Winter Cleaning Tips For Home
Winter means snow in many parts of the country. While powdery white dustings can be lovely — at first, anyhow — they can also lead to slush and dirty water pooling in your entryway and soiling the floors in your house. Snow is one thing, but nobody wants to deal with the accompanying mess.
Wondering what can be done to keep your home feeling warm and cozy, rather than looking like someone dripped dirty water throughout the house? Check out the following winter cleaning tips to help keep snow and slush in check.
Defend Floors and Carpets with Doormats
The less mess you bring into the house in the first place, the less you have to clean later on. Discarding snow and slush before you hit the hardwood or your new area rug can save you a lot of stress. To really make the most of this winter cleaning tip, double up on your doormats. That’s right: Keep one outside your door to stomp off snow, slush or salt before you set foot in the house. Then, place another doormat immediately inside your doorway for a final wipe down before you remove your shoes.Bring on the Boot Trays
A boot tray is one small addition to your mudroom or foyer that can make a huge difference in the amount of slush that gets tracked across your hardwood floors or carpets. You can easily purchase boot trays online or in many stores. They come in a variety of materials ranging from simple plastic to copper stamped with decorative designs.You can also find plenty of boot tray DIY ideas, most of which are pretty simple. For example, you could glue river rocks, colorful pebbles or leftover wine corks to a baking sheet or wooden tray. Alternatively, you could line the bottom of a roasting pan with rustic slices of wood from the craft store.
Say “No” to Shoes in the House
When it comes to winter cleaning tips, one of the best you can abide by is making it a rule that shoes come off before any person leaves the mudroom or entryway. Think about it: If those dirty soles are limited in where they can tread, you greatly reduce the amount of mud, salt and slushy water that gets tracked through your house.Make this rule easier to follow by placing a boot tray in your mudroom or foyer. Additionally, you may also want to consider keeping a small laundry basket near your boot tray, so that your family can discard wet socks as they enter. Ramp up the “welcome home” factor by having a fresh pair of warm socks or slipper socks waiting for each family member when they return from school or work. That way, all the feet that trod through your house will not only be clean, but cozy, too.
Keep Entryways Clean
Remember, the preventative measures listed above won’t do squat if you’re not maintaining clean floors in your mudrooms or entryways. The grime from slush and salt residue can build up over time. This residue will cling to the bottoms of even the cleanest slipper socks or house shoes, meaning it will get tracked through your common areas. Take care to keep your foyer or mudroom neat and tidy, and you may be able to go longer between deep cleaning carpet and area rugs.These winter cleaning tips don’t take a lot of effort, but they can spare you some major cleaning headaches in the long run.
Looking for more ideas on how to keep your home clean this winter? Learn how to make your mudroom an organizational masterpiece, then take a look at these tips for establishing an orderly garage.
