How To Keep Your Condo Clean (Consistently!)
Does the notion of giving your condo a thorough spring cleaning excite you or instill a sense of dread and fear? Certainly the end result of a good cleaning should provide you with joy and contentment. Knowing your home has been given a renewal of cleanliness (like when you first moved in) will make you feel organized – and remind you of the always-increasing value of your home. And if you, or other members of your household, have conditions like vulnerability to allergies, a clean hygienic home will create a healthier environment.
As a condo resident, you have special considerations when it comes to cleaning which are distinct from those who live in houses. You have to give particular attention to the higher buildup of dust during the winter months; you must always keep in mind the cleaning requirements of your storage, locker, and automobile areas; and you also have to live efficiently within the confines of a limited space. However, an organized condo is more apt to be a clean condo.
Check the Sources of Dust
In a condo, you have a myriad of exposures to dust including windows, doors, and insignificant crevices or cracks. Your air conditioning and heating system is often the culprit at the end of a long winter, unless the filter is monitored and changed regularly. If you haven’t been to a hardware store recently, you may be surprised to observe the full spectrum of dusting products now available, and the multitude of angles at which they can clean – a stark contrast to the furniture polish and rags technique widely used before the advent of condos. Keep such contemporary products in abundance for ready use all year.
Remember also to factor in the gravity equation: dust first, then vacuum. Dust which you clean off surfaces (and especially off blinds) tends to have residual particles which circulate into the air and eventually fall to the floor. Be sure to clean or change your bed sheets once a week since they attract
dust mites.
Keep Your Car and Storage Areas Clean
It may sound obvious, but your personal belongings in your out-of-condo areas will get dirtier (and lose value) the more unkempt these areas are. Assume a leadership role here and be a good example to your fellow building residents by removing garbage and debris from these areas. If you slack off, the dirtiness can have a domino effect on your neighbours, and you could eventually wind up with a disgusting excuse for a parking garage. Clean your car area often, and consistently dust, mop, and wipe down your storage areas. You’ll thank yourself for doing so.
Organization is Essential
When you look at just one individual box relative to the size of your condo, you may trick yourself into thinking that you have all the space in the world. Two, five, ten boxes – no problem, right? Well, if you don’t organize the layout of storing these boxes, you’ll actually be taking up the space of 20 boxes just to store ten. Wasting space also makes things more difficult for you come spring cleaning time. Stack and mount efficiently, and if you know you’ll be requiring things from a certain box or two, make sure they’re within easy access. Not only will you remove the headache of unstacking other boxes over and over, but you’ll keep things a lot cleaner by avoiding the buildup of dirt and dust.
Your Spring Cleaning Takeaway
Enacting preventative measures is the best way to make spring cleaning a breeze. Constantly remind yourself of the value of your home to motivate yourself into monitoring dirt and dust before spring arrives. Cleanliness in a condo is essential, but quite easy if you adopt the right approach.
