If there’s anything that can take away from the joy of a newly renovated bathroom, it’s the dust that lingers after. No matter how well your contractor seals off the construction area from the rest of your apartment, dust always seem to find its way through and settle on everything. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to clean everything up and finally enjoy your new space.
It’s not just unsightly to leave the dust lying around. Left unattended, it can end up in your air ducts. So, it’s important that you clean up the dust up as soon as possible.
First, there are a number of items you’ll need to get the job done:
- Face masks
- A vacuum (plus an extra filter or two)
- Dust mops or towels
- A broom, plus dust mop treatment
- A mop
- Cleaner for your specific floor material
- Soft towels
- Used dryer sheets
As you get underway, remember that you want to minimize the amount of dust you kick up into the air. Besides spreading dust around and adding to your cleanup effort, it can also contribute to respiratory problems. Because of this risk, make sure to wear a face mask while performing your cleanup.
Start at the Top
With that in mind, the first step you should take is to vacuum up as much of the dust as possible. Vacuuming it will remove most of the dust, particularly the loose material that’s more likely to shift around if you tried to sweep it up. Don’t vacuum in random directions. Instead, start from the ceiling and work down towards the floor, moving in long sideways movements as you go. Take care of the ledges at the top of window and door frames at the same time. Light fixtures and ceiling fan blades could also use a bit of vacuuming while, closer to the ground, lamp shades and electronics should be similarly taken care of.
Once this part of the process has been completed, you’re in a good position to start cleaning with soap and warm water over the same spaces. Damp towels will allow you to clean up the remaining dust without merely spreading it around. Any section you’ve vacuumed over will need to be cleaned in this manner, too. That goes for the air vents as well. Don’t be afraid to remove the vent covers and get right in there.
Careful with the Floors
Cleaning the floors will depend more on the type of floor surface. A carpeted floor will typically trap much more dust in it and can be handled with a vacuum, plus a dust brush extension. If you like, you can even use a steam cleaner to more vigorously clean up the ingrained dust. An added bonus that comes with steam cleaning is that less dust will be kicked up into the air.
If you’re cleaning a hard-surfaced floor, vacuuming or sweeping is a necessary first step. Don’t go straight to cleaning up the dust with a damp mop. You risk scratching the surface with the fine grains of dust you’re moving around. A treated dust mop is another option you can use to safely remove the fine particles. Along the baseboards, used dryer sheets are very effective at getting into the nooks and crannies, gathering up dust.
Once the floor dust is gathered up as well as possible, a damp – not wet – mop can be applied to the floor, using a cleaner appropriate to the surface material.
Don’t Forget The Ducts
After all these parts of your home are cleaned up, the next thing you’ll want to do is vacuum inside your air vents and check your air filters. After all the construction and cleanup, there’s a good chance they’ll need to be swapped out.
With all these tasks out of the way, you’ll now be able to enjoy your new bathroom with the comfort that comes with knowing all remnants of the construction process have been cleaned away.
