Winter Cleaning Hacks

Hi! Welcome back to The Self Sufficient Citizen where I talk about homemaking, homemaking, minimalism and self-reliance. The weather has taken a turn for the worst and as I write the temperature is below zero. That means all of us in my household are spending more time inside. And what happens when pets and humans spend more time inside? Mess after mess stacks up. So how do you combat the dirt and grime building up in a winter home? Cleaning hacks. More specifically winter cleaning hacks!

Some of these hacks fall into the category of routine but were too important for me to leave out. And really sometimes keeping your house clean just includes a few extra steps to your day. So, I won’t keep you waiting, here are your winter cleaning hacks. 

Keep following your cleaning routine

 It is really easy to get overwhelmed and jump off the bandwagon when it comes to cleaning. Other than me and a few people online I don’t know many people who really just love cleaning. I still have times where I just don’t want to clean so I get it when a person tells me “I just want to stop and enjoy the holiday”. That makes complete sense to me except for the part where enjoying the holiday includes stress cleaning afterwards a month of messes. I find it to be much easier to try and fit in 10-20 minutes of cleaning in my day.

By no means do I have a perfectly picked up house 24/7 but picking up here and there helps from things becoming unmanageable. Remember anything you manage to do is enough. Don’t kill yourself trying to have the picture-perfect home. But for those of us who sometimes lack motivation, anything you do now is a present for your future self. 

Up your mopping game to once a week or more

I know. That sounds like a lot. But hear me out before you scroll down. I have like 20 sq feet of floor I have to mop and the rest is carpet where my roomba does the majority of cleaning. I know most people have way more floor to mop and probably do not have a roomba. Last year at my other rental I had zero carpet and two levels of floor that needed swept and mopped. Oh and no roomba. So believe me when I tell you that I was not mopping more than once a week even when it was muddy outside.

That is where spot cleaning comes in. If mud gets tracked in it is pretty quick to throw a cleaning rag down and just wipe it up. Good enough is my motto when it comes to floors because dogs don’t wipe feet or take shoes off. My entryway is 5×4 so mopping takes about 2 minutes so that’s why I am able to mop about 2-3 times a week to provide a deeper clean than my poor floor rag by the door.

Make sure your air is clean

 Clean air is so important. I have pet allergies and 4 fur babies in my home. But even without allergies clean air is so underrated. Unclean air can lead to smell build up, respiratory infections and can cause itchy skin. No fun. So before winter or during the start of winter check your HVAC system out. Replace the filter and consider vacuuming out under your registers.

If you’re like me and do not have central air, might I suggest an air purifier? I had a small one meant for 200 sq ft that got clogged very quickly so in the apartment I upgraded to one that does 900 sq ft and it helps so much. I noticed my allergies improving as well as dog odor suddenly much improved. With all of our windows and doors shut and little air flow make sure you take care of the oxygen in your home during the winter.

  • Entry way.

Deck out your entryway with one or all of these to keep your home from getting dirty. Dirt comes from many places but my main culprit is my front door. So that is why I have a front entry rug inside and outside. They both do so much to catch the dirty snow, ice and mud from going any further. On the outside I have seen people having boot scrapers for extra snow deterrents. 

Even if you go through wiping your shoes on two rugs and a boot scraper your shoes will hold onto dirt that will track through your home. It might be a little uncomfortable but you can ask your guests to remove their shoes. It actually is a rising trend in America and in some cultures it is an unsaid costume. If you want your guests to have warm feet still you can provide slippers they can exchange their shoes for as well.

And for those special someones whose shoes are their paws I leave a rag at the front door. If I notice that it is especially muddy outside I quickly wipe my dogs paws as they come inside. This also doubles as my water dish clean up rag so two birds one stone.

  • Windows

My last hack is something I love. When I moved out I could not stand how much dirt built up on my windows. In the city the snow and rain is visibly dirty and that dirt is left on your windows during storms. I hate dirty windows because it makes an already gloomy season even darker when your natural light is coated in grime. That’s when I heard the hack of putting car deicer liquid in your washing solution for windows I gave it a go. And it works! Just make sure to do it on a day where there is no wind and it isn’t under the temperature the liquid is rated for. You can wash your windows like you would during the warmer season preventing the horrible grime blocking any lucky sunlight coming through during the winter now!

I hope that these cleaning tips and hacks help keep your holidays tidy and bright. If you like my content you can subscribe to my newsletter down below. The newsletter is where I send out a monthly email about what I posted on my blog and extra exclusives. Thank you for taking your time and reading this post. I hope your holiday season is going well and I will see you in tomorrow’s post! Until then.

-Hannah