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Best Fall Deep-Cleaning Home Tips For Busy People

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It’s been a long, lazy summer, and the cooler fall temperatures are sliding in as the new season arrives. This is the perfect time to start deep cleaning your home for fall and winter. Perhaps it’s not as thorough as spring cleaning, but the odds are good that you haven’t been doing as much inside over the past couple of months. No one wants to waste precious vacations on dusting and cleaning. 

Fall deep-cleaning home tips with pumpkin pillow outside and white pumpkin

Start Your Home Fall Deep-Cleaning Outdoors!

If you’re anything like me, my garden and yard get a lot of love and abuse in the summer, so it’s time to tidy up the dead plants, empty the terra cotta pots, and store them somewhere dry and warm for winter.

Also, pack away your patio furniture and other summer items; rake the leaves; clean gutters if that’s an issue in your yard. Now it’s time to move inside.  

outdoor furniture sitting outside is a great place to start deep-cleaning your home for fall
Clean that outdoor furniture and pack it away (or cover it up!)

Doors, Windows, Screens & Lighting.

Maybe you cleaned your windows in the spring, but months of rain and wind have likely got them looking less pristine at this time of year. Add the inevitable spider webs and bits of fluff that cling in the corners of your window and door frames. Wipe the window sills inside. Clean windows and doors to make your house look more inviting. 

Once bug season has passed, remove your window screens to allow more natural light into your home. Tuck the screens away in a safe place where they won’t be damaged. (Depending on the age of your house, removing screens might be necessary to put your storm windows in.) Unfortunately, through the colder months, the shorter days mean less natural light. Ugh, I live on the side of a mountain and this is VERY noticeable!

That brings us to indoor lighting. Clean your light fixtures. At least one light fixture in your home will inevitably have a dead fly in it. I’m not sure why it always happens, but that can’t just happen in my house, right? Using warm white light bulbs will create a cozier light.

If you have a ceiling fan, you’ll want to dust it. In the fall, change the direction of your ceiling fan to clockwise to create an updraft that will help circulate the warm air. (In the spring, switch it to counter-clockwise to create a cooling draft for the warm months.) Clean ceiling fans don’t rain dust on you.  

Air Conditioning, Furnace & Fireplace.

Did you know fall is the optimal time to have both systems checked? You’re already doing your fall home deep-cleaning, so you might as well ensure you’re comfortable for the winter! One technician can check both in the same service call. You don’t have to wait for the first week of September to make the appointment; book it and get it on your calendar before your schedule and theirs fill up.

Replace any filters on those furnace or AC units, too!

Your air conditioner has been working hard all summer, and if it needs replacing, it is best to do it at the end of summer, not the start. Given the hefty price tag, you can budget ahead and even schedule installation early in the spring to make sure your replacement unit is ready to go next year when the thermometer starts rising. 

Every Canadian, Midwesterner or other chilly winter climate person knows the time to find out that your furnace’s ignition switch or blower components need to be replaced well before the temperature drops below freezing. (This is also a good time to replace the HVAC filters. Clean furnace filters should be installed every 3 to 6 months. Replace sooner if the old one is really dirty when you remove it. Clean air is important!) 

Alternately, if you have a wood-burning fireplace, this is a great time for your annual flue maintenance; creosote will build up in your chimney. With a natural gas fireplace, you can have inspected and clean the glass to ensure it’s ready for cooler weather and winter months. 

A fireplace with wood and kindling is a great place to start with deep-cleaning your home for fall
I am SO excited for cozy fall and winter fires! Let’s clean this baby up!

Smoke Detectors & Carbon Monoxide Detectors.

The best way to remember to change the batteries in your detectors is to habit stack (Check out James Clear’s Habit Stacking article). This will help you remember to check on them when you do the other habit. A lot of people do this when they change their clocks at the time change; that’s a great strategy to make sure you change them twice a year. 

Did you know that smoke detectors expire within 5 to 10 years, whether they are battery-powered or hardwired? Somewhere on the until it will show. (I like to write the expiration dates on the side with a Sharpie to make it easier to read.) Check the batteries and test each one in your home. 

Carbon monoxide detectors have a similar life, with replacement required in only 7 to 10 years. 

Take the time to test these alarms monthly. Set a reminder on your phone or your calendar (I’m a Google Calendar girl!) so this doesn’t become one of those forgotten tasks. 

someone pushing a button on a smoke detector

Floors, Carpets & Rugs.

Clean floors make a huge difference when tackling your fall home deep-cleaning. Even if you haven’t dusted, the room feels cleaner after you’ve run the vacuum cleaner or swept the hardwood floors to get the animal fur and other family bits. Shake out your mats and area rugs. 

A warm fall day is the perfect opportunity to drag out the steam cleaner (or better yet, borrow this not-often used machine) to clean carpets while you can open the windows to let that humidity escape and give your rugs plenty of time to dry. If you are hosting any of the big family feasts of the upcoming holiday season, it’s nice to already have this done. Besides, you’ll be spending a lot more time inside in the coming months.

a grey rug with lighter grey design is a good thing to clean in your home for deep-cleaning for fall
Clean that rug!

Bedding, Blankets & Sheets

In the summer months, your concern was likely staying cool and relaxing, but in cold weather, warm blankets and comfort become key. Take some time to change your bedding, bring out the duvets and switch that lightweight throw in the living room for the cozy afghan or quilts. Think cozy in the fall season!

Why not look at decluttering any extra stuff as well, check out this article for more (Fall Home Organization & Decluttering Tips)

messy sheets on a bed
put on some cozy sheets!

Donations, Recycling & Trash

Take the space back! You have already made decisions on these piles, but for whatever reason, this stuff is still waiting in your hallway, your laundry room, your garage or whatever other space you pile it in. 

Take a quick look in your storage areas for anything else that needs to go (like summer clothes you won’t wear again) and schedule the time to drop off (or arrange for pickup) for donations. If you have recycling or trash that you can’t put out for your regular curbside collection, make time to take that away for that as well. (Old paint cans stacked in my garage, I’m looking at you!) Better yet, take it now if you can.

Obviously you can keep going with decluttering, but give yourself a clean slate. Don’t let those piles become invisible in your living space because you waited so long to get rid of them.

Fall deep-cleaning doesn’t have to be extensive or hard work, but it’s a good idea to complete these important maintenance tasks to ensure everything is in good condition for your home. It will make it easier to get into a fall cleaning routine. You deserve a clean home. 

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