Home cleaning - what are the nooks and crannies people forget?
December 12, 2015 3:42 AM Subscribe
Pretty self-explanatory. When home cleaning, what are some some of the things that could stand to be cleaned that might not be common knowledge or things that people might generally forget?
Examples: cleaning the shower rod, dust on top of the fridge, dirt or fingerprints on light/power switches, things of that nature
Best answer: Inside the toilet tank
Door sills
Tops of picture frames
Lamp shades
Top of kitchen cabinets
any woodwork, cabinet doors, etc that has decorative protrusions that can catch dust
Filter for range hood exhaust fan
Filter for fridge water dispenser
furnace filter replacement
furnace ducts (inside, will require hiring someone to do this)
Under stove and Fridge
Bottom of fridge, under the crisper drawer
window sill between window and outer screen
ceiling fan blades
underneath cat litter boxes
Shelves, esp. BEHIND the books
I have to stop and go clean... :-\
posted by HuronBob at 4:45 AM on December 12, 2015 [7 favorites]
Door sills
Tops of picture frames
Lamp shades
Top of kitchen cabinets
any woodwork, cabinet doors, etc that has decorative protrusions that can catch dust
Filter for range hood exhaust fan
Filter for fridge water dispenser
furnace filter replacement
furnace ducts (inside, will require hiring someone to do this)
Under stove and Fridge
Bottom of fridge, under the crisper drawer
window sill between window and outer screen
ceiling fan blades
underneath cat litter boxes
Shelves, esp. BEHIND the books
I have to stop and go clean... :-\
posted by HuronBob at 4:45 AM on December 12, 2015 [7 favorites]
Best answer: Every time that I move into a new place, the first two things that I hit are the tops of the door frames and the tops of the trim at the bottom of the walls. No one ever cleans those and it's usually years of grime and dust built up on them. It has to be done before you can paint.
Ceiling fans get forgotten often
The inside of the air conditioner intake. Here in Louisiana, roaches go there to die. It can be pretty gross.
Degrease around the stove, including under the burners.
posted by myselfasme at 5:38 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ceiling fans get forgotten often
The inside of the air conditioner intake. Here in Louisiana, roaches go there to die. It can be pretty gross.
Degrease around the stove, including under the burners.
posted by myselfasme at 5:38 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
plants with large leaves gather dust too
bottom of toilet bowl (scale build up)
posted by bluedora at 6:14 AM on December 12, 2015
bottom of toilet bowl (scale build up)
posted by bluedora at 6:14 AM on December 12, 2015
Anything you touch:
- Door knobs
- Light switch plates
- That place you (or people near you) touch on the wall as you go up or down the stairs
- Banisters
Places you don't touch:
- Tops of doors and doorways
- Baseboard trim and any other trim profiles
- Tops of books and shelves
- Lights/fans
- Stair crevices
posted by bookdragoness at 7:16 AM on December 12, 2015
- Door knobs
- Light switch plates
- That place you (or people near you) touch on the wall as you go up or down the stairs
- Banisters
Places you don't touch:
- Tops of doors and doorways
- Baseboard trim and any other trim profiles
- Tops of books and shelves
- Lights/fans
- Stair crevices
posted by bookdragoness at 7:16 AM on December 12, 2015
It's a gross one but I'll throw it out there- pubic hair accumulation in the corners of bathrooms.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2015
posted by bkeene12 at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2015
People forget to vacuum their couches! So much ugh on there- flakes of skin, dust and debris, pet hair..... Ugh.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:34 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:34 AM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Any woodworking that has tops will need dusting. The outside of the toilet bowl sometimes gets pee drips on it that are hard to see from anywhere but the floor. The inside of garbage cans is often gross. Behind long-hanging pictures there is often a line of dust. Underneath floor lamps or plants or anything that stays in one place on the floor. Anyplace there is a collection of electrical cords dust will gather. Between throw cushions that are not used very often. I don't even know what it's called but when you open a double-hung window the tray that the window was fit into is full of gunk. The sides of the stove, particularly if it's pretty close but not right up against cabinets. The range hood filters and bulbs. Tops of books on bookshelves. The dist ruffles on bets. Inside whatever your heating system is (radiators, baseboards, hot air vents). Drains. Toilet paper holders. Underneath wherever you store the pet food. Underneath where you store the household cleaners. Behind bookshelves.
