Golddust, Yes that is what I did for many years. (up to the last2 or 3 anyway) all had to sparkle before the tree went up . I guess that was my spring clean. Now I just leave it up to Igloochic,and she has her own ways to be ready for the season.No need for a top to bottom clean for her , as she has enough events and company it's a full clean at least 1 or 2 times a week.

I don't do the deep cleaning until after the first of the year....gets rid of all the holiday created mess.

Golddust, what oil do you use for your paneling? I've struggled with this for a few years, and haven't done anything yet. Do you wash it first as well? Thanks for your help with these questions.

I don't specifically deep clean in December but coincidentally I told my dh the other day that while putting up Christmas decor my house is getting a deep cleaning.

When I pulled out my decorations from the closet, I was able to sweep in there. All the table tops and other things have to sparkle before I put up decor.

But dustbunnies? I can get on my hands and knees today and wipe under the sofa and the bunnies will be back tomorrow! Thanks to Miss Gracie who sheds 24/7 and living on a dirt road!

Seriously though, I wish I could afford to have someone come in once a week and help out.

I'll be doing a big house cleaning this weekend since DH and DS will be gone all weekend. We're having company next weekend so the place has to shine. That's what usually spurs the big cleaning projects no matter what time of year it is -- house guests on the way.

Oakley -- I've always been SO tempted to hire someone to help me for just one day, but I've never done it. I don't know what it would cost but there are ads in our local papers for cleaners. I should just call and ask what it would cost for a one-day thing.

i do this before the holidays though probably not in as much detail as you. I have no paneling and baseboards and cabinets, etc. were just cleaned recently. Hubby also did windows. But, yes, a more thorough, detailed cleaning is done here before the holidays. I try to do things as needed (such as light fixtures were all done not long ago) so that it's not a huge undertaking. Our house does stay pretty clean, but it's not huge (as it's always been just the two of us) and my husband helps.

tina

My house is never pristine.
Periodically, I paint a room and that requires me to deep clean and repair anything in the room. I just did a bathroom and was amazed at how dirty the floors were in some of corners.
But since I have a dog who, beware, this will gross most of you out- goes around constantly licking the bathroom floor and she sleeps in a mound of pillows and blankets in the bathroom closet, it is no surprise that the bathroom wasn't that clean.

But dustbunnies? I can get on my hands and knees today and wipe under the sofa and the bunnies will be back tomorrow! Thanks to Miss Gracie who sheds 24/7 and living on a dirt road!

Seriously though, I wish I could afford to have someone come in once a week and help out.

Ditto.

golddust, will you move in with me?

If I systematically cleaned my house room by room, by the time I got to the last room, the first room would be a mess again. I have 3 kids and 2 dogs, and I have lowered my standards considerably over the last 18 years! (Oldest child is 18, if you didn't get the reference.)

I do have cleaners who come in every two weeks and on that day, my entire house is clean for a few hours at least. I wish I could afford to have them come every week! I am good about controlling clutter, but I hate to vacuum, wash floors, scrub toilets, etc., so unless we're having company, I don't clean much in between the two-week cleanings. By the time the cleaners arrive, our dust bunnies have turned into full grown rabbits, LOL.

Having said that, I seem to redecorate rooms -- at least to some extent -- frequently, so when that happens, I usually end up tossing out junk, cleaning out those dark corners, and so on. Right now I have painters here working on my son's room and our hallway/foyer, so those spaces will be sparkling and organized after they are done!

You have inspired me! I was supposed to have a meeting most of the day today, but it was cancelled. I will use the time productively and CLEAN, clean, clean. The place is still pretty "picked up" from an open house we had three weeks ago, but I think I may tackle two closets. I still have empty drawers from the kitchen reno, and want to move all the wayward kitchen items that are stored elsewhere into kitchen drawers.

Goldy....if ya like cleaning so damn much...get your tush up here...hee-hee!
I'm not that fond of cleaning!

I'm still trying to finish putting-up our blasted outside Christmas lights. Lotsa ladder-moving...damn C9 bulbs & shingle-clips! Aaaannd we're getting snow in the afternoon today, so I'd better get my ### moving!

I've got a 4-day weekend, so DW's list is a mile long....

Faron

Another deep-cleaner here. Thank goodness our house is modest in size or I'd run out of time. Come to think of it, I still run out of time! I'll be putting our decorations up starting this weekend and the house will be spotless before I start.

