January can be a cold and rainy month for many people. Cabin fever begins to set in and they stare longingly out the windows at the brown and shriveled gardens. Wow. That window is a bit grimy looking, isn’t it? While you don’t necessarily want to clean your windows inside and out, this is the ideal time to clean the inside window glass if you didn’t get around to getting them all nice and clean in the warmer months. (You might also discover that you overlooked a few storm windows. Time to slide them down, too.) Here are a few other January home maintenance tasks you can do:
- Check for spots in the yard where puddles covered in ice form. They are low spots and, if they are in high traffic areas, they could be dangerous. Fill them in to keep the water from settling there.
- Make sure the furnace filter is clean. If you changed it right before you turned the furnace on for the winter months, it has been cleaning the air for several months and may be pretty dirty.
- Take a look at all the appliances and gadgets you use heavily in the winter, like humidifiers and heaters. This can help you catch problems like moldy filters in the humidifier or a frayed cord on the heater.
- Vacuum all the heat register grates. They’ve been working full time to help you keep warm and you want to be sure no dust or debris is blocking them.
- Vacuum your fridge coils and clean out your fridge and freezer. It is a good idea to take all the shelves and drawers out of the fridge to really clean them a few times a year and starting off the new year without moldy leftovers or freezer burned mystery meat just seems like a nice thing.
- Go through the house and make a checklist of chores for warmer months. This way, you won’t forget about the chipped paint behind the bread maker when you have a nice warm Spring day perfect for painting.
- Think about improvements you want to make for the summer and whether you can do them now. For example, if you have a few nice days in a row this month, you can screen the porch so it will be ready for you to enjoy right away during warm weather.
Do you have any other January cleaning or home maintenance tasks you do?
Photo: SXC
Post from: Blisstree