deep cleaning easy wins: quick and easy overlooked tasks

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Deep cleaning is overwhelming.

If you’re like me, you start deep cleaning your home with good intentions while wanting to tackle everything all at once in one day. That’s our first mistake.

As you go into a room to clean it, you get distracted by another task that leads to being distracted by a different task which then results in an entirely different task grabbing your attention.

So by the end of the day your Main Quest to-do list is incomplete, but your side quests are all completed. This isn’t always a helpful conclusion.

So to feel accomplished, let’s tackle smaller tasks to begin with. Here are 4 easily forgotten deep cleaning tasks that are quick or almost completely hands off. Set it and forget it!

overlooked #1 – deep clean your rugs

Now you may be saying, Jamie, I do vacuum my rugs!

Welp some rugs needs more than a quick vacuum especially if it can’t fit in a washer. Especially rugs in entryways, dust and debrief aren’t always easily pulled out with suction.

Sometimes ya just need to beat it. *cue Michael Jackson*

The fun part of this task is that it doubles as an outlet for frustration or anger. Upset? Channel those negative feelings into something useful and go beat a rug!

When I tackled this task, I promise you I vacuumed beforehand and STILL had dust and dirt flying from the rug. Unbelievable.

Bonus points if you leave the rug out in the sun for natural disinfectant. Give it at least two hours. But watch out if you have free-ranging chickens!

love your Dutch Oven?

here are the best ways to clean these hard working kitchen tools (and what NOT to do!)

click here to find out!

overlooked #2 – oil your wooden kitchen tools

Did you know we should oil our wooden kitchen tools? I was Today years old when I learned this.

Granted I’ve gone years without oiling my utensils but I’ve apparently been lucky!

Not oiling wooden utensils can lead to them cracking which, of course, ruins them and causes inconvenience and extra costs. Oiling them provides moisture to prevent cracking, helps maintain them long-term, and provides a nice sheen to the wood.

This is a super easy and quick task to mark off your list, but I bet it wasn’t on your deep cleaning list to begin with! It wasn’t originally on mine!

I use organic coconut oil (these utensils touch our food), but tallow or nut oils also work.

steps – do this before bed!

• clean your utensils
• (optional) sand your utensils so they take up the oil more
• use your hands or a rag to spread oil over the wood parts of the utensil
• let them dry and soak up the oil overnight

overlooked #3 – run the self-clean cycle on your washer

How much easier can this list get?? We’re just adding liquid and pushing a button here.

Make sure what you use to get clean clothes is ACTUALLY CLEAN. Skip the washing machine’s recommended cleaner and use white vinegar. It’s the perfect cleaner and helps to break up hard water (like we have).

Set it and forget it!

overlooked #4 – run the self-clean cycle on your oven

Again, we’re pressing a button here but there are a few more considerations.

If your oven is caked in a mess, I recommend taking some baking soda, water, some elbow grease, a scraper, and a Scotch Brite sponge and manually clean it as much as possible first. This will help prevent your oven from further baking foodstuff into the walls.

Do not do this on a hot summer day! The self-clean cycle really heats a room up and it won’t cool down for hours after the cycle ends.

The smell! No matter how clean your oven is there is still some odor emanating from a self-clean cycle. Don’t run this right before having guests over.

REMOVE THE TRAYS! Leaving the trays in the oven during a self-clean cycle can permanently damage the trays and the oven itself. Due to the high temperatures during the self-clean cycle, the trays may expand and contract causing damage. Clean those trays separately.

I inherited a poorly maintained oven from prior owners and I manually cleaned it AND ran a self-clean cycle to make sure it was crystal clean and hygienic.

I could have stopped with a manual cleaning, but I went further! If your oven isn’t a wreck go ahead and set it and forget it with the self-clean cycle.

summing it up about deep cleaning

We’re all extremely busy but there’s nothing more stressful than our home being a hot mess. It really does add to anxiety and mental anguish if what we’re living in is gross and embarrassing.

Don’t forget these four tasks to give yourself some quick wins when you deep clean your home.

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Here are some of the supplies that I used when making this project!