You've seen my daily and weekly lists, so now here's an overview of monthly tasks I try to tackle. I don't necessarily do all of these things on the same day always, but many of them are simple enough that I can do several of them in one day. What would you add to this list?
MONTHLY TASKS: sweep out and clean up garage, dust ceiling fans and light globes, wash walls and light switch plates, clean baseboards, clean out fridge and both freezers, wipe down all doors, cycle clean the dishwasher and washing machine, clean garbage cans, wash bed quilts, straighten up all closets
MY NOTES ABOUT DAILY TASKS:
* Garage cleaning is something Brent and I do together. We remove the car and truck first, and then we sweep, use the shop vacuum, and put away stray items. It's about a 30 minute task, and we try to do it on a day when the weather is nice.
* This is another team task since I can't reach some of the ceiling fans without getting on a ladder. If you have ceiling fans over your bed, clean them while the linens are in the wash or use an old bed sheet to catch the dust bunnies. This task takes less than 5 minutes per ceiling fan.
* Okay, so I don't wash all of the walls from top to bottom necessarily, but I do go to each room and look for hot spots (around light switches, near the baseboards, Chandler's room, etc...). Most of the time I just use a soft wet cloth and gently scrub any spots I see. Switch plates are fairly easy to clean with just a damp cloth.
* Baseboards are not my friend! They collect dust way more quickly than I like, and they take a lot of time to clean. However, a couple of years ago, thanks to Pinterest, I discovered that wiping them down with a dryer sheet helps keep at least some of the dust from settling on them. So, after I clean them well, I usually wipe them down with a dryer sheet. I am teaching Chandler how to do this in hopes that he might take over one day. (A girl can dream, right?)
* I take everything out of the fridge and freezers (I have a small one in addition to the one with the fridge) and wipe them down with a cloth soaked in warm, soapy water. It takes about half an hour to do all three as long as I don't wait too long in between cleaning sessions.
* If I ever build a house, the doors inside of it will be solid with no panels. Dusting doors with panels isn't necessarily all that difficult, but after you do about 10 (or more) of them front and back, it can get pretty boring. As long as I don't wait too long between cleanings, I can usually use a damp cloth for this task.
* Clean cycling the dishwasher and washing machine are actually two of the easiest tasks on this list. I use vinegar, and it works wonders!
* Cleaning the garbage cans is something I generally have Brent to do. He generally uses dish detergent and the water hose outside, and then he turns them over to drain and dry for a while before putting them back inside. When I first started asking him to do this, he thought I was crazy. However, it's a necessary task in order to keep a clean and fresh-smelling house.
* Washing the bed quilts is another relatively simple task, and it keeps our beds looking and smelling fresh.
* I like to go through all of the closets in the house about once a month and do some general straightening up. I spend about five minutes per closet putting things back in their proper place or tidying up the spaces. It saves me a lot of time later on, and I love the way it looks.
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