Before summer leaves and our time is spent schooling, planning, or cold-weather-preparing, it’s always good to do some last-minute spring cleaning. Luckily, getting your house tidy and neat doesn’t have to take forever, and you don’t need to spend a week cleaning your home head to toe. Cleaning your floors, hard surfaces, and furniture can help your house feel brand new without the week of decluttering! HomCo Lumber and Hardware carries multiple types of cleaners for multiple surfaces, so that when your floors and kitchens are looking a little worse for wear, you can pick everything up at one location. Check out our Hardware Department for our cleaners, and get your floors, rooms, and furniture looking fresh for the fall season.

Bathroom and Kitchen Cleaners:

HomCo Lumber and Hardware carries multiple brands of all-purpose cleaning products, like Clorox, Zep, and CLR, but we have a myriad of other products. Not only do we have these typical cleaners, but we also carry citrus cleaners and other environmentally-friendly and natural cleaning products. We also have mold and mildew cleaners and grout cleaners.

Additionally, we carry multiple sponges,microfiber cloths, and squeegees available for purchase to help you with the cleaners.

Cleaning Process:

The best way to clean your bathrooms and kitchen is to first tackle any of the hard, grimey stains and buildups. Spray your cleaner of choice on any buildup to allow it to soak in while you start cleaning something that will take less time, like the faucets, handles, or sinks. After you’ve cleaned your other item of choice, the scum buildup should come off a lot easier. Two birds with one stone!

With your bathroom, tackling the bathtub and toilet first is often the way to go, just to get the most difficult and time-consuming part out of the way. Use your cleaner of choice and tackle any grout cleaning that you may have with the associated product. Some recommend a toothbrush for help with grout cleaning to make it go by quicker. After that is all done, you can hit your sink and mirror, and lastly the floor. You can pick and choose what you need to do. If you clean your toilet often, maybe just focus on mopping the floor. Customize your cleaning to your lifestyle and save some time.

Cleaning your kitchen will take a little bit more work. You can clean your countertops much the same as in your bathroom with microfiber cloths, but your stove will require something a bit different. If it is especially greasy, consider using a grease cleaner for stovetops. The main difference between your kitchen and bathroom is size. It will take a bit more time to get all of your countertops cleaned up, and the grease off of your stove, but it will leave your kitchen feeling fresh.

Floor Cleaners:

We carry carpet cleaners like carpet stain removers and carpet shampoos that are pet friendly. We also have floor polishes and cleaners specifically for both hardwood and stone, stone sealants, and other related products.

Cleaning Process:

Before you start to clean any floor, make sure to dust the room so that you don’t have to clean the floor twice. The general rule of thumb is to work top-down so that you don’t have to reclean anything, and the floors are no exception. Before you deep clean the floor, you should vacuum or sweep to get all of the dust and dirt away.

Vacuuming the floor is simple enough, but if your carpet is looking dingy, it’s best to rent or buy a steam cleaner to really get that carpet looking new. It may take a while to get your carpet completely clean, and the carpet also needs time to air dry, but this is a deep clean that you only need to do when it’s necessary. With kids away at school and off of the carpets, maybe it’s a good time to give your carpet some TLC. If you don’t need a whole deep clean, but there are a few stains that you want to take care of, consider picking up the stain remover to get rid of it instead of doing the whole carpet.

With hard floors, the process of cleaning will differ a bit. First you need to choose a cleaner that is appropriate for your floor. Tile flooring will only need some mopping with your chosen product, though make sure, with tiled and bathroom floors, to use low sudsing products, as the suds will scratch the floor and will lead to dust collecting easier. Hardwood floors and veneer floors will need more specific attention, however. Veneer floors require specialized cleaner when you want to get that deep clean done, and also require that you don’t soak your mop when you clean them. A damp mop will do just fine. With wood flooring, a damp mop is also recommended. Make sure to follow the grain of the wood, and use related cleaners specially made for wood flooring. Make sure to let your floors dry, and if there is anything structurally wrong with your floor, either attend to it, or get it checked out by a professional.

Furniture Cleaners:

HomCo Lumber and Hardware carries wood wax, wood conditioner, leather cleaner, and leather conditioner. We also have fabric protectors, and fabric waterproofing.

Cleaning Process:

Like flooring, it’s best to clean furniture when there’s not many people around. Also like flooring, you’ll need to be particular about what products you use.

For wood furniture, use gentle cleaners, like the wood waxing and wood conditioning. If there’s a stain you wish to get rid of, make a paste with baking soda and scrub the area. Make sure not to let it soak up too much water or else the integrity of the wood will be ruined. There are also wood cleaning products for the same purpose, but make sure to follow the instructions on the labels.

Fabric furniture is a different story. Before you begin cleaning it, make sure you check the label and see what sort of cleaning is allowed. Some furniture only allows water, some allow cleaning with products, and some allow neither! If it’s a smell you want to get rid of, some people recommend baking soda. Just make sure to let it sit.

Leather furniture is a bit more complicated. Not only do we have leather cleaners, we also carry leather conditioning, because leather furniture can and should be conditioned once every six months or so. Follow the instructions on your bottle and couch label, but remember to be gentle. After you condition the couch, let it sit for at least overnight, though 24 hours is usually better, before you use it again so that the conditioner can settle and the couch can regain its moisture.

Conclusion

Spring may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tidy up your house before fall. You can clean your floors, condition your couch, or work on that soap scum that you’ve been eyeing for a few weeks and should really take care of. Stop by HomCo Lumber and Hardware and peruse our aisle of cleaning products. We have many different brands and products that can help your kitchen, bathroom, furniture, and carpets. If you have any questions or need other assistance, don’t hesitate to ask one of our helpful associates for assistance. Freshen up your house for fall, and enjoy the last month of summer in a nice, clean, refreshing home!