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How to Clean Your Living Room offers tips, tricks and advice on how to tidy up your living room.
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How to Clean Your Living Room offers tips, tricks and advice on how to tidy up your living room.
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Introduction
- The living room is your home's gathering place. It's where you entertain, eat, sleep and crash after a long day of work in front of the TV. People arguably spend more time in their living rooms than anywhere else in their homes. Therefore, your living room deserves a little extra TLC. So, reach between those couch cushions, and see if you can't find that lost remote.
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
- You'll need a complete arsenal of cleaning products to get the job done, and don't think one bottle of 409 will cover it. Different surfaces require different cleaning products. The following is a checklist of the essentials:
Cleaners
- All-Purpose Cleaner like 409
- You can make things even easier on yourself by purchasing pre-soaked disposable cleaning wipes or Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers. They're convenient, but more wasteful than using a bottled cleaner and washable rag.
- Windex or Generic Glass Cleaner (also available as disposable wipes)
- Pledge or Wood Polish (if you have wood furniture)
- Wood Floor Cleaner like Murphy's Oil (if you have wood floors)
Cleaning Tools
- Feather Duster or Dusting Cloth/Mitts
- Vacuum Cleaner
- If you don't have or can't afford a vacuum cleaner, you can purchase a dustbuster or, better yet, a Swiffer.
- Broom and Dustpan
- Sponges and Rags
- Paper Towels
- Trash Bags
Step 2: Clean Your Living Room
- You may do a good job keeping your living room relatively tidy, but living rooms do require a deep-cleaning every once in awhile. So, strap on your goggles, and prepare to dig deep into those couch cushions. It's time to clean your home's most inviting room.
- Throw away any trash lingering in your living room.
- Take anything that doesn't belong in the living room and return it to its proper place, throw it out or find a home for it.
- Dust and clean all the art and photos on the wall. (Do not use liquid, which can become trapped behind the glass, when cleaning artwork. A dry, clean cloth will do.)
- Take down any curtains for cleaning, or dust the blinds.
- Retrieve any missing remotes, loose change or misplaced underwear from between your couch's cushions. Run a dustbuster or one of your vacuum's nozzle attachments over the couch. Wash the cushion covers if they're removable. Fluff and replace the cushions.
- Dust any lamps or knick-knacks.
- Remove the books, DVDs and CDs from their shelves. Dust the shelves. If you need to, reorganize your DVDs and CDs as you put it back on the shelves.
- As a rule, clean left to right and top to bottom when cleaning shelves. Going left to right will prevent you from missing a spot. Starting at the top will cause dust to fall to the floor, which always gets cleaned last.
- Take everything off the entertainment center, coffee table and side tables. Dust and clean the furniture with the appropriate cleaner. Put everything back in an orderly fashion.
- Beat or vacuum any rugs.
- Vacuum or clean the floors. Move furniture if you have to.
Step 3: Keep It That Way
- Now that you've got your living room ready for prime time, keep it that way. Try inviting a friend over every couple of weeks. The social pressure may keep you on the up and up. You should also spend a few minutes everyday doing the following:
- Do a quick dustbuster once-over of your couch.
- Wipe tabletops.
- Put away CDs, DVDs and other media.
Resources for How to Clean Your Apartment
- eHow.com: How to Clean Your Apartment
- Parenting: Get a "Clean" Head Start
- ApartmentLiving: How to Organize Your Apartment
- CNN.com: How to clean your home in 19 minutes
- AskMen.com: How To: Clean Your Place in 15 Minutes
- SoYouWanna.com: SoYouWanna Clean Your Apartment
- About.com: Cleaning Supplies: A Basic List - 15 Minute Cleanups for Every Room