After the dirty fiasco with the couch and Rusty rolling around in dirt and then jumping on the couch, I decided I should probably clean other parts of my home that are collecting dust. The dirt and hair under my couch cushions was no joke my friends. There are a million places for dirt and debris to hide in your home. The fact of the matter is, you will never get to every single corner of your home to wipe away the unwelcome dust particles. However, you can get most of them if you have a plan of attack. Just like real warfare, you have to accept stealth is part of your mission. You have to think hard, if you were a dust mite, looking for a bite to eat, where would you go? Where would you get the most amount of dead skin cells to eat (I know so gross), without being disturbed by the kids or the family dog? Ah-ha! Underneath the sofa! Or how about, underneath your wardrobe? In fact, maybe even, in the crevices of your sofa, like mine. These are the hidden places you should be cleaning, every time you are having a whole house clean.

Moist sticky dust?

When dust is fresh, you’ll be able to easily wipe it away. When it's a little over a week old, it will put up a bit of a fight and you’ll need to wipe twice. If dust has been allowed to sit and in direct sunlight for that matter, it will dry up and become very hard. If it's in a place where it's hot or moist, such as the kitchen or in the bathroom, it will become even harder to wipe away. It becomes a gooey mess after a while so you need to use special cleaning products to get it all off the surface.

WD-40 should be used on hard surfaces such as metal or glass, as these surfaces will have moist sticky dust that clings on very hard. WD-40 won’t damage the metal but rather, lubricate it while cleaning it as well. However, you can use rubbing alcohol on glass if that doesn’t work. No one wants to damage their grandmother’s cabinet, so instead of those, use a lemon juice and cider vinegar combination. Make the solution in warm water and leave it on the surface for about 20 minutes. Allow it to soak into the dust properly, before wiping it with synthetic fabric cloth.

Giving your sofa a deep clean

The dust that sits on sofas, is hardly seen because it becomes so easily camouflaged. However, you can see it when you smack your cushions, and all these see-through grey mass springs out of it. So, use a sofa cleaner that you trust. Whether it's a leather or fabric sofa, make sure you get the right kind of product that will not damage the color or tan. Follow these steps.

Get a brush and clean out all the crevices. Wipe away the big pieces of dirt and debris that you can see plainly.
Sprinkle the couch with a bit of baking soda and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes.
Then use your sofa cleaning product, spraying it into the sofa, after which you’ll leave it for another 30 minutes.
Use your steam cleaning or vacuum to slowly suck all the baking soda, cleaning product and dirt out of the sofa

Make life easier for yourself by removing the cushions first and do them separately. You might find that washing the sofa cushions in the machine is far easier. Check the label and see what kind of temperature and spin cycle it recommends. The cushions themselves will have absorbed some of that dirt and debris, so take them outside and give them a good beating with a broom handle. Choose a sunny day to do this, because the direct UV light will also kill any germs that are hiding inside your cushions.

The bane of rugs and carpets

If you have a pet cat or dog, a normal vacuum just won’t cut the mustard when it comes to cleaning your rugs and carpets. The pet hair is finer and can be thicker than a normal human hair. This makes them difficult to spot, yet they sink deeper into our fabrics. Just going over the same spot, with a normal vacuum will flatten the rug or carpet and it will lose some of its bounce. This is why you need to have a special kind of vacuum that can pick up the dog and cat hair, without damaging your carpet.

This article suggests, SEBO Automatic X4 is the best vacuum for pet hair cleaning. It's been said that it's probably the most technologically advanced bagged vacuum that is on the market right now. SEBO isn’t exactly a widespread brand but has been making some very good vacuums for a decent amount of time. Their X lineup compares very well against its natural rivals in the residential and even the commercial sector. The X4 is 12 inches wide and you can have a 15 inch if you go for the larger sister variant, the X5. Its automatic height adjustment makes it a joy to use because it has an electronic controller which measures the resistance the brush roller is experiencing. This is perfect for pet hair which you can see but you can feel. It's hiding in the rug, but the X4 will find it and extract it without fuss.

Looking a bit harder

Out of sight and out of mind, there are so many hidden dust and debris zones that are in our line of sight all the time. Check on top of your wardrobe and give it a good wiping down. Check above all your kitchen cabinets and give those a good wipe down too. Any and all flat surfaces you can see, need to be wiped with fabric cloths that attract dirt and dust to them. This occurs by the simple rubbing or wiping of the fabric onto a hard surface as it can generate a small electric current.

You should also wipe the window sills which inherently attract dust as the airflow is most felt at the windows. Take all the plates out of your kitchen cabinets, and wipe down the shelves inside. Think carefully about where dust could be hiding right in front of you, and you’ll soon head over to your TV screen. Clean that but don’t forget the rear of it, as many dust particles get trapped in the ledges and crevices of the back panel. If you have a display cabinet, clean the inside of this too, but use a fine cotton cloth so you don’t scratch the glass or crystal.

All four corners

Every single corner in the home becomes dirty in the shortest amount of time compared to other areas of the home. This is because it's a meeting point for the airflow in your home. This makes it inherently the most popular place for dirt, debris, and dust to gather. Even when you’re vacuum, you’ll find that corners are always the one place the heads cannot reach into. So you have to do it by hand.

Get a brush and a wet cloth, and collect all the dirt using the pan and brush. Then wipe down the area to get rid of any stains. Buy a feather duster because, if you look up high, you’ll no doubt see a few cobwebs. It's difficult to notice them during the day because the spiders will be on the prowl. Make sure you’re wearing rubber gloves, a face mask and eye protection, as the silk the webs are made from can be very irritating to sensitive skin.

The secret wall of dust

As mentioned above, windows are the primary location for dust particles to settle in and around. This is because the airflow is the strongest at these points of a house. Your curtains, therefore, have become a secret wall of dust. They can harbor billions of dust particles and tens of thousands of dust mites. For the mites, it's like a high-rise hotel with an all you can eat sign.

The simplest way to get rid of the dust is to take the curtains down and hang them on your washing line. Get a broom handle or old shoe, and beat the curtain until they stop floundering dust. The other way is to send them off to the dry cleaners if they’re made out of wool, or wash them at home in either the washing machine or by hand.

Over time, if dust is allowed to settle in the curtains, they can discolor and it ages the fabric and color scheme, very quickly. You should be cleaning your curtains at least once a year, preferably during summer. Don’t do it during spring because they act as a natural pollen barrier.

Cleaning a home can become a chore that seems to never end if you allow debris to pile up, dust to settle, and dirt to collect in your rooms. Start off by cleaning your sofa as it's the most used item in the home. Then deal with your carpets and rugs, especially getting all the pet hair out of the bottom layers. Move onto the flat surfaces you don’t always look at, such as on top of your kitchen cabinets. Once you get the ball rolling, it will become satisfying to wipe away all that hidden dust.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!
Janelle