A Life In Review

Years ago I decided that the end of the year was the perfect time for a deep clean. As we put away all of the holiday trimmings, it feels nice to just do one big reset. It also feels like a symbolic reset for the new year to come. It started as a really disorganized time of cleaning. I would drive myself crazy cleaning random parts of our home (and forgetting others). When this time came around lsat year I took the time to make an actual cleaning list and it was a game changer for me.

There is nothing profound or original about this blog post. In fact, I’m sure there are many like it, but in my little corner of the internet we haven’t talked about this yet and I wanted to break this down in a way that is easy to understand (and follow) especially for those of you who may, like me, be struggling extra right now with ADD/ADHD.

NOTE: This is not the same a a springtime declutter. If you are looking for a declutter list you can find that here. This is truly a down and dirty cleaning list because I bet if you’re honest you have not done a deep clean in a while (guilty).

Let’s get started:

My Favorite Cleaning Products:

Mop – Nothing (and I mean that) beats a good ole fashion mop
Floor Cleaner – I have tried SO many and this one is my favorite
Swiffer – For the bathrooms
Dawn Powerwash – This is good for literally everything. It is the new WD-40
Counter Cleaner – Be aware that you need to check which type of counter you have. Each stone uses a different kind of cleaner. If you don’t have stone, feel free to use this.
Dishwasher Cleaner: more on this soon
Washing Machine Cleaner: Yes you actually need to wash the washing machine (typically every 6 months, but once a year is fine too).
Garbage Disposal Cleaner: This can be done with an actual cleaner or you can chop a lemon and just throw that down there.
Garbage Disposal Brush: Where has this been all my life.
Little Green Machine: This is one of my favorite cleaning products. I regret waiting so long to buy it. It is worth every penny.
Base Board Cleaner: I don’t have this one yet, but it is in my cart!
Spin Brush Cleaner (accessibility friendly): I already love mine so much! The extension piece is really helpful.
Washing Machine Cleaner: I will talk about this more below!

Kitchen:

Microwave: Check the filters on the bottom. They are easy to change, but often get forgotten. While you’re at is, take the dawn powerwash and give the whole thing a good scrub.
Dishwasher: If you have one of these be sure to check the filer and then throw in a cleaning tab and let it run a self cleaning cycle.
Stove: Clean the top of it, all of the knobs and don’t forget to pull it out and clean underneath it.
Refrigerator: Pull everything out and check the dates on what is in there (not a must but easy to do while you’re cleaning the shelves). Wash down all shelves, drawers and doors. If you are able, pull it out and clean underneath (I won’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve done this).

Living Room:

Under The Couch – Just take the vacuum under there and give it a good clean out.
Dust – Take a duster to all of the surfaces in the living room, pictures, TV, furniture (and whatever else is in there).
Disinfect Toys – If you have kids, use this time to disinfect the toys. You don’t have to go crazy but it’s very much germ season, so a little cleaning won’t hurt them.

Bedrooms:

Vacuum (or mop) – The floors really need it, this holds especially true for those of you who wear shoes in the house (yes I’m judging you lol).
Change the Sheets – I really hope that you are doing this regularly but I have recently learned that there are people who go months in between changing their sheets, if that is you, change them. start fresh, oh and remember to wash your quilt/comforter too!
Night Stand/Side Tables – Clean them off (get rid of the trash, cups, wrappers, waters, whatever is applicable) and wash them down really quick.
Clothes – Put away all the clothes in your room. If they’re mostly dirty, at least move them to the laundry room/area.
Dust: If you are anything like us, we keep our fan on all year long which means that there is a lot of dust.

Bathrooms:

Toilets: Clean the whole thing, like the base, the sides and lift the lid on the back to check that everything is still in working order and doesn’t need to be replaced (a quick google search of your toilet will show you what it’s supposed to look like).
Sinks: I try to wash my sinks a few times a month, but I typically forget about the drain. So this is your reminder to check the drain and maybe clean it out.
Floors: This is true for every room, but extra true for this one.
Shower/Tub: I shared above, my new favorite scrubber. No more getting on your hands and knees to scrub. You also may want to check the drains on these too!
Refill Supplies: This is not a must, but it’s a good time of year to go through and check what supplies you are running low on or missing and refill it.

Other:

Sweep/Dust Garage: We often ignore the garage. In fact, as I am writing this, I keep walking by piles of old spider webs that I need to clean up, so this is your reminder to take a minute and just sweep the floor and scoop out the cob webs.
Baseboards: I dread washing these. I rarely clean them, but once a year I go around and try to wipe up any spots that look like they need a little TLC.
Washer/Dryer: Did you know that you actually need to clean your washer? Well you do, it’s not hard. Depending on what you like you can clean it a few different ways, but I linked my favorite option (google will help you if you need more non-toxic options). The dryer also often gets forgotten. Take the time to clean out the vent and the lint area.
Air Filters: If you were anything like me, this is something that your parents did that you never noticed until you were on your own. This is the perfect time of year to check your air filters and change them if you need to. Our usually need changing every 4 months, so it just depends on your home.

There are for sure something things that I missed, but I tried to think of the things that most get forgotten. Below I will attach the graphic that you can save and use as a check list (if you want), it will also be on my social media! I hope that you are having a lovely holiday season and are looking forward to a wonderful new year.

For those of you that have been around, I had mentioned that I was considering swapping blog platforms, but ultimately I have decided to stick around WordPress for one more year and try my hand at editing my own page to make it more my style. I appreciate all of your support this year, but especially the last four years as I dove back into the writing part of blogging. 2025 will be the year that I try to make this blog more user friendly.

Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed new year and be on the look out for new posts in 2025!