Hello! We’re back with another article, where we will give you some tips on how to clean your room in just 6 easy steps. Last week was National Clean Your Room day, but maybe you forgot or didn’t know about it.
This is harder than it seems, especially if you are deep cleaning and you don’t have a clear idea of what to do or where to start.
Besides, National Clean Your Room Day was celebrated on May 10, so you might have been busy enjoying Mother’s Day. After a busy weekend, you might have not had the time or the energy to clean your room. And unless you hire a professional cleaning service, your room might start to become messy after some time.
But don’t worry, you’re still pretty much on time! We wanted to create this cleaning guide for your room for all people who missed the opportunity.
Start By Decluttering Your Room
If you want to deep clean your room, it doesn’t make sense to start wiping and mopping, especially if it’s cluttered. You might end up cleaning things that you are going to discard anyway.
The most important question is: where to start?
Many professional organizers recommend decluttering your home by category instead of by room. In this case, you are just going to take care of your room, so you can use the three-box method. Separate all your items into three boxes (or piles), which are: Keep, Storage, and Discard.
With Keep items, you probably want to leave them as they are, as you will have to clean them before putting them back in their spot.
The next one is the storage box. The most important step here is to properly categorize and tag containers as you fill them. Otherwise, your items will end up unorganized and messy once again.
If you don’t have containers, there are hundreds of options on the internet. You can find different materials, containers with or without a lid, transparent or opaque.
All items that you are not going to keep or store somewhere else, should be discarded. Everything that is still in great condition can be sold or donated. The rest needs to go in the trash.
Organize Your Belongings Before Cleaning Your Room
Now that you have decided what to do in regards to your room, it’s time to find the right place for each item. Many times we get things unorganized because they don’t have the right spot which is the place they belong and it will be easier to be stored and found afterward.
As we mentioned earlier, the right containers will help you keep things organized. Even if you need to get things cleaned or vacuumed, you can try placing your items and moving things around until you find the right vibe.
Perhaps if you have containers from other areas such as your kitchen or your laundry room, you can even bring them to mix and match! Drawer dividers are also helpful for big drawers to keep everything perfectly organized. Even having the same type of hangers adds consistency, for example.
Creating a system and a pattern is the way to go. Take the time to learn how to fold your clothing items properly, and how to store them in a way that you can take each one individually as you need them, even if you’re placing them in the same container.
Create labels so you are reminded of where everything goes. Besides, the labels themselves create a pattern and help with the décor for your closet or shelves.
When organizing your items, try to keep surfaces (other than shelves) empty, such as your TV stand or your bedside table. The items that you do leave (e.g., a lamp, a book, or a plant) should be able to breathe. Surfaces that are crowded or messy tend to lead you to get everything unorganized back again in the short term.
Deep Clean Your Room Part I: Your Closet
Now that your items have the right place, it’s time for cleaning! We always recommend cleaning from top to bottom. This way, all pieces of dust and lint will fall naturally to the next surface and so on, until they reach the floor.
Of course, it will be easier to keep everything out of your closet so you can really dig in and reach every corner.
Now that your shelves are empty, it should be quite easy to clean them. There are different strategies depending on the material: the most common shelves are either wire, laminate, or wooden.
For wire shelves, you can use hot, soapy water and a sponge or large brush, as well as an old toothbrush for reaching nooks and crannies. If they are laminate shelves, use just a tiny bit of hot soapy water with a non-scrub sponge. Wipe with a damp cloth and then wipe a final time but using a dry cloth this time.
For wooden shelves, use very little water. Spray a little bit of white vinegar in a microfiber cloth until it is slightly damp and wipe the surface.
Occasionally, you can create a 2-part white vinegar, 2-part olive oil, and 1-part lemon juice which works as a conditioner and will moisturize your wooden shelves, leaving a nice, subtle fragrance. Remember to wipe with a clean, dry cloth.
Deep Clean Your Room Part II: Your Furniture
Now it’s time to tackle items like your TV stand, your bedside table, and your décor, as well as your bed and sofas or cushions (if any).
