How To Clean Baseboards

One of the most overlooked areas in a home are the baseboards. Unless you spill a particularly sticky liquid or are doing a deep cleaning of your home, you are unlikely to notice them. As you can imagine, the baseboards can get very gross and grimy without cleaning. This is particularly true if you have pets or young children in your home. The baseboards in high traffic areas like the kitchen can get especially dirty if you’re not careful. Therefore, it is essential that you include the baseboards in your spring cleaning routine.

If you’ve never cleaned the baseboards of your home before, you will be happy to know that the task is fairly easy. However, you will be required to move some of your furniture. Also, it may be time-consuming to clean the baseboards if your home is large or if the baseboards are incredibly dirty. Read this guide to learn how to clean baseboards thoroughly even if they haven’t been scrubbed down in a while.

How To Clean Heavily Soiled Baseboards

If it’s been a long time since you’ve cleaned your home’s baseboards, you should aside a few hours to complete this task. You will need water, a bucket, dishwashing liquid, cotton swabs, microfiber cloths, and a yoga mat or towel. You can also use a vacuum cleaner with attachments, but this is optional.

Steps For Cleaning Baseboards

• Get a family member or friend to help you move the furniture in your home away from the walls.
• Use the vacuum cleaner or the microfiber cloth to dust the baseboards. If you use a microfiber cloth, it is best to use a towel or yoga mat. To keep the pressure off your knees, you should kneel on the towel or yoga mat as you dust the baseboards.
• Add two quarts of warm water to the bucket as well as a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
• Dip the microfiber cloth in the bucket and wring it out. The cloth should be damp. If the microfiber cloth is saturated, you should wring it out more. A cloth that is soggy won’t be as effective at cleaning the baseboards. Also, if the cloth is saturated, it may leave behind pools of water and ruin the baseboards.
• Use the dampened microfiber cloth to wipe down the baseboards. If the cleaning solution begins to look murky, you should change it out.
• Use cotton swabs dipped in the mixture of dishwashing liquid and water to clean the edges, corners, or details.
• Set up fans to speed up the drying process for your baseboards.
• Have your friend or family member help you return the furnishings to their places.

If you’re trying to clean up spills or scuff marks, you should use a vacuum or microfiber cloths to dust the baseboards first. Then wipe with a rag that you’ve dipped in warm water and wrung out. If the scuffs on your baseboards are particularly stubborn, you should use an erasing sponge.

How To Clean Baseboards On A Routine Basis

Once you’ve spent a few hours cleaning your baseboards thoroughly, you should take the time to keep them clean and looking nice. Here are three ways that you can focus on the upkeep of the cleanliness of your baseboards on a weekly or biweekly schedule.

• Microfiber cloth: Use your microfiber cloths to clean the baseboards on a regular basis. All you need to do is move the furniture out of the way and do a quick wipe down of the baseboards and then put the furniture back into place.
• Vacuum attachment: Use the vacuum cleaner attachment to clean the baseboards quickly and painlessly. The main advantage of this method is that you don’t have to crawl around your house on your knees as much.
• Sock and a yardstick: If you have a hard time cleaning on your hands and knees for whatever reason, you should get creative with a sock and a yardstick. All you need to do is slip a sock over the yardstick. If possible, use a microfiber sock to achieve the best results possible. In general, wool and cotton are not as effective when it comes to picking up dust particles. Believe it or not, many clothing stores stock microfiber socks.

You can rub your baseboards with a fresh dryer sheet to protect the cleanliness. One advantage of wiping your baseboards with a dryer sheet is that it will make them smell like fresh laundry for a few days. Another advantage is the antistatic properties of the sheets. These properties will help your baseboards repel dust. While this may sound like overkill, taking this extra step will actually reduce the amount of work you have to do overall.

Unless you have pets or children, it is unlikely that you will need to clean the baseboards in your home on a weekly basis. For most homes, cleaning the baseboards every two weeks is enough for upkeep. In comparison to other housekeeping tasks, cleaning the baseboards is fairly low maintenance. Therefore, you shouldn’t have any problem maintaining the cleanliness of your baseboards as long as your consistent.

If you’re like most homeowners, you will only notice your baseboards when they are not clean. Unfortunately, by the time you notice that your baseboards are not clean, chances are they are very dirty and will take you hours to clean. Follow the tips discussed above to do a deep home cleaning of the baseboards and then take the time to clean your baseboards on a regular basis so that you never have to spend hours to clean them again. Some homeowners opt to clean the baseboards in one room in their home every time do some cleaning.