the windows/ window sills
♦ Day four: Clean out the kitchen cupboards. Organize, determine what you need to give away or throw away. Empty them out and scrub with an all-purpose cleaner.
♦ Day five: Clean out the refrigerator. Once everything is out and old things are tossed, give your fridge a really good scrubbing.
♦ Day six: Clean your dressers. You’ve already sorted out your clothes, so all you need to do is just dust and clean out each drawer. Throw in a sachet of potpourri to give it that extra feeling of clean.
♦ Day seven: Organize DVDs, CDs, books, and magazines
♦ Day eight: Wash the walls with a bucket of hot water and a small amount of cleaning solution. (Check what type of paint is on the walls to prevent chipping or fading!)
♦ Day nine: Wipe down every appliance. Again, make sure the cleaning solution you’re using won’t ruin the appliance. Remember to never wash the front of the TV!
♦ Day ten: Sort through your bills/ mail/ papers. Do yourself a favor and register to take yourself off the junk mail list here: http://bit.ly/qo9lzE . It will save you money, time, and space. Not to mention it’s a huge green initiative!
♦ Day eleven: Sort through all of your kids’ toys.
♦ Day twelve: Clean underneath the couches and between the cushions.
♦ Day thirteen: Organize the bathroom cabinets and clean out with a warm rag and an all-purpose cleaning solution.
♦ Day fourteen: Organize the pantry. Buy new clear containers for cereals, rices, beans, etc. Wipe down with an all-purpose cleaning solution.
♦ Day fifteen: Clean bedroom closets. Vacuum, organize clothes by color, occasion, etc.
♦ Day sixteen: Dust all the lamps in your home.
♦ Day seventeen: Dust all the ceiling fans in your home.
♦ Day eighteen: Clean the oven.
♦ Day nineteen: Clean the washer/ dryer.
♦ Day twenty: Clean the dishwasher.
♦ Day twenty-one: Schedule a carpet cleaning.
♦ Day twenty-two: Power wash the patio/ front porch.
♦ Day twenty-three: Wash all your bedroom/ bathroom linens.
♦ Day twenty-four: Dust picture frames.
♦ Day twenty-five: Dust all your wooden furniture using a wood polish.
♦ Day twenty-six: Take all of your rugs and beat the dust out of them outside.
♦ Day twenty-seven: Wash your table cloth, fabric napkins, and any other linens that you may have missed before.
♦ Day twenty-eight: Schedule an upholstery cleaning for all your furniture.
♦ Day twenty-nine: Organize your attic or basement. Again, set aside things that you want to keep, things you want to throw away, and items that need to be donated.
♦ Day thirty: Donate any and all items that you’ve accrued to charity.
There you have it. That’s my challenge. I’d love to see how all of you do on it. Let me know your progress!