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One of the worst feelings when first walking into your new home is the
feeling of disgust. The floors are dusty, the walls are black, the bathroom
is grimy and filled with hair from the previous tenant, the kitchen has
dried up food stuck to the floor, and your head is spinning from that
noxious odor. Don’t panic. There are several things you can do to turn
this current mess into a home where you can feel comfortable and relax.
1. Preparation: Before you do any cleaning, you have
to be physically and mentally prepared.
Physical preparation includes:
- Put on some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and smelly.
- Wear comfortable shoes.
- Have cleaning materials ready.
- Spray cleaners
- Rags
- Paper towels
- A dull knife
- Broom/Dust pan
- Mop/Bucket
- A large trash bag
Mental preparation includes:
- Telling yourself that cleaning now will give you the home you want.
Once you do these things, you will be ready to start cleaning your new
home.
2. Clearing the space: Before you get down and dirty,
you have to get rid of the garbage that’ll get in your way of cleaning
the messier and dirtier areas. Stuff like old newspapers that were left
behind, a toothbrush found under the bathroom sink, or a broken clock
left on the wall, all must go immediately. With the removal of these
wayward items, access to the rest of house will be made easier.
3. Sweep, sweep, then sweep some more: If you couldn’t guess, it’s time
to sweep. Often, used homes acquire an abundance of dust. This dust should
be swept away immediately. If you go directly to the spray cleaner stage,
you will end up with clumps of wet dust sprawled all over your floor.
By sweeping at least two times, you can make spraying a lot easier.
4. Spray, wipe, spray, wipe: When using spray, make
sure you have one window cleaner and one all-purpose cleaner. With the
window cleaner you can clean windows and glass to ensure that they’ll
shine. With the all-purpose cleaner you can scrub everything else. Make
sure you spray and wipe multiple times. This will ensure you really get
rid of the slime and grime.
5. Using your hands: You can surely use a mop to wet
the floor or disperse cleaning liquids, but this doesn’t mean you can
get out of getting on your hands and knees. By using paper towels or
rags you can really scrub the floors and walls much better than with
a mop. But using you hands does not end here. With a dull knife you can
scrape away all the dried food and gum wads left behind by the previous
tenant.
6. Garbage: Take your large trash bag and use it for
all the scraps, dust, used paper towels, grime, food, and everything
else you need to throw away.
7. Look it over: Once you do all of these things, look
over what you’ve cleaned. You may see that it needs to be cleaned more
and have to take back out some towels and cleaners. But when you’re finally
happy with what you’ve done, just sit back, relax, and enjoy your new
home.
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