I like to pride myself on being a goodhousekeeper. I learned from the best —my mom and grandmas both had spotless homes when I was growing up, they were amazing examples of how a home should be kept. I’m far from the housekeeper that they all are, but I’m working on getting better and I wanted to share with you some cleaning tips that I use for my deep spring cleaning once a year that I’ve come across over my years of housekeeping.
Tub & Shower Cleaner
1 part white vinegar
1/2 part blue Dawn dish soap
Warm up vinegar in microwave and add to spray bottle
Put Dawn into spray bottle and shake gently to incorporate
Spray in showers and tubs, let soak longer for tougher stains/scum (even overnight) and clean
You can add 1:1 vinegar:Dawn but I’ve found that that leaves things really, really soapy and very hard to clean—you’ll be rinsing a lot to get the suds away. It’s very important you use the original blue Dawn.
Deep Clean Your Front Loader Washing Machine
Fill machine with hot water on largest load setting and add 2 cups of white vinegar (or use “Clean” setting if yours has such a thing like mine does)
Let cycle run and then do another cycle with 2 cups of bleach added for any stains you have
Run an additional cycle with nothing added to rinse away the bleach
Remove soap and fabric softener dispensers and soak in warm water (sometimes I need to add some CLR to remove calcium build up from our well water)
Dry dispensers and return to machine
Fill a bucket with warm water and add 1 cup of white vinegar (or bleach if you prefer) and wipe out the rubber door seal & check for mold & mildew…you will be surprised at what you find!
Let sit for 5 minutes and wipe dry with a clean, dry cloth
Clean the inside of the door and wipe down the outside of the machine while you’re at it….might as well wipe down the dryer too!
You could probably do this deep cleaning once a month or more…but I usually do it when I notice our clothes aren’t smelling as fresh. For maintenance always make sure you leave your washer door open when not in use and you can wipe down the rubber seal after use too.
Clean Your Ceramic Stove Top
Fill a large bowl with hot water and some dish soap; submerge large rag/small towel in soapy water
Sprinkle baking soda over stove top
Ring out rag/towel so it is still wet but not sopping wet
Lay flat over baking soda on stove and let soak for 15 minutes
Using the rag/towel scrub the stove with the baking soda paste and then wipe dry with clean rag/towel
This worked really well, but you have to put a LOT of baking soda. The first time I did it I was too skimpy on the soda and it didn’t get the tough spots. I would recommend using a
Clean Soap Scum/Hard Water Stains
Mix cream of tartar and lemon juice until a thick paste forms
Use a toothbrush to spread on area that is stained (shower heads, taps, etc.)
Scrub until it is removed
Rinse clean with water
I found that this worked well on my kitchen sink faucet, but it didn’t work on the built up calcium on my shower head in our bathroom which was a bummer. Perhaps it is just too built up or has extra minerals from our well water. I’m still searching for a magical cure to help me clean those really stubborn spots!
Homemade Carpet Cleaner
1½ quarts of hot (not boiling) water
¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide
1½ tbsp of white vinegar
1½ tbsp of dish soap
Optional: If you’re having problems with the solution making too many suds, then you can add a very small amount (1 tbsp or so) of fabric softener
Optional: Essential oils for scent (I do not use)
Mix all of the ingredients together; make sure to add the dish soap to the water and not the water to the dish soap or you’ll get too many bubbles
Pour into your carpet cleaning/spot cleaning machine
Clean like the directions tell you to
I really, really like this recipe it works even better than the store bought stuff! I have used it on my area rug, carpets, and on my microfibre couches and it works wonderfully.
The Big List
I always have a list in my head of what needs to be done for my deep spring cleaning, so I thought that I would make it a visual. I don’t do this all in a day or a week, I go at my own pace over a month or two. Just the other day I completely reorganized my pantry, got a bag of food to donate of items that I know we won’t use, and now I have a clean, organized pantry with more room. I cleaned my washer/dryer and even behind and under them (for the first time since we moved in 3.5 years ago!) and it feels good to do this deep cleaning knowing that we’re living in a clean environment.
I clean my Frigidaire fridge often, so that’s not on my deep cleaning list. It’s so so so easy to clean because it’s so spacious and with their patented Smudge-Proof™ Stainless Steel finish, my stainless-steel fridge is ridiculously easy to clean as I showed you last month. Smudge-Proof™ Stainless Steel is available on all Frigidaire Gallery® and Frigidaire Professional® products – see the collection here.
Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
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Sarah Schultz
I'm a nurse who married a farmer, and I'm a boy mom to Braden and Ethan. I love God, photography, agriculture, cooking, baking, and embracing my role as farm wife and mom. I'm knee-deep in tractors, trains, and trucks and I'm often seen with my Canon T3i in my hands documenting our life. Thanks for reading!
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