Raise your hand if there are areas in your home which you keep putting off cleaning? There are several spaces in my home that I tend to forget to clean, I put off, or it’s just not in my regular cleaning schedule. Some of these areas I have incorporated into my regular cleaning schedule, but there are other spots that I will notice how dirty it has gotten and decide I can put it off no longer! Today I wanted to share with you 10 spaces you may be forgetting to clean.

The FIRST area is ceilings. Oftentimes we neglect to clean the cobwebs from our ceilings. We may notice them right before we are ready to host a big event in our homes, then frantically clean ALL the ceilings, but typically day to day we don’t notice dirty ceilings. I struggle to clean our ceilings because most of them have popcorn texture, making it very difficult to clean without being rained on by ceiling texture!

SECOND, another common overlooked area is ceiling fans and light fixtures. I have built into my cleaning schedule cleaning these things whenever I deep clean a room, but since they are somewhat out of site (like the ceiling), it can be out of mind and you don’t realize how dusty the light fixtures and ceiling fans have become.

The THIRD item that may not get cleaned often is drape or curtain rods and the drapes/curtains themselves. I just use a multi-purpose cleaning spray and microfiber cleaning cloth to clean the drape rods off. You will definitely need to read the tags on your drapes to see the best way to clean them. I have some drapes in my home that I wash in the washing machine, and others that I just shake out the dust outside.

The FOURTH area that we may forget about is our air vents, and along with that would be changing our air filters. We are so bad about remembering or having a schedule to change our air filters. I know there are some subscription services that will send air filters to you automatically at the duration you choose, which could be a good option so you don’t have to remember. I like to vacuum our air vents and clean them with a multi-purpose cleaner every once in a while, because they certainly get dirty!

The FIFTH space that may get overlooked is the vent screens in our kitchen exhaust fan above our stove top. These can get particularly dirty because of all the grease and food particles that get pulled in through the vent. I don’t typically use Dawn dish soap, but I have it on hand to clean really greasy areas. I soak mine in hot water with the Dawn dish soap and that seems to cut through the grease. Alternatively, I have heard that you can wash them in your dishwasher as well.

Speaking of dishwashers, the SIXTH item is the drain screen at the bottom of your dishwasher. It’s important to clean these as they can get clogged causing your dishwasher to have trouble draining. The last time I cleaned mine, it actually wasn’t all that dirty, but it might be because we have had drainage problems with our dishwasher in the past, so I like to stay on top of keeping it cleaned!

The SEVENTH place we may forget to clean is under large appliances, like under the refrigerator, oven, or washer and dryer. Luckily for me I have built in ovens, but I am so bad at cleaning under my refrigerator. It gets to the point where I can see how dirty it is and then I know I need to deal with it!

The EIGHTH space we might forget to clean is our washing machine. It’s good to clean your washer every once in a while in order for it to perform at it’s best. I did a quick Google search on how to clean your washing machine with natural products and the first item that popped up suggested running a cycle with 2 cups of vinegar on hot, followed by another cycle of ½ cup of baking soda on hot. My washer actually has a “tub clean” setting. In addition to the washing machine, the dryer vent should also be cleaned out periodically. It can become a fire hazard to allow lint to build up in the dryer vent. You can access the exterior dryer vent by going to the outside of your home, and reaching up into the vent to pull out any excess lint. You can also detach the dryer hose from the inside to clean in from the inside as well. Just be sure you have some dryer hose tape or aluminum tape on hand to reattach it.

The NINTH area that may need attention is your bathroom sink drains. There are simple tools available on Amazon to remove hair from the drain. You can also clean the cap to the sink drain at this time as it also gets dirty with build up.

Lastly, the TENTH thing you may be forgetting to clean is your light switch plates. These are probably the most touched area in your home, so to prevent illness from spreading it’s good to clean these regularly with some sort of antibacterial wipe or spray. When my kids were little, I would enlist their help by giving them a container of antibacterial wipes and had them go around and wipe down all the light switches. I think they thought it was fun, so win-win!

Well, I hope this gave you some ideas of places you can get clean around your home that you might have been forgetting about! Fall is a great time to get everything clean and ready for the upcoming holiday season!