Included on my Two Week Tackle list is: Deep Clean the Entire House.
I don’t think I’ll be able to accomplish deep cleaning the entire house before August 1. But I have been able to get several things done so far, including washing curtains and cleaning ceiling fans.
Time to fess up – how long has it been since you’ve cleaned the ugly layer(s) of dust off your ceiling fans?
It seems that it doesn’t take long for mine to get nasty, then cobwebs start to streak from one blade to the next to the ceiling to the light bulbs. Yuck. And yet I seem to always forget about cleaning them. I mean, how often do we stand in a room and just look up at the ceiling? I do believe we homemakers should begin making time to stare at our ceilings more regularly.
Yeah right. And when might we schedule that in? Perhaps after we’ve passed out on our living room floors at the end of the night after a long day of chasing kids and mopping up spilled (fill in the blank)?
Anyway, I finally remembered my ceiling fans and got a round tuit. To mark the occasion, I had Justus (age 11) take a picture.
As you can imagine, he asked, “You really want me to take a picture of you standing on a chair dusting the ceiling fan?!”
Yes, I do ask my children to take pictures of strange things quite often. I’m surprised he questioned it actually. He should be used to my crazy picture taking requests by now.
Do you think there will be support groups someday for BKs? (Bloggers Kids)
Or do you think that children such as mine, once they are married, will walk into the room and see that their wives are under the table scrubbing jelly off the underside of a chair – and then naturally go grab the camera? Or perhaps one of them will notice that his wife has produced a lovely ball of bread dough and ask her to stand in better light so he can get several shots at different angles? Oh dear.
I think I need to start thinking about how to prepare my sons’ future wives.
But really, I want to know – when is the last time you cleaned your ceiling fans??!
melanie says
HA! I love it ~ BKs. I have 4 daughters ~ you can imagine how OCD they are about taking photos of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g….
As far as the ceiling fans: I *know* that I cleaned them the first time last September the day my hubby & dd came home from being out-of-the-country. (We moved into this house June 2010.) AND we’ve cleaned them 2 or 3 times since then.
We are amazing.
No, they are just that bad.
And, in the last house I could NOT really clean the ceiling fan without investing in a new 2 story ladder and risking my neck on it… so I just used the vac while reaching over the half-wall banister upstairs. blech. I am determined to not have our ceiling fans get 20 years of dirt accumulated on them here! :D
And, yes, thank you for the reminder… I can see from here that the kitchen fan is loaded with dirt again. {sigh}
Little Wife on the Prairie says
I do get to my fans often. (well, my 6’3 husband does.) My heat pump air intake? I just looked at it tonight and almost threw up. SO gross. It’s furry! Tomorrow it will be clean!
Jessica says
It wasn’t too long ago, but they sort of cleaned themselves. We reversed the direction of fans when it got hot. Should have cleaned them first as all the dust blew all over the room once the direction changed. For a second, it felt like snow fall, then I realized how disgusting it was. :) I’m so bad at deep cleaning; it’s all I can do to keep up with the daily stuff.
My poor BKs are gonna need support groups I think. :)
Lena says
Well it would have to be BEFORE the dh accidently hit the blades with a steplader and knocked the two remaining blades off!!! thank goodness the landlord is having us replace it at no cost to us!!!! (there were only two on it) But after tomorrow I will need a remonder
Julie says
I am happy not to have any ceiling fans. We rent houses and having a ceiling fan wobble over my bed at night makes me loose sleep. I think I need to clean my floor fan. It should be easy to clean though. We cleaned our swamp cooler monday does that count?
JessW says
LOL, perfect timing! :) I cleaned mine two days ago! Actually, I bumped the switch and turned it on high. After everything quit falling from the sky I was sorta forced to clean them…
Kelly says
Mine don’t get cleaned very often. They actually never ever get turned off. So on the rare occasion that they do I cringe and clean them! Gotta love south west Texas!!
Kelly S. says
I’m staring at cobwebs as I type this! All our ceiling fans were cleaned in the spring but need it again. They run constantly and it’s been a dry dusty summer so they have collected lots of dirt! We did clean our air vents today after I walked by and noticed their fur growing! The joys of cleaning are endless but I would settle for a small break in household chores!
