Just moved into a new house - VERY dirty! Any cleanin tips??

Question

I've just moved into a new house and the previous occupants left it in a very very dirty state! I'm lookin for the best cleanin tips, stuff like using white vinegar+newspaper to clean glass and stuff like that. Any tips will do, I've gotta clean bathroom+kitchen+living room+garden!!!

Answer 1

With the bathroom use a bleach base toliet cleaner for the toliet, a bathroom cleaner for rest of toliet and sink, Comet or Soft Scrub with sponge for the bath tub that makes the grit come off and more shiner. Use Swifter WetJet to wash the floor. If its tile and has mildew try taking a Clorox bleach pen to the mildew. For the kitchen use a Lysol Kitchen cleaner for the whole kitchen even inside the fridge, microwave and counters but not in stove. Try using Comet for the sink to make the dullness come out and make it look newer :) Floors also will work with a swifter wet jet, living room is a simple maybe a powder on the carpet if it has carpet that u can vacumn to reduce the smell, also dusting using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for any stains or scruff marks work great. To Make wood come alive use a orange oil wood cleaner which i think pledge makes. You can also use oil wood cleaner on kitchen cabninets. Not sure about a garden i actually dont have one myself but goodluck!!!! :)

Answer 2

Easy Off is a household name in oven cleaning with this product offering a fume free, non-corrosive formula that still works miracles on dirty ovens. Easy Off Fume Free Oven Cleaner will make cleaning the oven a much more simple chore. Spray on the product. Leave it overnight. Easily wipe out food residue. Reapply for tough spots if necessary. It really was that simple. No need to leave oven on.

Pros
No harsh and toxic fumes to make cleaning more difficult.
Safe to be used on Self-Cleaning ovens without the self cleaning cycle.
Works well on even the most baked on food.
Cons
For best results, product still needs to sit overnight.
Description
Read all directions thoroughly.
Apply in a cold oven.
Shut the oven door. Do NOT turn on the oven or activate your oven's self cleaning cycle.
Wait two hours to overnight for an all over cleaning, or at least 30 minutes for easy spot cleaning.
Open the oven door and wipe clean using a wet sponge or cloth and rinse sponge or cloth repeatedly.

Answer 3

My advice is get a professional cleaning company in for peace of mind that everything has been done properly and also you must have a million other things on your mind when moving house!I run a domestic cleaning company and for a full house clean of what I would class as a dirty house would take 3 people a full day, by this I mean a house not in the state of kim and aggie style but a house which needs all windows cleaning, oven cleaning, skirting boards etc.If we are talking as bad as what you see on kim and aggies show really you should be calling in enviromental health, no joke!
Ok if you are gonna brave it alone, DO NOT GET BLEACH AT READY as suggested by previous posters, this is why you should take professional help not just anyones advice off this site.BLEACH MIXED WITH ANY OTHER CLEANING SOLUTIONS LETS OFF VERY DANGEROUS GASSES THEREFOR IGNORE PREVIOUS ADVICE ON HERE, bleach is highly corrosive and should be avoided as there are plenty of other solutions which are just as cheap and more effective.
Bathroom- Get a good non abrasive cleaning solution such as vim and really give your bath a good scrub, remove all tide marks and literally run your hand round afterwards to make sure there is not that gritty grimy texture, then you know all dirt is removed. If you have a glass/plastic shower curtain or tiles with water marks on them get the old white vinegar out and use neat, apply with a cloth, scrub to remove marks then wash down with water.For glass/plastic shower curtain panels then dry with newspaper and lots of elbow grease for tiles get an expendable squidgey (like for cleaning windows available for £1.99 from wilkinsons stores)and remove excess water with squidgey and buff tiles with a chamois leather.Toilet and sink should be simple enough again a good cream cleaner and plenty of elbow grease.

windows- white vinegar and newspaper plus elbow grease, same for mirrors


oven- Go to a specialist cleaning supplier, look in yellow pages and get thixotropic oven cleaner.Takes half the time.Warm your oven slightly on a low setting to heat up grease and make easier to remove.Turn off after 2 mins. wear heat resistant rubber gloves(again should be available at suppliers)read instructions on the product as cannot be used on alluminium. apply as directions instruct.the grease will simply glide off. Hob cleaning I recommend hob brite.


Carpets- Get a hard working vacuum such as a henry or miele, if there have been pets in house I would recommend a henry hound.If carpets really filthy your best getting a professional carpet cleaner to come in and use deep water extraction again if you have time on your hands you can hire rug doctor machines from b and q or johnsons the cleaner for about £30 and they will do a reasonable job.If really dirty I would recommend a professional company though.

Cobwebs and stuff you can zap with a vacuum , in the corners and nooks and crannies.

skirting boards just need dusting down then use a good all purpose solution to wash them down.white vinegar again will remove any stubborn stains.

