[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to know though. We've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to The Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Today I wanted to give you, Top tips for spring cleaning around your house.

[00:00:38] Eric Goranson: And these are some things that, uh, you know, it's hard to, hard to remember all of these, but here's some interesting tips, especially in today's homes. First, if you wanna get ahold of me here at the station, make sure you head over to around the house online. You can get ahold of me there and, uh, send a, contact us if you wanna hear a subject that we haven't talked about yet.

[00:00:57] Eric Goranson: We take requests over there as well [00:01:00] and make sure you're following us on social media. Around the house show you can find us anywhere. And then make sure you're catching us, uh, on the television show as well. And, uh, if you head over to around the house online, you can find more information over there.

[00:01:14] Eric Goranson: All right, well I wanted to talk about the importance of spring cleaning cuz you know that deep clean should happen probably a couple times a year, but as busy as everybody's. It's great to take a bad weather day and go, you know, I'm getting things dialed in and cleaned up. Maybe you've got friends and family coming over or whatever.

[00:01:32] Eric Goranson: That deep cleaning is good. Now before you go through and do all this stuff, I wanna make sure that by the time you're done with the cleaning, that you've got a fresh air filter to put in your home afterwards, because chances are you're gonna be blowing up a lot of dust and you're gonna be packing that filter out.

[00:01:51] Eric Goranson: So make sure that you've got an extra one for the last part of this process. So, uh, make sure you've got that ready to go, cuz good [00:02:00] chance you're gonna be moving some dust around. In that space. So now we've talked about our spring checklist in the past. So this is a little bit different than this. This is about giving your house just a good old scrub, you know, and it's one of those things that you just want to make sure and get all the little details.

[00:02:18] Eric Goranson: So first thing, make sure you got all your cleaning supplies. It's always good to declutter. You know, get rid of all the junk and junk mail that's hanging around, you know, get your, your home office desk cleaned up, those kind of things. And then of course, go back and make sure you hit that spring checklist that we talked about a few, you know, weeks ago.

[00:02:42] Eric Goranson: Now the importance of regular cleaning is really good cuz we wanna make sure that you're cutting down the dust, making sure you're doing mold tests, that kind of stuff. I wanna make sure that you've got that all dialed in, you know, it's a good thing to do. So, really. I think once a year you should be doing a mold test of the air [00:03:00] inside your house to make sure that you don't have a shower leaking or something else going around.

[00:03:04] Eric Goranson: If you're in the desert, maybe it's not as big a issue, but for 90% of the country, I think it's a good deal to have that testing done just to see where you're at. So you've got some baselines and that way if you do find a roof leak or a shower leak or a tub leak or even a water leak, you got something to measure.

[00:03:23] Eric Goranson: So just think about there. So here's the thing I want you to get, uh, in your items before you start cleaning. I wanna see some good microfiber cloths. You know, probably some rubber gloves, something to dust with, you know, vacuum cleaner, a new bag or a cleaned out one. If there is no bag, you know, broom, dust pan, mop carpet cleaner if you have carpets and let's talk about that a little bit.

[00:03:44] Eric Goranson: Scrub brush garbage bags. Dish soap, all purpose cleaner, window glass cleaner baking soda. Now here's the thing, um, I quit renting carpet machines because if you have a good person, [00:04:00] That can do all that carpet cleaning for you. The little rental ones from your grocery store or tool rental center do not clean the carpets like the professional truck ones.

[00:04:11] Eric Goranson: And my experience is, is it's costed me hundreds of dollars to have carpets cleaned in the past. So find somebody good with the truck Mount cleaner, have that done. I would not rent that. Uh, rug Doctor kind of thing. Nothing against Rug Doctor, but they just don't do a great job. Many times they're really good at leaving soap there, which means you're gonna have dirtier floors anyway, cuz that'll attract the dirt back down.

[00:04:36] Eric Goranson: So there it is. First thing, make sure you get the decluttering done. Get rid of all that, uh, stuff. You know, here's one thing that I've noticed. If I have moved enough over the last few years, if I go back a year later and I realize that I haven't pulled anything out of that box, do I need it? So use that as one of those things that you should be taking a look at.

[00:04:57] Eric Goranson: You know, is that ready? Do you, should you keep it? [00:05:00] Maybe it needs to. And now we're gonna talk dusting, you know, start from the top, work your way down, make sure you start from that, you know. But I would start first by hitting the ceiling fans, light fixtures, all the upper stuff. That way it has a chance to settle.

[00:05:16] Eric Goranson: Take a few breaks in here as well. And uh, you know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to vacuum a couple times through in this process process cuz it will help with the air quality in there. This is where I also say turn your fan on to. Let the air go through that air filter so it'll actually filter the air and get that.