posted by jessamyn at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Baseboards. This is how we punished people who broke rules in my fraternity house in college.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:26 AM on December 12, 2015
posted by kevinbelt at 8:26 AM on December 12, 2015
If you have a garbage disposal, that rubber splash guard in the drain should be removed and cleaned periodically. It can get pretty gross, and is often the source of the sour smells coming out of your drain.
posted by ezust at 8:32 AM on December 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ezust at 8:32 AM on December 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Door surfaces, esp. near the knob and where people push with hand
The wall or cabinet next to the toilet
Handle on refrigerator door, both sides
Phone
posted by wryly at 8:34 AM on December 12, 2015
The wall or cabinet next to the toilet
Handle on refrigerator door, both sides
Phone
posted by wryly at 8:34 AM on December 12, 2015
Home electronics including but not limited to an laptops, tablet computers and such.
Behind/under the sofa.
Drains/plugholes.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:44 AM on December 12, 2015
Behind/under the sofa.
Drains/plugholes.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:44 AM on December 12, 2015
Inside overhead lights... Little moth graveyard.
posted by Swisstine at 9:03 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Swisstine at 9:03 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The other day I used my kids' tub and was horrified to see the inside of the shower curtain liner black with mold. The kids obviously never told me and maybe the cleaning crew didn't see it because it was sort of folded up? (Being charitable here.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:13 AM on December 12, 2015
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:13 AM on December 12, 2015
oh, and the inner works of the coffee machine. You gotta clean the coffee machine.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:16 AM on December 12, 2015
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:16 AM on December 12, 2015
Take out the filter in your clothes dryer, and clean underneath/behind it. Mine collects a ton of lint.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:57 AM on December 12, 2015
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:57 AM on December 12, 2015
A really gross one I did with a q-tip and vinegar today - the edges and ends and crevices of shower door tracks. The undersides of chair legs, particularly if you have animals.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 10:28 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tatiana wishbone at 10:28 AM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oven knobs. Just did this. Ick.
If you have an older gas stove, the kind that has holes around the burners and you can lift the top (like if the pilot light had gone out and you need to relight it). THAT area, a walk down memory lane as you find pieces of all the meals you've cooked since last it was cleaned. Vacuum highly recommended.
Behind faucets and faucet handles.
Drip trays for any water cooler or ice maker doo-dads.
Underneath floor-board heating.
Kitchen drawers.
Bottom of whatever container you keep your toothbrush in.
posted by danapiper at 12:16 PM on December 12, 2015
If you have an older gas stove, the kind that has holes around the burners and you can lift the top (like if the pilot light had gone out and you need to relight it). THAT area, a walk down memory lane as you find pieces of all the meals you've cooked since last it was cleaned. Vacuum highly recommended.
Behind faucets and faucet handles.
Drip trays for any water cooler or ice maker doo-dads.
Underneath floor-board heating.
Kitchen drawers.
Bottom of whatever container you keep your toothbrush in.
posted by danapiper at 12:16 PM on December 12, 2015
People forget to vacuum their couches!
YES under the cushions, my god the horrors that lurk within. I just found a half peanut in mine, yet have never eaten peanuts in this house. PEANUT MYSTERY.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:34 PM on December 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
YES under the cushions, my god the horrors that lurk within. I just found a half peanut in mine, yet have never eaten peanuts in this house. PEANUT MYSTERY.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:34 PM on December 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
If you keep spice jars anywhere near the stove there will probably be a film of old oil baked onto the containers.
