Cleaning your baseboards is, frankly, a pretty tedious task. However, if you want to keep your home looking spick-and-span, you’re going to have to spend at least some time cleaning your baseboards. It can be noticeable if you allow too much dirt and dust to build up on your baseboards.
So, how do you clean your baseboards when you need to? Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can do so easily and effectively.
Today, we’ll be going over some hacks you might want to know when cleaning your baseboards, including how to get at the hard-to-reach dirt and debris that gets trapped inside the corners.
Table of Contents
1. Use Dryer Sheets
Believe it or not, wiping down your baseboards with dryer sheets is one of the best ways to keep them clean. Dryer sheets are extra effective because not only do they attract dust, but because of their anti-static properties, wiping your baseboards with them can prevent dust from settling on them in the future.
If you want to be really efficient, try attaching your dryer sheets to a Swiffer mop or something similar before cleaning your baseboards. It might be a little easier to get the job done if you don’t have to be all hunched over to do it.
2. Use a Magic Eraser
If you’ve got a Magic Eraser (or any similar products) on hand, these can be great for cleaning baseboards. If you’re not already familiar with the product, a Magic Eraser is basically just a sponge made of melamine foam.
Magic Erasers are porous and gently abrasive, which makes them particularly good at picking up stains.
Because of how they work, you don’t need to use any harsh cleaning chemicals with them; a bit of hot water is all you need, or a mixture of hot water and vinegar if you’ve got some particularly stubborn stains.
If your baseboards aren’t painted, however, you can use a wood cleaning solution with a Magic Eraser for even more effective cleaning.
It’s worth noting as well that you should be careful when using a Magic Eraser on painted baseboards; you won’t strip the paint off the wood, but you may end up taking some of the shine off the paint.
3. Use a Sock
If for whatever reason, you don’t have any cleaning supplies at all, you can just use a sock. If you want to make it even easier on yourself, put the sock on a clean, unused toilet brush or a disposable toilet wand to give yourself a bit more reach.
Then, just spray the sock with your preferred cleaning solution, and wipe away! This is a pretty unconventional way to clean your baseboards to be sure, but it works as well as using a rag and it’s easy to use if you don’t have any other cleaning supplies available.
4. Use a Duster
If your baseboards don’t have a ton of caked-on crap, you can probably just use a duster or a broom to clean them up. It might be a good idea to dust your baseboards before vacuuming, so you can just vacuum up whatever dust you knock off.
Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner with a sweeper attachment, you can just vacuum up your baseboards and kill two birds with one stone.
5. Use Cleaning Wipes
If you’re strapped for time or don’t have a large surface area to clean, you could always just pull out a few cleaning wipes. They’re effective at picking up dust and are super easy to use; no extra cleaning solution is required.
The downside of using cleaning wipes is, of course, the fact that it’s kind of a wasteful way to clean.
Since cleaning wipes are one-use only, you have to throw them out as soon as they’ve collected all the dirt they can. Ideally, cleaning wipes should only be used for occasional spot-cleaning.
6. Use a Cotton Swab for Corners
The dirt that gets trapped in the corners of your baseboards can be pretty hard to remove, so you might need a special tool to really get in there.
A cotton swab can work pretty well for this purpose since they are small and very good at picking up moisture and dirt.
Just take a cotton swab, dip it into your preferred cleaning solution, and work the swab into the corners until the dirt is removed. If you need to get into the corners with a little more force, you could try using something like a toothbrush or a paintbrush with fairly stiff bristles.
How Often Should I Clean My Baseboards?
Ultimately, this depends on the kind of traffic you have in your home. For example, if you have pets that shed a lot, you’ll probably want to clean your baseboards more often. Of course, this also depends on how clean you want your baseboards to be.
If you want to keep your baseboards looking nice, however, in general you should try and clean them about once a month or so.
If you’re cleaning your baseboards monthly and you’re finding that they’re pretty grimy when you do so, you might want to clean them a little more often.
What’s the Best Cleaning Solution for Baseboards?
If your baseboards are unpainted, you can probably get away with just using whatever wood cleaner you have on hand. However, if they are painted, you’ll want to use something a little gentler to avoid damaging the paint.
In most cases, just using a rag or microfiber cloth and a bit of hot water will be enough to remove most of the stuff that accumulates on your baseboards.
Take care not to use too much water, however, because this might cause your baseboards to warp a little bit.
If you need something a little stronger, you can mix a little bit of dish soap and vinegar into your hot water, which can give your cleaning solution the extra kick it needs to remove particularly stubborn stains.
Resources
- https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/weekend-wipe-down-6-easy-some-weird-ways-to-clean-baseboards-202074
- https://prohousekeepers.com/blog/how-to-clean-baseboards/
- https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/what-to-know-about-magic-erasers/
- https://www.organizedmom.net/clean-baseboards-without-breaking-back/
- https://www.hgtv.com/lifestyle/clean-and-organize/how-to-clean-baseboards