[00:05:33] Eric Goranson: So that's good. You know, I love for cleaning glass. I love a really good, you know, spray on glass cleaner. Personally, I like the stuff that's a foam that comes in the metal can, that works best for me, but, uh, that works. Get it on there. Have a good one for scrubbing. Have a good one for drying. And uh, those microfiber cloths work well and uh, have a razor blade.

[00:05:59] Eric Goranson: Be [00:06:00] careful when you use it, but a razor blade can get any e extra, you know, dirt, grime off of their paint. Anything else that's on that, just make sure it's wet when you do it. You don't wanna scratch the glass cuz they will scratch the glass if you don't know what you're doing there. And then, I like to get a nice damp, like old T-shirt with a little bit of dish soap on it and have.

[00:06:23] Eric Goranson: Two of these. One is a, a clean one, one's a, a one to dry with, but really give a good little rinse down of the walls. You'd be surprised. What if you have a wall texture? What grabs a hold of that and how much dirt is on it gets kind of crazy and especially down around the baseboards, that kind of stuff.

[00:06:40] Eric Goranson: And then, uh, of course, floors is huge. Um, I really am not a, um, Carpet cleaning fans. So use the carpet cleaners from a professional, have them do it, and then make sure that you've got, uh, you've got a good system there for mopping and cleaning your floors. You know, be careful with too much water on a [00:07:00] wood floor, but getting that clean is gonna be key.

[00:07:03] Eric Goranson: You'd be surprised. I mean, grab a white towel if you've got a hard surface. Put a little dish soap on it, wipe it across the floor and see how bad those floors. You'll be shocked. Now, grout is a bigger project. Grout, I wanna see. You probably have to get a steam cleaner and get in there unless it's been sealed.

[00:07:20] Eric Goranson: It's a good time though to go through and clean and seal that grout and make sure that, uh, if it's a new grout, that it might not need to be sealed. If you don't know, then it probably needs some ceilings. So, uh, a great scrubber brush. And then using a steamer can really get that grout clean. That's what the professionals do.

[00:07:38] Eric Goranson: And then, of course, uh, wash all the bedding. Vacuum the mattress, pull the mattress away from the wall. Make sure you don't have any bed bugs or anything crazy in there. Uh, if you travel a lot in hotels, that's where you can really be bringing those home. So be careful that, um, any odors, any signs of staining, things like that, you know, you can sprinkle beta king soda over the top.

[00:07:59] Eric Goranson: It let it set [00:08:00] for 30 minutes before vacuuming. Uh, that's not a bad way to go, and it's a good time to spend that mattress around the other direction, uh, to perform it. You know, it'll give it a little extra life as. So that's a good one there. And, uh, really good time to get underneath those beds cleaned out as well.

[00:08:18] Eric Goranson: And, uh, don't forget too, you wanna make sure that you're checking out, uh, and doing all the stuff on my checklist, the plumbing, appliances, hvac, you know, get all those things done and then taking it outside, getting those gutters cleaned out. Uh, really. Given the house a good, do not get the PR pressure washer out and pressure wash the outside of the house unless you know what you're doing.

[00:08:37] Eric Goranson: You can do more damage with that than you can, but just a good scrub out there. You've got molder mildew on it. There are some great cleaners out there if you've got vinyl siding, that kind of stuff to get that cleaned up. And then, um, You know, all of that. And then of course, making sure you got that barbecue grill dialed in, cuz we want to have that clean as well.

[00:08:55] Eric Goranson: But that's some of the tips for cleaning, you know. Um, here's another tip too. When you're doing [00:09:00] that spring cleaning, if you have, and this is a key here, if you have untreated water that is bad, like hard water, high mineral content. Then guess what? That makes this much harder and I would sure look at treating that water to get a cleaner water so you don't have the buildup on the shower doors in your glasses, your dishwasher and your laundry and your clothes, because that's hurting all those things.

[00:09:21] Eric Goranson: And it's reducing the life that water treatment will pay for itself with the right soap, with, uh, your clothes lasting longer and all that. So just. To figure that out. That's a key right there. All right, everybody. We have a great show coming up the head this weekend. We're gonna be talking appliances and then I've got somebody from the International Codes Council.

[00:09:39] Eric Goranson: We're gonna be talking about ADUs and buildings and uh, container homes and that kind of stuff, and how they meet building code and how they're changing those codes to work with that, all that and more coming up this weekend and around the house. And then, hey, make sure you head over to our Facebook page this week.

[00:09:53] Eric Goranson: I'm gonna be highlighting our videos, so go to around the house. You can find that over there. I'm gonna be posting up our videos [00:10:00] from last week's around the House Northwest. You can take a look at those over there from YouTube. All right, everybody, have a great rest of the week. Thanks for tuning in.

[00:10:06] Eric Goranson: Happy midweek special. Enjoy the week. I know some of you are gonna have a nice warm spring the week this week. Enjoy it. I won't be so lucky. I'm looking forward to that. Maybe next weekend. Thanks for listening to Around the House,