How to Clean Baseboards: Tricks to Make it Easier
As the holidays approach, so does the frenzied cleaning that comes along with family gatherings. What if we told you that the cleaning frenzy you go through every year didn’t have to happen? Let’s walk through one cleaning routine—how to clean baseboards—so you don’t have to worry about it this holiday season.
Creating a Cleaning Routine
We’ve all been there before—you start in January with a resolution to clean the entire house every week to keep up with the mess. But then life gets busy, and cleaning duties get left behind. Creating a cleaning routine, such as knowing how to clean baseboards efficiently, will keep you on track for a clean house all year long.
Start with manageable cleaning goals each week and fill in your routine every month with additional cleaning duties. Knowing how to clean your baseboards throughout the year starts with a simple approach.
Create a cleaning routine that works for your home and schedule. When you’re not feeling overwhelmed with your cleaning to-do list, you will feel like you can accomplish more each time. You may even get inspiration for some new home décor with the added sense of accomplishment.
Light Cleaning for Baseboards
Your cleaning routine each week should include a light cleaning of your baseboards after you’ve cleaned everything else. This will help eliminate dust from collecting and causing allergy flare-ups or other potential health problems. Plus, dusting your baseboards each week will save you time and stress around the holidays.
Dusting isn’t the only light cleaning your baseboards might need each week. If you have children or pets in the home, you may need to wipe off scuff marks or spills each week, as well.
Swiffer
Do you already have a Swiffer at home that maybe doesn’t get used as often as it should? Bring that Swiffer out of retirement and use it every week on your baseboards. Purchase a Swiffer with the longer attachments, and you’ll save time and effort with your weekly cleanings.
Vacuum Attachment
Your vacuum likely has cleaning adapters and attachments to help clean a variety of places in your home. Just like a Swiffer, your vacuum has longer adapters that can help clean your baseboards without giving you a backache.
Cleaning Grime From Baseboards
If you haven’t cleaned your baseboards in a while, or you have pets and children in your home, grime might be a regular problem for your baseboards. Scuff marks, dirt, spills, and other messes require serious effort to remove or clean from your baseboards. Here are a few tricks to make that process easier.
Magic Eraser
A Magic Eraser really does work like magic! You can use this magical cleaning tool just about anywhere in the house. To help aid your Magic Eraser, use a light cleaning product, a mix of soap and water, or a combination of warm water and vinegar.
Sponge with Warm Water and Vinegar
A sponge will work too if you don’t have a Magic Eraser available. Use a mix of warm water and vinegar to help rid your baseboards of tough scuff marks and grime. The acidity in vinegar can help break down some of the toughest grime on your baseboards.
Castile Soap
Castile soap is vegetable-based, so it is eco-friendly and not damaging to your skin. But just because it’s plant-based doesn’t mean it isn’t ready for the job of cleaning your baseboards. With Castile soap, a little bit goes a long way. Just add to warm water and use a sponge or microfiber cloth and watch the grime wipe away easily from your baseboards.
Tips for Making it Easier
We’ve talked a bit already about how to clean baseboards efficiently and effectively, but let’s talk about making some of those tasks even easier. Talk with our experienced team about finishes for your baseboards that might make clean up easier!
Using an Extender for the Magic Eraser
Your Magic Eraser works magic each time you use it, but it also works your back and knees from the bending involved. Pick up an extended MagicReach or use a Magic Eraser roller mop and take some of the pressure off your back and knees.
Prevent Dust by Using Dryer Sheets After Cleaning
You can use dryer sheets for more than laundry. Rub a dryer sheet over your baseboards after you’ve dusted and cleaned off any grime. The antistatic properties that make dryer sheets so good for laundry help propel dust away from your freshly cleaned baseboards.
Need to Replace Your Baseboards?
Now that you know how to clean baseboards efficiently, you may notice that your baseboards don’t sparkle as they used to. It might be time to replace them in your home if your cleaning routine isn’t cutting it.
Reach out to us at The Moulding Company, or visit one of our showrooms in San Francisco, CA, to see what baseboard options we have available. Let us help you bring your home décor ideas to life with our experienced team of designers.