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Monthly Clean Home Challenge: Wipe Down Trim/Doors

Welcome back to the Monthly Clean Home Challenge daily task!  I am on a quest to maintain a clean and organized home in less time and the goal is simple; four daily tasks, four weekly tasks and one additional quick task each week day. 

In no particular order, here are the individual tasks I am tackling each day this month:

1. Make cleaning supplies
2. Cycle clean appliances
3. Clean out cars
4. Clean out microwave
5. Wipe down cabinets/appliances
6. Wipe down trim/doors
7. Clean out one drawer
8. Clean out fridge
9. Clean out freezer
10. Vacuum under furniture
11. Vacuum mattresses
12. Clean oven
13. Clean out one closet
14. Wash out garbage can/recycle bin
15. Wash windows
16. Scrub grout
17. Clean out one cabinet
18. File paper piles
19. Purge bathroom toiletries
20. Clean out pantry

Today I am chatting about the extra task:  Wipe Down Trim/Doors

The reason for the daily tasks is to keep and maintain a fresh home, without having to do too much extra.  This is one of those tasks that took a little longer than I hoped, but I counted it as part of my daily workout and the house now smells extra fresh, so it was totally worth it in my book.

Today's goal was to clean up the dirt and grime that builds on our doors and moulding.  The fingerprints and dirt and splashes of slush off of boots and jackets.  I have a pre-teen that truly finds pleasure in jumping up and touching the tops of every door jam in our house as he walks through them.  I can't quite figure out the fascination; I think he is excited to be growing.  Either way, they get dirty.

I started out by whipping up a batch of cleaner.  I have used different methods to this process before, often times water and a microfiber rag are enough, but I like to know it is killing a few germs so vinegar and water also do the trick.  Today I decided to use a different recipe to ensure the house was left smelling like spring once I was done, so I combined the following {x4}:

• 1 cup distilled water
• 1 tbsp lemon castile soap
• 10 drops lemon essential oil

I set my phone timer to get a good idea of how long it would take me to conquer the entire house {we have to levels of living}.  Paired with the microfiber rag, I set off working on the doors throughout our home.

The process is super simple.  I just spray down the front of the door, door jam and trim with the cleaner and followed up with the microfiber rag.


The bevel on our doors collects dust, while around the handles tend to show a lot of dirt and fingerprints.


Not the most dramatic before/after shot... but finger prints be gone!

It is also worth mentioning that there is a difference between dirt and scuff marks.  This recipe and microfiber rag seemed to cut the dirt great, scuffs and some random pencil marks I found on the back of one of the bedroom doors were a completely different story.  For those, I just grabbed a damp magic eraser and that quickly took care of those extra heavy duty markings.

We have 14 doors, including our front door and the door to the garage, which I wiped down front and back. 

When it comes to the trim, I try and vacuum the floor trim while vacuuming our home, so I decided not to wipe all of that down.  However, if I saw anything that looked dirty, I touched it up quickly with the solution and rag.

We also have installed some decorative molding near our front door/top of the stairs, which also runs down the entire stairwell.  The entry area gets especially dirty during the winter months, so today was the perfect time to take care of that problematic area as well.


All of the molding at the top of the stairs and going down the stairs, along with the white risers, were all given a quick wipe down. 


I would say the front and garage doors were the dirtiest, however, they were also the easiest to clean.   Oh, and window moulding will be addressed on window cleaning day.

Once I could no longer feel my arm and was sweating up a storm, I decided I was happy with all I was able to accomplished and stopped the timer on my phone.  22 minutes and 22 seconds on the dot.


I wish you could take a whiff of the amazing aroma from the cleaner... so good!  That alone kept me going with a smile and made it so worth it!  Well, that and some classic 80's tunes courtesy of Pandora.  Even the kids noticed when they came in from school asking, "Mom!  What is that yummy smell!?"  When my boys notice, I know it is a good thing!

In the end, this wasn't a quick 5 minute task, but I was able to tackle our entire home in around 20 minutes and that was me moving as quickly as possible while putting a bit of elbow grease into a few of the really dirty spots.  I am pretty sure I burned a few calories, so we will call it multitasking for the win.