If your near Darlington area and want professional cleaners why not get a Domestic Goddess to take care of things for you. go to www.dg-cleaning.co.uk

Hope these tips help xx

Answer 4

The only thing you need is a bottle of stardrops with ammonia, it smells nice and the ammonia in it cleans well. Diluted in water you can use it for floors and paintwork and it is cheap. Go over the work surfaces afterwards with an anti bacterial spray. Always start at the top of the room and work your way down, doing the floor last.

Answer 5

Try and find a product called 'elbow grease' its fantastic for in the kitchen and it doesnt contain harsh chemicals. Its particularly good at removing old grease deposits. Another great product is decorators 'sugar soap'. Wash down your doors, and wooden skirtings, etc, kitchen doors, etc. then stand back and watch the yukky dirt drip off. Its foul but it works. We moved into the house of a smoker and the tar literally dripped off the doors and radiators when we used it.

Answer 6

Firs thing you should do is have it fumigated; If it is this dirty you could be getting sick from all that dirt.
We had the same problem when we moved into our house;
The roach's at night came out by the hundreds according to the fumigator, he said he had never seen such a house.
We had this done before we moved in.
As for cleaning, just take your time and clean one room at a time or you will wear yourself out.
The kitchen and bath will be most important.
We had to have ours fumigated twice before we moved in and once more after wards
JUST IN CASE!!!!

Answer 7

If you haven't moved any big furniture in the house you can start from the top and work your way down.. If there's big furniture you may have to move it around to clean around it properly....

You may want to have the following supplies:

Libman Wonder Mop w/ 2 or 3 replacement heads...
2 16 qt. mop buckets One for clean one for dirty water
microfiber cleaning cloths
Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) Available at most hardware stores...
Newspapers
Non sudsing ammonia
Baking Soda
Dish soap
Oven Cleaner (if not self- cleaning oven)
Bleach
Vinegar
Murphy's oil soap for wood floors/wood trim/baseboards
Vacuum with wand attachment or nice duster with long handle..

I would start by sprinkling a light dusting of baking soda on the carpets.. This will absorb any pet/smoke odors as well as freshen the carpets. Leave on or apply at night and vacuum the next day..If you think the previous owners had pets.. .Mix a batch of idodized salt with the baking soda this will smother any fleas and puncture any flea eggs.... You can get 12 lb bags of baking soda for about $5 and salt for around $ at the local wholesale club...

In the kitchen you may either want to spray it at night and turn the exhaust fan on and open the windows or use the self cleaning cycle.. Check your oven: If it's self clean do not use any spray... Simply do the self cleaning cycle and let it be.. Then wipe down oven with a bucket of water with some vinegar... Or you can let the oven do it's thing while you are cleaning the rest of the house....

Also, note you can while you are dusting/cleaning other rooms you can get a head start on the bathroom.. At night turn the water off to the toilets and pour about 2-3 cups of bleach into the toilet bowl and let it sit overnight.... * If you have people that get up at night to pee DO NOT DO THIS METHOD! Or you can do this while you are cleaning other rooms... I like to fill the toilets with bleach and let them sit... I also spray the tub/tile surround with a 50/50 solution bleach/water.. Let that sit as well... Scour with a non scratch pad after 30-60 min.. Clean the mirror with non-sud. ammonia/water and newspaper... Clean any bathroom surfaces sink, countertop with bleach solution....

Next, go into each room and use your vacuum/duster wand and knock out any cobwebs or dirt from the ceiling.. .If you have ceiling fans give em a wipe with a damp microfiber cloth.. You can get them cheaply at walmart or autoparts store $4 for 12 cloths at walmart and they are reuseable just don't use fabric softner or dryer sheets on them.....

Give any all furniture a quick dusting with a microfiber cloth and clean any appliances/electronics as well..

Wipe the walls down with a solution of TSP follow instructions on container..This will clean the walls of any cigarette or pet dander/dust/dirt.... It's also good if you may think there's lead paint...

Wipe down the baseboards/wood work with a mild solution of warm water and Murphy's oil soap... Or even some vinegar/water..

Lastly the windows.. non-sudsing ammonia about 1 c. per gallon of water and newspapers should leave them streak free.. You may need to do the application a couple times for max. results...

Lastly, vacuum/mop....Each room...Good luck

Answer 8

Best thing to use is bleach. Put about a half cup to a gallon of water. Clean everything with it. Open all the windows.

Answer 9

Look in argos for the Morphy Richards Steam Cleaner.

Problem solved..

And for surfaces, bathrooms, sinks - CILIT BANG! does exactly what it says on the tin.

The stale smell...... Check for bed bugs. They leave a sweet stale smell.

Answer 10

Sounds like you may have to paint some of it as some dirt just won't come off. Wish I could help you as I love cleaning and decorating.