Dreamy Clean Kids' Rooms

For all those of you who aren’t certain where to start when spring cleaning your kids’ rooms — maybe you can not even find their rooms beneath all the mess — we’ve devised a thorough list that leaves no pillow unturned. Shoo the kids outdoors, open the windows and turn some high-energy music. Let’s get started!

Robert Young Architects

1. Flip and rotate the mattress. When was the last time you did this? While you’re at it, vacuum or dust the mattress frame and box springs. If your child is still in a crib or a toddler bed, then wipe the railings and in between the slats with disinfecting wipes or a moist cloth soaked in warm water and gentle soap.

Smith & Vansant Architects PC

2. Wipe down publications and dust the bookshelves. A microfiber cloth makes for a fantastic duster since it traps and removes dust rather than spreading it about. Take out every book and dust every nook and cranny. Wipe down every book, especially your child’s well-thumbed copies, which almost always have remnants of their afternoon snacks lodged in between webpages.

TRUFIG

TRUFIG iPad Mount (CM-2000)

3. Look at going digital. If you find it really hard to toss out books you haven’t touched in years, you will probably find it tough to do the same with your kid’s book collection. But when he or she has not touched a book in months, it’s just collecting dust. Keep favorites and classics and think about buying digital copies of this remainder.

Cristi Holcombe Interiors, LLC

4. Polish lamps and lights. Unscrew and gloss lightbulbs with a microfiber cloth dampened with water (be careful not to wet the alloy thread base). Recessed ceiling-light fixtures should be cleaned with a telescoping lamb’s wool duster. A broad paintbrush with natural bristles is fantastic for removing dust from hard-to-reach stains, like a lampshade’s pleats.

Iris

5. Purge the closet. Minimalist Mother Janet Jonat states, “Quit doing the laundry until someone complains they don’t have anything clean to wear. Whatever is still hanging in the closet can be contributed — it’s not being worn in your home anyway.”

Designs for Living

6. Wash windows. I swear by cleaning with a wet sponge, followed by a wipe-down with a rubber-edged squeegee. But some mothers over in the Green Baby Guide use the old-fashioned method of wiping window panes with a newspaper and vinegar-water spray.

ducduc

7. Launder, launder, launder. Rent or buy a shampooer vacuum for synthetic rugs. For delicate weaves and wool carpets like the yellow Tibetan carpet pictured above, contact a professional for cleaning.

Kerrie L. Kelly

8. Don’t overlook throw pillows and bean bag covers. Covers often get overlooked to your laundry when clothes make mountains all by themselves, so collect them all up for a good washing. Unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer, it’s generally safe to wash silk bean bag covers from the machine and to dry them on medium heat. Vinyl bag covers should be wiped with a cloth dipped in hot, soapy water. Bean bag covers also go through a great deal of wear and tear, so check for holes that need patching up.

Read bean bags

Kate Jackson Design

9. Grab the toy basket. You never truly understand what you are likely to find in the base of the toy basket — but it’s really crucial that you learn. Wipe the inside and out of your kid’s toy containers in accordance with their material and vacuum for extra measure. Sterile plastic toys and board games with disinfecting wipes. Disinfect plush toys by running them through a gentle wash or freezing them immediately. (Germs don’t survive from the freezer)

Once it comes to fixing the toy basket, Tsh Oxenreider (pronounced “Tish”) from Straightforward Mom recommends the next steps: “Sort through the toys along with your children, toss any broken toys or ones with missing parts and select the ones they have outgrown — those are all the ones moving into your donate box. I find that the fewer toys that my kids have, the more they perform with them.”

Clifton Leung Design Workshop – CLDW.com.hk

10. Clean the ceiling fan. Most fans have a switch on the base to correct the rotation direction. Martha Stewart advocates a counterclockwise direction for a more pleasant breeze in the warmer months.

Browse ceiling fans

11. Wipe wooden blinds. Use a few drops of gentle wood cleaner onto a relatively dry sponge. Wash aluminum dividers outdoors. Place them on an old sheet onto a slanted surface and wash with water along with a noncorrosive cleaner. Rinse well and then dry thoroughly with a towel to stop rust.

Feldman Architecture, Inc..

12. Steam, dry-clean and vacuum curtains. Even when you’re replacing your thick drapes with airy ones for warmer weather, it’s important to eliminate dirt and dust before storing them.

Ben Dial

13. Replace batteries. Evaluation and replace batteries when necessary in wall and alarm clocks, toys as well as most significant, smoke alarm batteries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends changing your smoke alarm batteries at least once annually, since two-thirds of fire deaths occur in households with either no smoke alarms or smoke alarms that don’t work, according to the commission.

Tara Seawright Interior Design

14. Tackle bathtub toys and shower curtains. Cease moisture-loving mould from growing in the bathtub and bath-toy bin by drying toys immediately after bath time. Once a week, wash each toy with a child-friendly cleaner like Dapple Baby’s surface cleanser, which can be free from parabens, phthalates, dioxane and dyes.

Trim your shower curtain therefore that it doesn’t sweep the floor and generate a puddle (along with a home for mold) after every bath. Leave the plastic liner dangling inside of the bathtub so splashes are contained.

Cara Woodhouse Interiors LLC

15. Wipe down the table. Oh, if only every one of our changing tables may be as clean as this one! Along with cleaning the table, disinfect cream bottles, tubes of diaper cream and containers of diaper wipes.

Diaper Pail – Rising Red – $319

16. Disinfect the diaper pail. This is a battle to think of a homeowner-uploaded picture of a diaper pail — perhaps because ers would rather not record what’s by far the stinkiest, germ-infested receptacle in the home.

First things first. Before cleaning, remove the diaper pail from the room to stop germs from spreading. Empty the pail, wash all the grooves and joints, and wipe the inside and out with disinfecting wipes. Wipe clean with a dry cloth.

Crisp Architects

17. Tidy up the closet. To prevent tracking dirt into the mudroom, wash basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, baseballs and other sports gear out. Use sanitizing wipes to wash baseball bats, lacrosse sticks and other sports equipment. After washing protective equipment with soft padding, let all items air dry whenever possible to reduce mold and fungus growth and to remove odors.

Tell us : What is your funniest memory of cleanup something of your kid’s? Share your story from the Remarks section below.

More:
Get Organized: 5 Methods to Keep Toys Tidy
Designing Through the Eyes of a Child
Fantasy Kids’ Rooms

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