Interior home maintenance ideas

Sorting out a mortgage and securing a property itself is a big enough challenge and responsibility, as it is, however, maintaining the interior of the home once you have moved in, is just as important. Your home should be your pride and joy; therefore, it is vital to remain on top of aftercare and improvements to the home. A general daily or weekly clean may involve hoovering, wiping down kitchen countertops, or cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms, but there are several other recommendations we have to offer that can quite often be forgotten about. Stay tuned as we discuss a few of our helpful interior home maintenance ideas.

 

Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors

As they say, safety first! This part of your interior home maintenance routine is absolutely vital, however, there is an extreme lack of this task being efficiently carried out by homeowners. Ideally, experts have advised for smoke alarms to be tested out every week. You can safely and accurately carry this out by lighting a few matches and holding them directly below the alarm. Presuming that you know how a smoke alarm sounds, the noise will indicate whether or not this is working. If the alarm does not sound, it is crucial to change the batteries right away.

As for the carbon monoxide detector, simply test the device by holding down the button labelled “test” until you hear two beeps. Following this, repeat the step until you hear the following four beeps. This completes the test. Checking your alarm systems is vital, after all, they give you a clear indication of warning to fires and carbon monoxide, which cannot be seen. With the new interlinked fire alarm system in place in Scotland, this will hopefully detect fires in all areas of the home a whole lot quicker. Click here for enquiries regarding the installation of the interlinked system.

 

Professional carpet cleaning

House cleaning experts advise you to vacuum the carpeted areas of your home at least two times per week. Although this, from the surface, looks relatively clean, dirt, dust, and grime may reside deep into the carpet. Therefore, it is important to have your carpets professionally deep cleaned every 12-18 months in order to ensure that they outlive their average expectancy, which is approximately 10 years maximum. You are bound to see a difference that will contribute immensely to your interior home maintenance outcome.

 

Clean and polish interior windows

Have you ever noticed how filthy your windows look when they haven’t had a deep clean in a good while, particularly when the sun beams through them? If you haven’t, we will be surprised! Although most of the grime and debris build-up will remain on the exterior of the window, dust and dirt can easily build up on the surface and trims of your interior windows. To tackle this quickly and accurately, spray your windows with glass cleaner and use a microfiber cloth for the best result. If the streakiness still remains, continue spraying, and wiping until it has cleared up. To ensure that the windows have the full treatment, make sure to clean the outside windows too!

 

Clean out the refrigerator and freezer 

It is crucial to ensure that germs are kept at a minimum within your home, especially in the midst of the global pandemic. For that reason, we would like to highlight the importance of clearing and cleaning out your refrigerator and freezer levels and compartments. Food shops may happen every few days or weekly within your household, however, the fridge and freezer are not likely to be completely empty when stocking your new supplies. Therefore, it is necessary to occasionally search through your fridge to dispose of out-of-date or unneeded supplies. Try to perform this task when the appliance is relatively clean to avoid removing as little as possible from the refrigerator/freezer. Finally, give the trays and shelves a spray with disinfectant and wipe down with some paper towels.

 

Wipe down walls and repaint

If your home is generally white, as in white ceilings alongside white painted walls, you may have noticed some black blotches along the top of your walls. Quite commonly, this is mistaken for mold however, it is most likely to have occurred from a soot build-up from burning candles and wood fires. Both of which are great for creating a warm and comforting ambiance, however, when you realise this has resulted in wall staining and discolouring, it can be extremely disheartening. Do not be alarmed, this can easily be cleaned up and rectified by mixing an appropriate chemical formula, such as ¾ water and ¼ bleach, and giving them a good wipe down. As streakiness is likely to occur, this is where the repainting comes into place. Once dry, take your fresh white paint and paintbrush, and begin to freshen up your space again. Ensure that your floors and belongings are covered with an appropriate sheet to avoid paint splatter, and alongside this, use masking tape for a neat finish.