Are you considering selling your home soon? To get top dollar when you sell, you need to make sure your home is looking its best. But taking on all of the deep cleaning, decluttering, and staging tasks (not to mention renovations) that are vital to ensuring your home shows well can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve been living in your home for a while. Where do you even begin?
To help you tackle your to-do list, we’re sharing our best cleaning and staging hacks to get your home ready to list.
Cleaning Hacks for a Sparkling Clean Home
Kitchen Cleaning Hacks
- Use Olive Oil To Clean Stainless Steel Surfaces. Clean stainless steel items like pots, pans, and appliances with the olive oil in your pantry! Add olive oil to a soft cloth and rub in a circular motion to buff out dirty areas.
- Deodorize the Garbage Disposal With Lemons or Limes. To freshen up your garbage disposal, cut a fresh lemon or lime into quarters and put the pieces into the disposal one at a time while the water is running.
- Steam Clean the Microwave With Lemon Essential Oil. Steam clean your microwave by adding 15 drops of lemon essential oil into 1 ½ cups of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5-10 minutes, then wipe out the microwave with a soft cloth.
- Clean the Stovetop and Oven With Lemon Oil As Well! For a stovetop and oven cleaner, combine one cup water, one cup vinegar, and a few drops of lemon essential oil in a spray bottle. Spray onto stovetop or inside oven and wipe clean. For tougher grease stains, sprinkle some baking soda on the surface first, then spray and wipe.
Bathroom Cleaning Hacks
- Remove Water Stains From Shower Glass With Shaving Cream. Yep, you read that right — you can clean your shower glass with shaving cream! Simply apply the shaving cream to the glass, let it sit for 15 minutes, and wipe off for a water-stain-free shower.
- Baking Soda and Vinegar Will Clean Your Tub (and Toilet!) in a Cinch. For a 10-minute miracle for your tub, mix one cup of vinegar and ½ cup baking soda and pour into an empty tub. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then fill the tub with hot water until it’s about one-quarter full. Let it sit for another 5 minutes, then drain the tub and rinse thoroughly. Use the same mixture for your toilet — add it to the bowl, let it sit for a few minutes, then flush.
- Essential Oil Will Have Your Sinks Sparkling AND Smelling Great! Mix baking soda, a few drops of lemon and basil essential oils, and a bit of dish soap. Spread the mixture onto your sink (and your tub, if you like), let it sit for 10 minutes, and rinse thoroughly with water.
Glass
- Mix Up a Quick Glass Cleaner With Vinegar. For cleaning mirrors and windows, mix white vinegar with distilled water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle. Spray on and wipe off just like you would with WindexⓇ.
Wood Floors, Cupboards, and Woodwork
- Polish Worn Out Cupboards and Woodwork With Howard Feed-N-Wax*. This humble little bottle of wood conditioner and polisher is like a magic wand for woodwork that looks worn out or has water spots.
- Revive Wood Floors With Rejuvenate* Professional Hardwood Floor Cleaner. Get your worn hardwood floors looking beautiful again with little effort using this professional-grade cleaner.
Pets
- Use Rubber Gloves For Pet Hair Removal. Rub down your fabric surfaces with rubber-gloved hands to remove stubborn pet hair. Then rinse the gloves under running water to rid them of the hair.
- Invest In a Pet Rake*. No, you’re not going to rake your pet with this — it’s used to remove pet fur from your carpets! It’s the best way to get all of the pet hair out of your carpet that your vacuum can’t get.
Upholstery
- Wipe Out Odors From Upholstery With Essential Oil* and Vinegar. Upholstery is notorious for retaining odors. To eliminate pet smells and other odors from fabric surfaces, spray with a combination of vinegar, rubbing alcohol, water, and a few drops of essential oil (here’s a recipe using orange and rosemary oils). Note: Make sure to test this solution on a small, inconspicuous spot first to ensure fabric doesn’t discolor.
Paint or Varnish Removal
- CitriStrip* Paint and Varnish Stripper. This product is great for easy removal of paint or varnish from hard surfaces like wood, metal, and cement. One of our clients used it on their laundry room utility tub to remove paint stains that were 20 years old!
Staging Hacks To Show Your Home at Its Best
Kitchen and Dining
- Vases of Fresh Flowers Make Your Home Feel Inviting. Place vases of inexpensive fresh flowers on your dining and kitchen tables to freshen up your home and make it feel more welcoming to potential buyers. Choose flowers like Chrysanthemums and Carnations that are inexpensive, look great on their own, and can last as long as 2-3 weeks.
Bed and Bath
- Use a Set of Display Towels. Don’t leave your used towels out for showings. Buy a new set of towels that you’ll use only for display while your home is on the market. Each morning, stash your used towels away and put out the display set. This way you’ll always have new, clean towels on display, making your bathroom look that much cleaner and more inviting. Then once your house sells, you’ll have a new set of towels to use!
- Add Luxury to Your Bedroom With Decorative Pillows. This simple trick will make your bedroom feel significantly more luxurious. Add a few decorative pillows to your bed, and buy nice-looking pillow shams that match your bedding to put on your everyday pillows.
Office and Living Areas
- Hide Paper Piles. Piles of mail, kids’ schoolwork, and other paperwork are a part of everyone’s home, but will make your home look cluttered for showings. Keep your papers in a portable file folder and keep it in a convenient spot so you can grab it to take with you during showings.
- Hide Devices and Cords. Cord clutter is another thing that makes your home look disheveled. In your office, living areas, and anywhere else you use electronics, keep your devices hidden and cords contained. Stash tablets and other handheld devices away during showings, and utilize zip ties or other cord management tools to gather cords and keep them out of sight.
Pets
- Consolidate and Remove Pet Items and Take Pets With You. Pet toys, food dishes, and so on can make your home look cluttered and messy. Consolidate all pet items into one area, so it’s easy to grab them to take with you during showings. Keep a basket handy to toss everything into quickly before you leave. Also, take pets with you when you leave, whenever possible, for the sake of buyers and to minimize stress on your pets.
- Clean, Clean, Clean. Along with your pet’s toys and other items, pet hair on furniture, carpets, and other surfaces can be a big turnoff to buyers. Be diligent about cleaning up after your pets by lint rolling furniture and vacuuming often. Also, if you have a cat, clean out the litter box promptly and remove it during showings.
We hope these tips help you as you get your home ready to list. For more tips on selling your home for top dollar, or if you’re ready to list your home, contact the team at ResComPro today!
*Please Note: ResComPro does not guarantee the products listed in this article and is not liable for damage caused by using these products. Always follow product instructions carefully.
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