After any major renovation in your home, you are probably in the mood to sit back and relax for a while.
Not so fast.
Your hardwood flooring, area rugs, and staircases are likely to be left with a good amount of dirt, dust, and debris on them after the project is finished, and there is a need for a thorough cleaning before you can step foot in it. That’s not all. A complete clean-up is essential to ensure the health and safety of the whole household.
This is why all repairs and maintenance need to be followed by a post-renovation cleanup. A typical checklist to make your work easier follows. Read on!
Post-renovation cleaning is intensive work but is necessary to make your home habitable again. The cleaning process varies a lot from regular cleaning, and there are other advantages to it than just restoring your home. Constantly breathing in a dusty environment can be the cause of a number of health issues. A post-renovation cleaning can prevent all these.
Renovating generates a generous amount of dust particles in your home. The easiest solution is vacuuming the softer surfaces, like the carpets, cushions and rugs first. Vacuum the underlying frames for a detailed cleaning.
The particles can get anywhere, and complete removal is not going to be easy.If you delay taking the proper measures, your interiors will lose their aesthetics and cause a lot of issues like itchiness and irritation for the guests as well as yourself.
You may need to repeat the vacuuming procedure again if you are not satisfied with the result after the first time.
Simply vacuuming cannot give your interiors the intensive cleaning it needs post-renovation. That means wiping down every single surface including the insides of your furnishings. The furniture or linens left inside during the project will also have to be specially dealt with.
The first thing to do is to wipe off the dust from your walls because that is where the dust accumulates the most. If you want to clean your wall without damaging it, then dry dusting is the best way. Depending on the paint on your wall, wiping it with a damp cloth can be a good option. But refer to the manufacturer of the wallpaper or paint before applying moisture on it. It will be better to test this method in a small section of the wall prior to wiping down the entire thing.
As mentioned earlier, cleaning the furniture, like the cabinets and drawers, inside out is necessary. The cabinets and mouldings are a perfect shelter for dust particles. Clean the interior shelves with a duster, especially the corners that are usually hard to reach. It’s important to get rid of the dirt from the countertops, and any other flat surface as well. Sweeping the dust out first, and then wiping the floors with a mop is a good way to start.
Once you are done with the surface layer dust, the next thing is to remove the airborne dust particles, that can be trapped inside the air filters.
It gets worse.
The air vents allow the dirt and dust particles to easily travel from one room to another, meaning even if you renovated just one particular area of your home, the dust can travel from there to the other parts as well.
The easiest solution is to remove the vent covers from the surrounding area and wash them with soap and hot water. However, before you change the vent cover, you will need to replace any air filter that has been exposed to the dust.
Windows, being a dust magnet, cannot be ignored. If you leave them alone, the layer of dust and dirt will eventually block light from coming into your home and possibly damage them in the long run. Cleaning them can be tricky since you want to avoid scratching the glass. It is better to contact professional cleaners if your window needs a thorough cleaning.
If all this sounds too tedious for you to manage on your own, it’s better to hire a house cleaning company for the job. Make sure to specify to the company that you are looking for a post-renovation cleaning, so they carry necessary tools and work accordingly. However, carpets and area rugs must be cleaned by experts who know the dos and don’ts. Remember, not to trust any and everyone with your delicate floor coverings.