House Cleaning Tip #341: Keeping the Laundry Room Clean
A lot of work goes on in the laundry room, but how often does that work include keeping the laundry room itself clean? If you’re like most people, very little time is ever spent keeping the laundry room clean. These simple steps are an easy way to make sure your laundry room space is just as clean as your whites.
Keep it Clean!
Where do you start? From the top and work your way down.
- Wipe down any shelves with a wet microfiber cloth. Starting from the top allows the dust and dirt that you don’t collect fall down to the ground, where you will take care of it later. On those shelves, over spray and splashes of detergent can leave surfaces sticking and gross, making them a great spot for dust, link, and even bugs to accumulate.
- Next, run your washing machine with an empty load an don a hot cycle. Use two cups of vinegar to keep the machine fresh and clean inside. After completing the load, wipe down the interior where soap has accumulated.
- Remove the lint trap from your dryer and soak the trap in hot water and a quality soap. After it has soaked for a few minutes, you can scrub the trap to remove any extra buildup. If you are feeling super motivated, you can also soak the knobs from your washer and dryer as well (if they are removeable). This will put a nice clean touch to your laundry room.
- Wipe the outside surfaces of your washer and dryer with a microfiber cloth and a quality glass cleaner. This will help to make them shine and repel dust.
- Don’t forget to remove the dryer hose and use your vacuum to remove link that has built up on the inside of the hose. Not only is this a good cleaning tip, it is a good safety tip as well, as it keeps your hose from turning into a fire hazard.
- Use a vacuum that has a good attachment that can clean behind, under, and between your washer and dryer.
- Sweep and mop the floors.
Keep it organized
If you’re like most people, you have a small laundry space with huge piles of laundry. There are also probably way too many products in the room and not enough time to get everything done. As a result, it’s easy to let a laundry room go so long without a proper cleaning. If you can add organization to your laundry room, it can make your life and laundry chores much easier.
- If possible, extra shelving can be very helpful with organization. Add shelving where it’s most convenient. This often times would be right above your washer and dryer. This allows you to store bleaches and detergents out of the way, along with other products you might use.
- Periodically sort through the products you have and discard the ones that you do not use.
- When not in use, hang your ironing board on the wall. This will free up a lot of extra space.
- Hang hooks from shelving or you can install a retractable drying line for a place to hang clothes. This helps to keep them from wrinkling and doesn’t take up extra space.
- Use several laundry baskets for storing and separating dirty and clean laundry.
- Keep a small container somewhere safe for storing items left in pockets.
- Keep a trash can in the laundry room! This will help keep clutter down so you have a place for lint, dryer sheets, and many other items that might just end up on your floor.
