How often do you clean your baseboards?
For years I used cleaning baseboards as an incentive for good behavior in my home.
- Complaining – Clean the baseboards in one room.
- Arguing with a sibling – Clean each other’s baseboards.
- “Forgetting” to do a chore – Clean the baseboards.
I thought this idea was brilliant until I realized my kids LOVED to clean the baseboards. Give my kids water and a sponge and they are thrilled, so cleaning the baseboards stopped being a punishment and became a rainy day activity.
Dirty baseboards make a whole room look dirty so I recommend keeping them clean. This is a great job for little kids because you don’t need to use chemicals to remove the dirt. (Unless you haven’t cleaned them for 10 years)
- For a quick cleaning brush them off with a dust broom.
- If your baseboards need more than a quick cleaning, brush, then wipe them down with a damp cloth.
- If you can’t tell the difference between your dog and your baseboards you’ll probably want to use a bucket of water and a squirt of dish soap or all purpose cleaner and give them a good scrubbing.
- After your baseboards are clean, wipe them with a dryer sheet. It will repel dust and keep them cleaner longer.
For more ideas to help you simplify and organize one day at a time, visit the Organized in 365 Archives.
Jessica says
My kids love it too! When we lived in the states, I’d give them a baby wipe and off they’d go. Now that we’re overseas, our house has wallpaper that wraps onto the top of the baseboard. If it gets wet it will destroy it, so we just just use the dust broom. So far, so good!
Gena says
Great idea to get the kids to do it. I am definitely going to do this. It probably won’t take long to get all the rooms done!
–Gena at ichoosejoy.org
erica says
I regularly repaint mine. The difference is amazing ! Usually every other year. My hubby gets nervous because my idea of fun is to choose another color theme for our walls and have a whole house redo…yep… WE paint ..not hired contractors.
kathy says
does the dryer sheet trick work on plastic or rubber (not sure which it is) baseboards?
zina stokes says
Dryer sheets work great on ceiling fans too!
Pamela DePietro says
used or unused dryer sheets?