I used to own a residential/small commercial cleaning business and am fastidious, so the thought of having someone else come in and clean my house doesn't appeal to me. They'd never clean it anywhere close to what my expectations are LOL.

The crazy deep cleaning, meaning including drawers, closets, etc., usually happens when we are expecting overnight guests.

For the most part, things stay pretty clean here with the exception of the kitchen. I always have something going on in the kitchen.

I hate clutter, so the trash bin is my friend. Without the clutter, it is so much easier to see what is clean or needs to be.

As for pet hair, I could vacuum at 7 a.m. and at 3 p.m., there is as much hair around as was previously vacuumed at 7 a.m.. I have all kinds of brushes that get a workout daily, but the labrador hair is just non-stop. Even worse when the weather changes!

I did have the cleaning crew every two weeks before DD went off to college. Really don't need them, since as someone above posted, the house stayed clean for all of a few hours after they left. Now, I spend that $$ on a little something for myself. I kind of look at it as a reward/incentive for a cleaning job well done by ME!

"the thought of having someone else come in and clean my house doesn't appeal to me. They'd never clean it anywhere close to what my expectations are LOL." EXACTLY! Been there, done that.

It's just the two of us and I don't work full time, so I'm fine with doing my own cleaning. The weeks I work less hours are especially nice, I guess I have more time to be on top of things.

tina

We've only been in this house a little over a year, and this year and last, we hosted Thanksgiving. So, November is deep cleaning month. DH even washed the windows this year!

All of that deep cleaning turned up even more (!) repair projects. Turns out what I thought was a smudge on the bottom of one door frame is actually blistering paint from the wood rotting, and we found several windows that needed recaulking. So the "deep cleaning" just went on and on!

It was really nice, though, to have everything perfectly clean. After Thanksgiving, we did the cleanup from that, and I put up the tree a few days later. We're planning to have guests off and on through the holidays, so all we've got to do now is just touch it up every week.

Ditto that on the pet hair! We have cats. And we have mostly white trim and baseboards, white grout on the tile, AND we live in the country. At least we have a paved driveway, but most all of my neighbors have patures and crops, so the mowing creates a HUGE amount of dust and pollen. Some days, I feel like I could vaccuum every day and it wouldn't matter. I find that keeping down the clutter and little piles of stuff that DH and I can both generate spontaneously helps the most.

Patser, I should buy stocks in Old English Lemon oil. When I deep clean, I go through a big bottle. That and 'Restore a Finish'. Most of my furniture doesn't have a shiny finish unless I oil it, so I do.

I have two dogs that get a new coat of hair every three hours, I swear. Dubs has an undercoat and he doesn't get brushed daily so my vacuum is seldom put away.

I certainly know about pollen. We have a few cedar trees that turns everything green in the spring and I have a huge Linden tree in my front yard that is the messiest member of our family. It is always doing something.

A pinched nerve has slowed me down the past few days but it's feeling better now so I can regain my speed. LOL!

I'm not sure what kind of paneling you have so it's hard to suggest what you should use on it. This is what kind I have. It's 100 years old and I have used the 'Restore a Finish' and Lemon oil. The 'Restore a Finish' cleans it up but it's smelly and I only do that every couple of years.

Oh, and those little stain touch up pens made by Minwax are the greatest thing since sliced bread. I went all around the house, and any piece of wood that had suffered a scrape or a scratch got a dab of that and a buff. Looks great, now!

Fall is usually my prime deep cleaning time...or at least as deep as I get. This year I was studying for my real estate license, so I missed out on the fall freshen. And it shows.

Just this morning I was wondering where I could get my hands on a pickup so I could haul away some of the STUFF we have that we really don't need anymore. Don't even want to Craig's List it...just get it out. I think a half dozen trips to donate stuff to the resale/thrift shop would make cleaning my house a lot easier.

Decorating a sparkling clean house is a joy. One of the reasons I'm not enthused with my decor this year is that the house underneath is all is just not tidy. Sigh.

Yep, I do that, too! I'm in the middle of it right now and am hoping to finish by the end of the week. Since we host a big Christmas Day gathering here, including a sit down dinner for everyone, this is the perfect time to deep clean my home. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one doing this!
Lynn