As the warmth of summer fades away and the leaves start to change, you’ll want to get your home winter ready. There’s plenty to do inside and out! Here’s a handy checklist of “to-do’s” before Jack Frost comes knocking.
With fall in the air, it’s a great time to start with your winter preparations and enjoy the outdoors with these five basic outdoor work chores:
- Clean and put away patio furniture, and roll up outdoor rugs for the season.
- Tidy up your gardens and lawn with fall pruning. Turn over your garden beds; clean out old pots and planters; remove old soil and dead plants to get ready for new ones, and rake your lawn.
- Cleaning eaves after the leaves have fallen is essential to home maintenance and preventing water overflow and basement flooding.
- Wash windows inside and out, and check the seals around the windows to keep drafts out and heat in.
- Place a new outside front door mat to keep mud, dirt and debris from entering your home.
Plan your inside work with these 12 handy chores:
- Disinfect – We have many items in our house that make for the perfect breeding ground for bacteria to spread. In light of our continued fight against the Coronavirus, disinfecting is a must. Think of items that get handled regularly like remote controls, computer keyboards, gaming console controllers, light switches, door knobs, toilet bowl handles, fridge and freezer door handles, cupboard door handles in the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms.
- Check all your smoke detectors and CO2 alarms – High on your to-do list of household winter tasks should be to check all the batteries in your smoke and emergency alarms, ensuring every safety feature is working properly in your home. If you have a security alarm, give that a test, too, as burglaries can increase leading up to Christmas.
- De-fuzz your dryer – Lint build-up can be a fire hazard, so you want to clean and wash your filters, as well as the vent pipe.
- Clean your oven – With weather changing, you’re likely going to start using your oven to cook up some savoury winter dishes. Get it ready with a good deep clean, and rid your oven of any smells and smoke from baked-on grease.
- Descale your kettle and coffee machines – This will extend their life and keep them working properly. If you live in an area where your water is hard, you’ll need to do this more often to keep your drinks tasting like they should.
- Lightbulbs – As daylight decreases heading into autumn and winter, you’ll find you are turning on more lights in the house. Stock up on lightbulbs, and take a moment to dust off the bulbs that are in your lamps too.
- Steam clean hard surface floors – Use a lightweight steam cleaning system to clean and sanitize.
- Deep steam your carpets – Remove ground-in dirt, allergens, and to rid them of any odours.
- Sanitize and bleach out garbage bins – Be sure to dry them out while there is still some warm sunshine.
- Vacuum and turn your mattresses – You can help control dust mites, allergens and dander for a better night’s sleep and increase the air quality in your room.
- Vacuum upholstered furniture – With a spot clean and thorough vacuum, this can extend the life of your furniture.
- New indoor entrance mat – Laying down a mat at every doorway will help trap dirt and keep it from being tracked in through the house.
Last item on the “to-do” list is to stock up on cleaning and disinfecting essentials. If you want to keep it natural, you can also make your own. The best natural disinfectants include alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, hot water, and some essential oils. Many of these natural disinfectants can be as effective at killing germs and getting rid of smells as chemical cleaners like bleach.