Do not let this list of ten locations you’re likely to neglect to clean make you feel horrible about yourself. Even the most conscientious of us can become accustomed to our cleaning procedures and overlook less prominent locations. This does include me, and I, Mark Roemer, write eBooks on the subject of cleaning the house.

While these ten areas are now all part of my cleaning routines, they were originally there because I recognized I’d been ignoring them for a long time.

Rather than relying on my recollection, I put them onto my cleaning checklists because most of them are areas that require constant attention and require regular cleaning. How many of these do you think you’re overlooking?

Window Screens and Windowsills

If you don’t do these, you’ll find yourself with the dust settling on your furniture the moment you open your windows to enjoy a refreshing breeze.

They’re simple enough to clean with the help of your vacuum’s dust attachment. Alternatively, you can remove the screens and rinse them with your yard hose. While the window is open, use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe down the sill and tracks, as well as the glass.

Sink Stoppers

Prepare to be appalled if you’ve never cleaned your bathroom sink by removing the stopper from the faucet handle.

Everything that goes down your drain comes into contact with the plastic shaft of the stopper, and some of it ends up adhering to the plug. Not only that, but soap scum, grime, and other residues combine to form a biofilm, which harbors pathogenic germs and foul odors. At the very least, once a month, use a disinfecting cleaner to clean it.

Gaskets for Garbage Disposal

Like the stopper mechanism, the garbage disposal gasket comes into contact with everything that goes down your kitchen drain: food, soap, whatever is on your hands, and so on.

The presence of fruit flies in your home could be due to this location. Pry up the rubber flanges with care, then clean them well with a mild detergent once a week.

Laundry Basket or Laundry Hamper

Do you transport filthy clothes to the washing room in your laundry basket and then employ the same basket to transport clean, folded garments back to their original location in your home? You already know where this is going: that soiled clothing is leaving gunk behind that gets transferred to your clean garments.

It doesn’t sound so horrible until you consider the inconvenience of having to lug a child’s wet bedding in the middle of the night or your teenager’s sweaty football jersey. Then it occurs to you: this should be regularly cleaned with a disinfecting cloth!

Under the Bed

Monsters are not the only things that enjoy hiding under beds. It is pretty easy to find dust mites under there as well. No matter if you use this space for storage — and many of us do — you should remove everything from beneath your bed once a month and clean or vacuum the area around it.

If you have pets or family members who suffer from severe allergies, you may wish to perform this procedure more frequently.

The T.V Remote

Dropped on the floor, sneezed and coughed on, and grasped with filthy hands, your television remote becomes a victim of circumstance. But there you are, sitting in front of the television, snacking on popcorn with a side of E. coli. Yum.

Maintain the cleanliness of your remote by wiping it down with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol at least once a week.

That Drawer Under Your Oven

Not all drawers beneath the oven are designed to keep food warm; many are only for storage purposes. All oven drawers have one thing in common: a frightening amount of dust accumulates behind them, especially if you have pets.

Pull the drawer out at least once a season to clean beneath it, and more frequently if you’ve been experiencing a cockroach or other household bug problem.

Exhaust Fans for Bathrooms

Fans clogged with dirt and grime do not effectively remove the humidity that causes bathroom mold and mildew. They also offer a significant fire hazard.

Every three months, carefully remove the fan cover and vacuum the blades with the dust attachment to keep them in good working order. Before putting the fan cover back in place, wash and dry it well.

Lightbulbs

I know it may seem like I am going way overboard at this cleaning thing, but dust accumulation on lightbulbs means you’re paying full price for less light, which is a waste of money. Whether or not a lampshade protects them, you must keep your light bulbs clean for them to operate correctly. 

This can be accomplished by shutting off the light and cooling it entirely before wiping it down with a microfiber cloth. Include this item on your list of seasonal cleaning chores. You will be surprised by how much better you will feel the next day, especially those of us that suffer from seasonal allergies.

Ceilings

No matter how fortunate you are to live in a home without popcorn or textured ceilings, you’d be shocked at how much dust accumulates on the upper levels of your home.

Maintain a regular cleaning schedule for yours, and you’ll appreciate how much less dust you’ll discover drifting around in your home’s air as a result.

Conclusion Many people think that I, Mark Roemer, tend to take things a little too far when cleaning the house. I tend to believe that a clean home is a happy home. It has long been said that when your house is cluttered and unclean, your mind follows suit. In other words, some people find it hard to relax when their house contains large amounts of clutter or debris. Try cleaning just half of this list and tell me that your mind doesn’t relax much better during your downtime. Thank you for allowing me to share just a few of the things I clean regularly. Follow my blog for more tips and tricks for your home.