Brooke says
way too long ago… but very ironic that you should post this b/c my girls got a balloon stuck up in the fan and I was getting it out today and all of this dust went flying through the air – and yes, it dawned on me to that I should lay on my floor more often and look at the ceiling fans ;). Okay, okay, that I should maybe clean those darn things!
Darcy@Somewhatmuddledmusings says
Mine get cleaned once or twice a yaer. Ours run almost full time from March through November for cooling the house, so it’s only when they are off for winter do I see how much build-up has happened.
Kia @ A View From Here says
Most homes in the UK don’t have ceiling fans – but we do ;) and we’d be lost without them.
Hubby cleans them off twice a year usually when we’re about to change their direction but sometimes it’s just after – you know when you get covered in all the dust and fluff and think “oh, I should have cleaned them off first” ;)
Laura says
I think we do need to start a support group. My family is now finally used to me bringing the camera to the table to take pictures of supper for my blog and they no longer as why I’m taking pictures of food. My daughter has even gotten in on it and requests to take them :)
Oh, and I’ve NEVER in 5 years of living in this house cleaned the ceiling fans…but I do THINK about it A LOT…well, I did actually clean one when I repainted that room, and one we took down, so I guess I’m just down to 3 that need cleaned :)
DorthyM says
i’m afraid I havent touched mine since we replaced the ceiling fan several months ago. So I guess it’s time, huh?
Lisa H. says
After an embarrassing moment a few years ago, when a guest suggested we turn on the fan to cool the place down…. and we did… and the “snow flurries” spun about us much to the glee of my 7 (at that time)children and my utter mortification, I have since acquired a 6’4″ son (they do that at about 14-15 years old!) and have him clean twice a year!
Aaah…. photos of everything… my children are already infected with this… and I don’t even blog!
hannah says
LOL!!! BK’s!! I love it! *chuckles*
As for the ceiling fans… they get cleaned when they are dirty. I dust them with the broom for feather duster and clean them with water and cleaner about twice (sometimes three) times a yr.
Nora says
Honestly, I clean mine every 4-6 weeks. They get so nasty if I don’t.
Kellie says
I was dusting them every month – until summer came. Now the fans are on most of the time and with the kids home from school, my housework doesn’t get done quite as often.
C Sherwin says
You mean one is supposed to clean tose things! :)
Joanna S. says
Clean the ceiling fans? The ones I can reach get cleaned once a year. The ones at the top of the vaulted ceiling. I just pretend they don’t exist. Really, dust couldn’t reach that high anyways…..right?
Sarah @ Cooking the Deals says
Well, we’ve lived in our house for about 2 1/2 years, and I’ve cleaned them twice… so about once a year. I tend to clean them with the spring cleaning, because then we start using them all summer, and who wants that dust flung all over the house? :)
Laurie Plath says
You’re supposed to clean them???? I just let the dust fly off when I turn them on after not being on for awhile!!!!
Michelle says
With a cathedral ceiling,not too often but my painter had pity on me last week and cleaned it. There was actually a Star Wars figure balancing on one of the blades not to mention a balloon stuck up there! If I want to keep it clean, I guess I should invest in a large ladder!
Sonja says
Oh my, I just looked up…
Chelsea Seibert says
Ok, so this is a little embarrassing, my Hubby usually cleans our ceiling fan… he has a couple of pet peeves and dirty things that are higher than I can see is one of them. I keep determining to catch these things before he does (totally unsucessful so far), he’s very sweet about it though! Some day he won’t notice the ceiling fan, top of the fridge, etc. because they will just be clean! yes, someday….
Alyssa says
We accumulate so much dust down here in SE Texas, that truthfully, I should dust the fans every couple of weeks…I think I actually get them once every couple of months or so…my big problem is all those vents in the ceiling…yuck!!
Andrea F. says
My mom cleans them for me every time she comes up to help me after a new baby is born. I’m not having anymore kiddos, so I guess I better get to cleaning them myself! ;)
Holly says
We clean them a few times a year.
The easiest way to clean a ceiling fan is to put a pillow case over the blade (so the blade is inside the pillow case. Then just slide it off with your hands holding the fabric flat against the fan blade. All of the dust stays in the pillow case and you only have to throw it in the laundry.
Easy Peasy!
Amy says
What a great idea! I think I will try that!
Christi says
I was going to mention this, too! It makes the job a little less dreadful.