Start by carefully vacuuming each item. Most TV stands and bedside tables allow you to remove the shelves inside so they are easier to clean once you remove them.
If you have wooden furniture, you might have to moisturize surfaces in case you haven’t done so for some time (6 months) or if they look dull, dry, or if look slightly scratched or worn out. You can apply the vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice cleaning solution that we mentioned above.
Next, you have your bed. Research shows that there’s a significant amount of bacteria in all your bed items, such as your pillows, covers, blankets, and your mattress.
Check the care tag for each of those items. Normally, just washing using hot water is more than enough to kill bacteria and other germs. If you have comforters as well, we were featured in an article at MyDomaine about Washing a Down Comforter. Feel free to check it out for more tips!
Then, you might have a loveseat or a small armchair. With upholstery, you might need to clean them using an upholstery cleaner. Of course, this depends on the type of fabric. There are around 6 – 8 commonly used types of fabrics. You can check the Couch Cleaning Guide from Emily’s Maids to find out all the tips for the different types of materials.
For most items, running a steamer or a steam iron on the surface will help to kill bacteria. Of course, check the care tag first and let everything dry properly.
Deep Clean Your Room Part III: Clothing and Miscellaneous Items
After all the large items in your room have been taken care of, it’s time to pay attention to smaller items. These could be your clothing, other items that go into your closet, and even items outside your closet, such as plants, lamps, books, or magazines.
These items are mostly pretty easy to clean, with just a handheld vacuum cleaner you will be able to clean books, flower pots, and lamps. If you are cleaning a lamp or any other electrical fixture, remember to unplug the item first.
For metal items, you can wipe them once in a while using a microfiber cloth with just a tiny bit of warm, soapy water. Don’t forget to wipe them dry.
Remember that displaying items on a bookcase or open shelves is a form of décor on its own. Items like books work great in groups of around 3 to 5 per shelf. Of course, this depends on the total size of the shelf.
On the other hand, lamps are plants that are more likely to work on their own, as a unique piece. Around one plant or lamp, every 2 to 3 shelves are more than okay, if you have more than 3 shelves that are close to one another. You can add candles as well as frames with pictures or inspirational quotes.
Remember to let items breathe, this will make the difference between a messy room and a peaceful one under control. You can even check magazines or the internet to get more inspiration.
Clean Your Room Part IV: Your Floors
Now that you have wiped, vacuumed, and brushed all surfaces, your floor is going to need some care too. As you know, each type of floor has different rules for cleaning: some require vacuuming, some require just brushing, while others can be mopped safely. Some of them even require to be polished and waxed.
If you have mopped your floors, make sure you open up the windows to let air flow dry them naturally, or turn on the heater if there’s little sunlight.
Bonus Tips
Now that your bedroom looks sparkling and squeaky clean, you must be happy to see the results. The big question is: How do you keep it that way?
First, keep the balance of the total number of items in your bedroom. Even if you keep things tidy, if you slowly add more and more items, they will be harder to keep under control.
A good rule of thumb is to get rid of one item each time you bring something new. This will keep you from avoiding a shopping spree, and it will keep your room nice and tidy as well.
On a similar note, keep things simple and don’t overcrowd your storage elements, especially your closet. Even if you keep things perfectly organized,
Of course, regular cleaning is always important. Your bed gathers bacteria constantly, and you might have different surfaces and drawers that collect dust. If you are not hiring a professional cleaning service, then you should deep clean around once or twice every quarter.
Last but not least, don’t forget to check our Bedroom Daily Cleaning guide for extra tips on easy, daily cleaning.
Conclusion
That’s it! By now, your room will look nice and fresh and, most importantly, you will be able to keep it that way. You’re still on time to celebrate National Clean Your Room day!
Remember all your safety measures: wear goggles, gloves, and a face mask. You will be dealing with a lot of dust and lint in the air so make sure you’re protected against that.
And if you are busy running errands or taking care of your family, don’t forget to check the Dallas Maids booking page too. You can find us if you live in Frisco as well!
Good luck with room cleaning and until next time!