How to clean your baseboards, and how often should you do it
Cleaning the baseboards is essential in having a spotless home and very often overlooked, especially, for households with a lot of activity.
Cleaning your baseboards is not hard at all. Still, it’s something else to pay attention to when doing your regular cleaning. Where is the end, right?
Now, you might be thinking, “I do clean them.” But be honest, do you “clean” them or just dust them?
If you dust your baseboards every time you vacuum your home, that is great! You would be surprised how much grime they collect in a short time, so to make it easy for you, I found some quick and easy ways to get them nice and clean.
Different Ways to Dust
- Vacuum using the brush attachment. This will sweep off any dust and hair and suck it up at the same time. A convenient method if you have trouble bending down.
- Sweep them with a dusting brush, a broom, or a clean paintbrush. You may have to bend over a little more, as most of these brushes are handheld.
- Use a microfiber or lambswool duster. These types of dusters might be an extra cost, but you can use them on ceiling fans, and they come with extending handles. So, again, you don’t have to do a lot of bending over.
Remember that you should do the dusting of the baseboards before you do the vacuuming.
Now that you have done the dusting, it’s time to clean those baseboards, so let’s talk about why and how to do it.
Why do we need to clean the baseboards? Let’s take a look at kitchens, as these baseboards are often overlooked. All the grease splatters and food just sticks on the baseboards and stays there. You may not notice how dirty they are, but once you clean them, you would be surprised by the difference they make to the look and feel of the entire area.
So let’s get to cleaning them and making your room shine.
Before you start cleaning your baseboards, you need to have in mind that the cleaning takes a little more “elbow grease” to get it done, and you will have to do a little bending too. Again, here are a few easy ways to clean them, that won’t break you back.
Clean
- Use a degreaser, especially if you do a lot of frying when cooking. It might surprise a lot of people that you can use a degreaser on your baseboards, but it does wonders. Most baseboards are coated with semi-gloss paint that is designed to take cleaning chemicals well. Spray it on, wipe it off, and voila!
- You can also use a Magic Eraser, wet it in soapy water, and scrub, scrub, scrub until clean. Make sure the sponge is not too wet as it will leave the boards damp.
- This one might sound familiar, use a microfiber cloth. These cloths are great for cleaning so many things in and around the house, including your baseboards. Just dampen the microfiber cloth and wipe the baseboards clean.
- Cleaning wipes. They are a quick solution to clean any surface in your house.
Remember, when you are cleaning your baseboards, you will have to scrub a little harder, so you have to use your hands. There are some baseboard cleaner mops that you can purchase if you have difficulty with bending over, and they work OK. You will, however, get a better result by doing it manually.
Oh, and if you have just a little extra time, here’s a little hack to keep the dust off your baseboards, at least for a little while. Once they are clean give them another wipe with a mixture of 7-parts water and 1-part fabric softener. Who would’ve thought that the chemical that keeps your clothes smelling good and feeling soft, also repels dust? I love it, so please try it too!
So, there you have it! Dust your baseboards when you vacuum, clean them once a month, and your baseboards will surprisingly bring back the shine that was missing in your house, even after your usual spring cleaning.