End of Summer Cleaning Checklist

Ready or not, here comes fall. With the busyness of life, many of us find ourselves tossing our summer toys back in the garage, storing the grill, and forgetting about the patio furniture altogether. It’s time for pumpkins, right? Before you get ahead of yourself, take time to clean up and store your summer gear properly to avoid an even bigger mess later on. Here’s our end of summer cleaning checklist! 

☑️ Wipe down outdoor furniture

Avoid rust, mold, and mildew by simply wiping down your outdoor furniture before putting it in storage. Spot clean your cushions. Scrub your tabletops. And wipe down your chairs. Giving your furniture a thorough cleaning now will keep it in good condition for next summer! 

☑️ Clean up toys 

Swimming pools, water guns, sidewalk chalk, and bicycles. We love the months when the kids get to play outside! One thing kids aren’t great at though is cleaning up after themselves. Get all hands on deck to help make sure those summer toys aren’t filthy before you put them away until next season.

☑️ Deep clean grill

By the end of the summer, that BBQ grill is covered with all kinds of grease, dirt, and grime. It’s tempting to want to toss the cover on and worry about that mess next season. Again, taking care of your grill now will result in less of a headache later. Don’t forget to bring those grill utensils inside and give them a good cleaning, as well. Check out this video for step by step instructions on how to deep clean your gas grill.

☑️ Clean up lawn mower

Hooray for the end of mowing season! Show your lawn mower some love by spraying off the grass clippings and emptying your gas tank. Running your mower dry for the winter months will keep your mower’s carburetor from getting clogged while sitting in storage. Click here to 7 Steps to Winterize Your Lawn Mower.

☑️ Organize and sweep garage

For many of us, the garage becomes a catch-all space for tools, car parts, hardware, toys, and who knows what else. Before long, you find yourself tripping over stuff and losing things left and right. The end of summer is a great time to clean out the garage. Here’s a video with garage organization tips. Once you’ve got most things off the floor, you can finally sweep!

☑️ Prep fireplace

It may seem early to start thinking about the fireplace, but it’s much easier to take care of this now before the cold weather rolls in! The National Fire Protection Association suggests that you have your chimney swept once a year to remove dangerous soot and debris. If this isn’t something you want to worry about, we recommend hiring a professional chimney sweep. You’ll also need to inspect your chimney structure and lining for cracks, loose bricks, water damage, deterioration or missing mortar. Last but not least, make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have good batteries and are working properly.

Get ready to get cozy! Click here to read our blog on making your fireplace the focal point of your living space.