This week is not as grueling as the last weeks were but it is an important week none-the-less. The hallways are places that we tend to take for granted but really need to pay attention to. They tend to have closets that we throw our messes into and just forget about all year. The floors are victims of constant traffic and should be taken care of during spring cleaning season. We have 3 closets in our long hallway and the poor floor by our front door is in dire need of TLC.
Day 1: Pick one closet, pull out whats inside and decide what can go. Purging is going to be very important in this process, so if you haven’t used it within the year, it should probably be thrown out or given away. Sweep out the closet, wipe off the shelves and put back the items you will keep. Also, if this is a closet where you keep your coats or guest coats when they visit, you may want to keep a room refresher in there(like an air wick decosphere or equivalent) . Since that type of closet will be used more often, its nice to smell something pleasant every time you open the door. Plus, pleasant smells like lemon sends signals to the brain and tells it that the area is cleaner than it may be. I burn lemon essential oil before my friends come over every time and they always comment about how clean my house is, even if all I did was tidy up the living room lol.
Day 2: Repeat day one with the next closet(if you only have one closet, skip to day 4).
Day 3: repeat day one with the next closet
Day 4: Concentrate on those floors. If your area is hardwood like mine, give the floor a very thorough wipe down with water(no soap!), let dry, then give a coat of wax or sealer. If you have carpeted flooring in the hallway, sprinkle with baking soda, let sit, then vacuum. Now look for spots. If there are some, proceed to day 5. If not, spray with a nice fabric refresher spray(febreeze or equivalent) and move on to day 6.
Day 5: Not done with that floor yet! For hardwood floors, give it another coat of the wax, if you feel the need. After letting it sit for a day, you can easily see if one coat was enough or if you need yet another. For carpeted floors, put down a spot removal cleaner on those trouble spots. And yes, you guessed it, vinegar is a great spot remover from carpets. Use it straight from the bottle, don’t dilute it, and you’ll have the spot out in about 5 to 10 minutes. No need to vacuum again unless you feel like you want to.
Day 6: Get those cobwebs! We tend to forget about them because they are so high up, but your guests(and you) will spend more time in the hallways than most other places in the house. Just think, when a guest comes into your house, one of the first things they do is look up. Its human nature and one of those things we do for protection, so make sure those cobbies are banished. A mop turned upside down tends to do a good job of getting the ones high up.
Day 7: Give the hallways and closets a good once over. Did you miss anything? Want to move something around or give something else away? These closets are a place for us to hide those things that we “might” like to keep. Having you look at the beginning AND the end of the cleaning cycle ensures that you’ll get out everything that is not needed. Plus, once you clean all week, you are likely to purge more than before you started cleaning.