Yesterday when I shared my Deep Cleaning Routine for the Kitchen, I neglected to tell you it is the biggest of my deep cleans. It is the one which takes the longest to complete. And it is the one which feels like such a triumph when it is completed.
Today, I am lightening the load a bit by sharing my Deep Cleaning Routine for our Living Room. This is the routine I also use for our loft area – a common area. So, this routine would work for any of the family spaces you have in your home.
I say it is lighter because I can accomplish this in less than an hour, easy. If I throw on just the right playlist, I can complete it in about 30 minutes. But this is not a game of Name that Tune, is it?
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The Details of my Deep Cleaning Routine
Alright, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of deep cleaning my living room.
First, a strategy. I work top to bottom and clockwise in all my rooms. In the living room, I start with the absolute center of the room on the ceiling. Then I work my way to the perimeter of the room, working in the same top to bottom fashion. I don’t want you get lost along the way. It’s not a big room, but it needs to be sectioned off to make it easier to clean.
Deep Cleaning Living Room Ceiling Fans, Lamps, & Vents
I start my deep cleaning session in the living room with the ceiling fan for a couple of reasons. First, I want to get all the dust down off the ceiling fan before I sweep and vacuum in there – no sense doing it twice. Second, I want to have the ceiling fan clean and running while I am cleaning – no allergies and less sweating. Yea!
First step – I turn off the ceiling fan. While it is winding down to a stop, I go through the room and grab all the throw blankets I can find and put them in the washing machine. I run them on a quick cycle. So the washing machine serves as a timer for the first part of my living room deep clean.
I have a detailed Spring Cleaning tutorial for our ceiling fan. You can check that out here. The intensive clean is not necessary more than twice a year, but I do dust off the fans with a Swiffer at least twice a month.
I use a vacuum attachment and a wet microfiber cloth to clean the air conditioning vents and returns in my room. And a Swiffer helps to clean lamps, too.
Deep Cleaning Living Room Walls & Baseboards
When I have worked my way to the perimeter of the room, I get a bucket of warm, soapy water and a microfiber cloth to wipe down the walls and baseboards. We have little fingers leaving messy prints in some of the craziest places. A good wipe down from ceiling to floor, paying special attention to the baseboards works wonders for the sparkle of a room.
Magic Erasers are a useful solution for scuffed baseboards. I stock up on them and use them in many places in my house.
A quick run over door handles, light switches, and outlets is also completed in this process.
Deep Cleaning Living Room Windows & Blinds
I tend to dust blinds with a Swiffer on the weeks I am not vacuuming them as part of my vacuum routine. So I kind of take my pick on either Swiffer or vacuum cleaning of the blinds and window frames to remove dust. I follow up the dusting process with the same damp microfiber cloth from before. Going over the blinds when they are closed one way, and then the other usually works for me. A quick wipe down of the window frames and I call it good.
Deep Cleaning Living Room Furniture
Again top to bottom works for hard furniture surfaces and shelves. This is not the time to Swiffer and go. Rather, I move everything moveable and wipe down with a dry microfiber cloth. If the surface is able to be wiped down with a wet cloth, I also do that while I am at it.
Note: this may be a great time to consider removing about 10 items from the room – a simple declutter project whilst cleaning. Oh, my heart!
Soft furnishings like upholstered fabric chairs and couches are next on the list. I have a detailed tutorial for cleaning upholstered furnishings. And I have another one for cleaning leather furnishings. Basic deep cleaning procedures apply here. Taking out the cushions and removing throw pillows, vacuuming, and putting it all back in place. Wiping down the leather surfaces at a minimum.
As I work on the soft furnishings, I toss the throw pillows into our steam dryer and run a quick refresh cycle. It takes 20 minutes and serves for the timer on the rest of my deep clean routine for the living room. After those are done, I can do put the blankets I put in the washing machine into the dryer.
Deep Cleaning Living Room Floors & Rugs
We have tile in our living room, with a big rug in the middle of the room. When I am doing my deep cleaning routine, I pull the coffee table off the rug, and pull back the accent chair and table, too. That way, I can lift up and clean under the rug – sweep, vacuum, mop.
I actually vacuum the rug twice – once before I lift it up to clean under it, and again after I have cleaned under it. I have noticed shifting the rug in this way can kick up dust that needs to be dealt with.
Then the floors are ready for a good mopping. I mentioned I only use on all-purpose cleaner in my kitchen. This is the only one I use in the living room.
Living Room Refresh
I like to light a nice smelling candle at the end of my refresh. It just makes the room feel much more cozy.
Sometimes I have gotten wax on the mirror in our living room. I had to figure out the best way to get wax off of the mirror. Ugh! I wrote a tutorial for that here, if you need it.
If you are looking to declutter a bit after your deep clean, I recommend you start here. There are some super simple tips to keep clutter at bay in your living room.
Did you get your copy of the free printable deep cleaning checklist for your kitchen yesterday?
A Deep Cleaning Checklist
After years of doing this deep clean in my living room on a monthly basis, I have the steps in my mind. But even I can use some reminders. A checklist has a way of making me feel even more accomplished. So I came up with a checklist for deep cleaning my living room.
I posted the printable deep cleaning versions of my checklists into the Facebook group I started – Simple Homeschooling Blessings. Please request to join for all sorts of encouragement in a small community of like-minded mamas.
Might I suggest that you print it out and laminate it (for real or cheap-o style) and toss it in your cleaning bucket. That way you can check it off with a dry erase marker, erase, and repeat each week, month, or season.
Please stay with me through the week, as I will be bringing you more printable deep cleaning checklists for other areas of your home.
Blessings!
