Easy Spring Cleaning Hacks for Seniors and Home Caregivers

Now that the weather is becoming warmer, it is time to get busy putting the house back in order after a long, rainy winter. For older adults, spring cleaning is often an annual ritual that helps clear the home of clutter while eliminating allergens. However, seniors also often find that cleaning their home from top to bottom gets more challenging with each passing year. New health conditions that affect their energy levels and mobility can create challenges when it comes to completing household chores.

The following spring cleaning hacks for seniors will make certain household chores easier to manage. These are also useful tips for home caregivers!

Spring Cleaning Hacks for Seniors

Being able to clean your own home, even if it is just a few of the chores, provides a sense of independence and achievement.

Use a Lint Roller On Lampshades

Including more lights throughout the walking path is a common strategy that a home caregiver will use to reduce the risk of falls. However, all of those lampshades collect a lot of dust, and the odd-shapes make them hard to clean. Seniors can quickly clean their lampshades by simply running a lint roller up and down them a few times. Since this requires very little energy, most seniors can do this task while their home caregiving team helps with the heavier work.

Wear Rubber Gloves to Remove Pet Hair

Pets give older adults companionship, and it is common for many seniors to have one or two furry friends hanging around the house. Unfortunately, all of that pet hair poses a challenge when it comes to keeping the furniture clean. Vacuuming does not always work to get all of the little hairs, but rubber gloves are surprisingly efficient at picking them all off with a few swipes of your hand. Simply put the gloves on and run your hands over the furniture. This generates just enough static that the hair sticks to the gloves. Rinse your hands off in a bucket of water, and the hair will all fall off.

Clean Sponges In The Microwave

Sponges pick up bacteria every time they are used to wipe down a surface. However, it is not necessary to toss them after every single use. Instead, sponges can be sanitized by placing them in a bowl of water mixed with lemon juice. Then, squeeze them out, and place them in the microwave for one minute. When the timer rings, the sponges will be bacteria-free, and the lemon juice gives them a fresh scent. To maximize this effect, seniors can then microwave the bowl of water for one minute. This will generate steam that makes it easy to wipe down the walls of the microwave so that is easier to clean, too.

Remove Lime Scale With Vinegar

Many of the cleaning products on the market contain harsh chemicals that can contribute to breathing problems for older adults. This is why home care services prefer to use natural cleaning products as much as possible, and vinegar is a go-to cleaner that works on even the toughest jobs. Lime scale that builds up on faucets and other fixtures in the kitchen and bathroom is a major frustration for anyone who does not like to spend time scrubbing. Fortunately, wrapping the fixtures in a towel soaked in vinegar makes the lime scale dissolve without having to put any elbow grease into the job.

Avoid Reaching With Extension Tools

It is important for a senior’s home caregiving plan to include safety precautions such as avoiding climbing ladders to clean high spaces. Yet older seniors can still manage to help dust the tops of doors and ceiling fan blades by using extension poles that attach to their cleaning tools. Claw-style grabbing tools can also be used by seniors to pick items up off the floor without having to bend down and stoop. Extension tools are also very useful for people with disabilities.

Get Streak-Free Windows

Having a clear view to the outside world can brighten a senior’s spirits, and being able to finally get windows clean without leaving streaks gives a senior a sense of accomplishment. Although many store-bought cleaners claim to give streak-free results, most people find that they still do leave those annoying marks. While a senior may need to get help from their home caregiver to reach the high spots, they can enjoy perfectly clear windows by simply washing them with a microfiber cloth that is dampened with water.

Enjoy Sparkling Oven Racks

Those oven racks are a pain to clean, and the majority of racks don’t fit in the kitchen sink. Seniors also need to stay away from the strong odors generated by commercial oven cleaners since they can harm the lungs. This doesn’t mean that you have to give up on having a clean oven though. Just run warm water in the bathtub, squeeze in a little dish washing liquid and allow them to soak. Then, use a fabric softener sheet to loosen baked on grease and grime. Rinse the racks off with a fresh tub full of water, and allow them to dry.

Clean Blinds The Fast Way

Once you have streak-free windows, you want to make sure that your blinds are not covered in dust. Cleaning blinds has long been one of the most abhorred chores because it is time-consuming to work your way down each row as you dust. With this spring cleaning hack, you can cut your cleaning down by half. To do so, all you need is a pair of old socks and some tongs. Put the socks on the tongs and run them through each row of blinds. Gently squeeze the tongs as you go so that the socks hit the blinds, and you will pick up dust without breaking a sweat.

While these spring cleaning hacks will make a difference in how much a senior can do on their own, it is common to get overwhelmed when that to-do list has chores that are challenging to tackle. Whether you or your loved one realize that spring cleaning is just too overwhelming, you can rely on home care services to help you accomplish your mission. From helping to organize the kitchen to clearing out expired medications from the cabinet, having a professional home caregiver on your spring cleaning team gets your house sparkling while ensuring that everyone stays safe.

If you are in need of in home care in San Francisco or one of the surrounding communities, contact the experts at Alegre Home Care.