posted by oxisos at 12:39 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oxisos at 12:39 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: under the refrigerator
under dresser drawers...just pull out the bottom drawers and look
under beds
on top of high light fixtures
anywhere out of sight, behind desks, behind or under heavy furniture
inside trash cans
kitchen shelves behind the food storage
bottom of the refrigerator interior under the bottom trays
bathroom cabinets
under the stove or behind it
the oven walls
the kitchen ceiling over and around the stove
underside of cabinets that overhang messy things like blenders
inside of stuffed chairs or couches, in the creases
in cabinets used for trash containers
trash container interiors and exteriors
posted by diode at 1:42 PM on December 12, 2015
under dresser drawers...just pull out the bottom drawers and look
under beds
on top of high light fixtures
anywhere out of sight, behind desks, behind or under heavy furniture
inside trash cans
kitchen shelves behind the food storage
bottom of the refrigerator interior under the bottom trays
bathroom cabinets
under the stove or behind it
the oven walls
the kitchen ceiling over and around the stove
underside of cabinets that overhang messy things like blenders
inside of stuffed chairs or couches, in the creases
in cabinets used for trash containers
trash container interiors and exteriors
posted by diode at 1:42 PM on December 12, 2015
Might just be my dishwasher having a bad design, but nasty gunk collects in the hinge area where one would normally never have occasion to see it.
Curtains need to be vacuumed once in a while, at least the top edges; some can be laundered.
The hidden horizontal surface of lower kitchen cabinets, running between the front face of the cabinets and the toekick, is often spiderwebby in places.
I believe you're supposed to vacuum out a piano occasionally, but have never done this myself.
posted by lakeroon at 7:42 PM on December 12, 2015
Curtains need to be vacuumed once in a while, at least the top edges; some can be laundered.
The hidden horizontal surface of lower kitchen cabinets, running between the front face of the cabinets and the toekick, is often spiderwebby in places.
I believe you're supposed to vacuum out a piano occasionally, but have never done this myself.
posted by lakeroon at 7:42 PM on December 12, 2015
I hate you all. A few of these are "yep, we've got that covered already". The remainder are "crap, that's my Sunday ruined - but I'll feel better afterwards, so I don't really hate you..."
posted by finding.perdita at 1:04 AM on December 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by finding.perdita at 1:04 AM on December 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
The range. Pull it out and look at the cabinets and walls and floor. It will gross you out. GROSS I SAY. Then pop the top on that range and prepare for a double gross out.
posted by Foam Pants at 6:20 PM on December 13, 2015
posted by Foam Pants at 6:20 PM on December 13, 2015
If you have an old electric stove, the under-burner pans get full of gunge... and once they get too far gone.... you can just replace them! A replacement set of four is like $15.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:46 PM on December 13, 2015
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:46 PM on December 13, 2015
Take out the filter in your clothes dryer, and clean underneath/behind it. Mine collects a ton of lint.
...also, lint filled dryer vent hoses/ducts can catch fire. They should be checked and vacuumed out regularly (and get a metal one instead of plastic).
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:30 PM on December 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
...also, lint filled dryer vent hoses/ducts can catch fire. They should be checked and vacuumed out regularly (and get a metal one instead of plastic).
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:30 PM on December 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
The best way I have found to clean the dryer vent hose is to go outside and detach the vent cover. Then reach in as far as you can and drag your fingers down that hose or pipe. Don't use sharp tools, or you might rip it.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 10:35 AM on December 14, 2015
posted by Midnight Skulker at 10:35 AM on December 14, 2015
Inside the detergent, bleach, and fabric softener dispensers in the washing machine. They get unbelievably gunky.
posted by DrGail at 4:51 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by DrGail at 4:51 AM on December 15, 2015
Behind the door. If the room is small, people tend to leave the door open while they clean it.
posted by wrnealis at 5:27 AM on December 16, 2015
posted by wrnealis at 5:27 AM on December 16, 2015
Not part of a home, but if you're concerned about dirt and grime - clean your steering wheel. Take a Lysol wipe or something similar and clean the the steering wheel. You will be appalled at what shows up on the wipe.
posted by qsysopr at 7:27 PM on December 17, 2015
posted by qsysopr at 7:27 PM on December 17, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you have dogs (we have dogs) the lower portion of the doors where they push them open is A Thing. We end up with huge patches of muddy nose nudges.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:21 AM on December 12, 2015