Kathie says
You mean when was the last time they ALL were cleaned? We have ceiling fans in every room of the main floor of our house! Living room, all three bedrooms. The living room fan got cleaned a little bit ago in preparation for a birthday party (because I hang balloons from the fan blades so if I don’t clean them everyone looks up and sees my dust!). And I just recently cleaned my bedroom fan blades while they were laying on the floor so my husband could install some remote thing on our fan. Yay!
But the two other bedroom fans haven’t been cleaned…ever. And we’ve lived in our house for…well, longer than I’d like to admit.
Lana says
The only ceiling fan we have is in our screen porch and I take the hose to it 2-3 times a year. Warning–DO NOT do this with it turned on or you will get a shower!
Brandi says
I have a detailed list of what needs to be cleaned and when. For example, each week I pick a day to devote to deep cleaning one room in my home. Then the next week I’ll pick a day to deep clean different room etc. I have a list of what needs to be done so I don’t forget anything.
Kellee says
Now I am really convicted, I looked up yesterday and said ahh man I need to clean the ceiling fan! Now today’s post just sealed the deal!
NancyR says
Every birthday. I hang streamers from it and as I reach up it grosses me out so I run over get the cleaning stuff and clean it. 3 times a year :)
KariAnn says
Hmmm – So long I can’t remember. I usually wait until they start to bother my husband (at 6’7″ he’s a lot closer) and then charm him into cleaning them.
Amy says
Interestingly enough, this is on my to-do list with some of my other summer cleaning jobs: windows, carpeting, and comforters. I am making progress through this list, but haven’t done the fans yet! Maybe today I’ll get to the fans, as it is TOO HOT to clean outside windows!
I also am doing the “Two-Week Tackle,” as time for all of my summer projects (cleaning, school planning, etc.) need to be done by the end of July. YIKES! It has been no little comfort to me, Laura, to know that you are also doing this. I’ve enjoyed the name you gave these two weeks and have adopted it for my own. Press on!
joanie elbourn says
When my kids want to earn a bit of money, I pay them to do jobs like this- celing fans, baseboards etc.. good for me AND for them : )
Wendy Hawkinson says
OH OH.. I know this one. My daughter graduated in May so I know I did them right before the open house, but please don’t ask when I did it before that. EEK! They had a lot of dust and misc. on them so I know it was LONG overdue. :) Happy cleaning!
Krista says
We now clean our fans often, thanks to a revelation one day that the acoustic (popcorn) ceiling in our son’s room was varying shades of gray. It had been so long since the fans were cleaned that the ceiling was coated in dust, in a nice pattern that spread out in a circle from the fan. Got out the vacuum and cleaned the ceiling. It was time-consuming, but very fulfilling! (And yes, we took pictures!) It was as though we had painted the ceiling and it was back to its Swiss Coffee glory!
Kristi says
We clean our ceiling fans twice a year – we switch how they turn each season – in the spring they go counterclockwise to push the cool air down. We clean them then. In the fall we switch how the blades flow to clockwise – this pulls the air up now to keep the room heated well. We clean it then too. Each time we clean it, they are dirty – we clean them with homemade baby wipes. Easy and then throw them away. :)
Jolene says
You mean we are supposed to clean the ceiling fans TOO?! UGH! I have to put that on my list now?! I would stop reading your blog because I now have something else to put on my list….. but I am IN LOVE WITH IT!!! Well– the rest of it….I think I am going to skip your cleaning posts these days because I don’t want to be held accountable! I want to live in ignorance!! j/k– I don’t have any ceiling fans– so I don’t clean them! YAY ME!
Now that you mention it— I need some!
Violet says
I was encouraged to see I wasn’t the only one to have a dirty ceiling fan. I keep what I can see and reach dusted, and we hadn’t used it at all the last couple years. ABout a week ago I turned it on and a hail storm of dust balls went flying all over the room. What a mess – of course I had just dusted, and vacuumed the couch, now it was all worse than ever! I will now be cleaning the tops of the blades, as well as the rest of it!
Courtney Wagner says
Heh heh…it’s bad if you can’t remember cleaning them before, right? Excuse me, I need to go attend to my fuzzy, webby fans now. :)
Blessings,
Courtney
Tabitha (A Penny Saved) says
I don’t want to think about ceilings or ceiling fans but I am laughing a wrinkle in my side at your Blogger’s Kids comments. I was just thinking about this today as I was taking shots of our homeschool time. The children may develop some type of blindness from all the flash photography. My husband and I will often say, “Well, it will just give them something to talk to Dr. Phil about.”
