Day 2: Clean Ceiling Fans and Light Fixtures. Get your home in tip-top shape in just 31 days. Working from the top down today’s task is the fans and lights.
Welcome to day 2 of my ‘31 Days of Deep Cleaning Your Home‘ series!
Clean Ceiling Fans and Light Fixtures
Today’s task is to clean ceiling fans and light fixtures.
Clean Ceiling Fans
Remember, we are working our way from the top to the bottom of each room. To clean my ceiling fans, I typically use a damp microfiber cloth. Be sure to try to squeeze out as much water as possible. You can use a magic eraser or general purpose cleaner if you have some really tough grime to get out. If you clean your fans twice a year, this task doesn’t take long.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Only our ceiling fan that I refinished in the main area of the house was really dirty. This is the one we use every day. The other four fans took me about 10 minutes total to clean.
Clean Light Fixtures
Today we are also going to clean the light fixtures. You may need to remove a few screws to pull the glass down for your light fixture. Just wash the glass in the sink with some warm, soapy water, dry and re-install it. For all the other fixtures, I just use a damp microfiber cloth or a mixture of half water and vinegar to wash any glass that cannot be washed in the sink.
Here is my really embarrassing picture of my fixture in my kitchen. I really don’t like this fixture, so I don’t normally clean it (silly, I know!).
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Lastly, don’t forget about your lamps. The light bulbs and shades can get really dirty. To clean the shades you can test a small spot to clean it with a barely damp microfiber cloth, or you can dust it with your brush attachment on your vacuum.
Remember, if you are feeling overwhelmed or you don’t have much time to devote to this task today, just focus on the dirtiest or most used rooms in your home.
Kathy@DandelionsandDustBunnies says
October 2, 2012 at 4:36 pmIt’s amazing how a little cleaning can make your lights look almost new again. I like to use my vacuum attachment when cleaning lamp shades. I can’t believe how dusty lights and fixtures get – now everything is brighter.
Poppy (xperimentl) says
October 2, 2012 at 9:27 pmI recently tried out a tip that I saw where you use an old pillowcase to dust off your fans. You put it over your blade like a sleeve and swipe it, leaving the dust in the pillowcase instead of on your floor or furniture beneath it. I now have a designated flannel fan pillowcase.
Lauras Crafty Life says
October 2, 2012 at 9:31 pmThat is a great tip! I have seen that somewhere before but have never tried it. Thanks for sharing! I will have to try that next time!
Shonda says
October 2, 2012 at 10:40 pmI’ll have to use my microfiber cloth on the lights. Good idea!
Lauras Crafty Life says
October 2, 2012 at 10:51 pmI love my microfiber cloths. I use them for everything. I am not a huge fan of chemicals to clean with, so I mainly use my microfiber cloths, water, vinegar and baking soda to clean just about everything! :)
maria smith says
February 27, 2014 at 12:24 pmI don’t know why I dread this job so much. It really doesn’t take too long to do a good deep cleaning on the fans. I think it’s that I don’t like working above my head.
Lauras Crafty Life says
February 27, 2014 at 12:56 pmIt really doesn’t take that long at all! But man do they sure get dirty.
bethnalgreencarpetcleaners says
February 9, 2015 at 6:21 amI think that the microfiber cloths do amazing job as we talk about fan cleaning. Thanks a lot for the useful article and the useful tricks! Regards! Bethnal Green Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
Laura Silva says
February 9, 2015 at 7:50 amMicrofiber cloths really are the best!