Abbie says
Why, what a lovely dusting mitt, Laura! ;)
Laura says
Yes, and it worked so well too! ;)
Charlotte Moore says
I cleaned mine when I got out of school at the beginning of June. It isn’t the blades I mind. It is all those bulbs and globes to take now and wash and put back up. ARGH!!!! I have clear glass globes in almost every room. When they get dirty it is not a pretty site. I like them to sparkle, but they don’t for long.
Sarah says
Mine don’t get turned off enough to clean them in Texas! We did clean them in February, right before everyone came over for my daughter’s 1st birthday party. (Actually, my sweet mom cleaned them!)
Melinda says
My fans are identical to the ones in your picture. That could actually be me cleaning my ceiling fan. That counts, right?
Rhoda says
We just moved from a fanless house to a 5 fan house. Haven’t gotten far enough to check them. Though from the condition of the house before we moved in–I probably should! The only fan used so far (move to the Pacific NW–we are cold here!!) is in my son’s room and he started it before I could clean it. At 7 he isn’t worried about dust snow falling. I’m sure there was some!
Beth @ Turn 2 the Simple says
Cleaned the ceiling fans? You’re supposed to clean those!? — Just Kidding. We’ve only been in our house with ceiling fans for 2 months now…but I bet they weren’t clean when we moved in…and they are on the ceiling (duh) which is 30 feet tall in our house! I’ll have to ask my husband if he cleaned them when he replaced the light bulbs before we moved in…he might have, he’s a pretty thoughtful guy!
Amy says
I cleaned the one in the kitchen yesterday. I will get to the others sometime in the next year. When the 28 month old & 3.5month old give me a break from nursing. It seems as if someone is always nursing here or both!
Emily says
Our rental condo doesn’t have ceiling fans. :) There are both pros and cons to that. But at least I don’t have to clean them!
Our future children will have issues as PK’s I’m sure – Pastor’s Kids. My husband is a pastor. They might have issues as BK’s too, though. Oh boy… :)
Jill says
2 days ago. We have 6 of them, and it wasn’t pretty, but at least I have a clear conscience about them.
Abby H says
you got me worried, then I remembered I dont have any ceiling fans! :P
I think you are just raising boys who will appreciate the small things their wives do for them. I mean not all mean can appreciate a lovely dough ball!
Kathy says
Living in South Carolina ceiling fans are a part of everyday life. I clean them more often than dusting the furniture! (Is that a confession???)
Tracy B. says
With the summer heat wave going on, I’ve been thinking that ceiling fans would be nice. But I hadn’t thought about the fact that they would need dusted. I think I’ll stick to floor fans. I’m not crazy about ladders! lol!
Karen Pruneau says
I don’t have any ceiling fans, but on one of the flylady emails they posted a comment to carefully slide a pillow case over the blade, then wipe down and all the dust stays inside.
Andrea says
thanks for the great tip Karen. i will be trying that technique next time. cleaned them about a month ago. i try to keep up with them every 3-4 months. we use them often.
Dianna says
Funny enough, I just cleaned mine a little over a week ago! I, too, wait until they’re embarrassingly spiderwebby & just sit there praying the whole time that no one looks up! I found out the hard way one time, though, that you shouldn’t clean them before guests come & *then* switch on the fan to move the air around because all the little bits of dust that you thought you’d cleaned actually go whizzing about the room at that moment & make you look even worse than when the fan simply had the *look* of dust! LOL!
Kelly says
I aim for once a month but sometimes it is much less frequently. I have a great tip for easy, mess free cleaning though. Take an old pillowcase and place it over the fan blade and then pull it along the blade as you remove it. All of the dirt and dust will be in the pillowcase and not all over your counters or bed. You can spray the blade with a cleaner first if you prefer. I love your blog and look forward to reading it every day.
Kelly says
It helps to actually read the previous posts before putting in one of your own. Now that I have read on I see someone else already posted my tip so I will just say “What a great idea that was!” and sheepishly go about my day.
Brit @MomAnswersWithBrit.comtp says
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