If you’ve been keeping up with The Property Geeks 2018 Hug Your Home Challenge then you know we’re almost halfway through the year! If you haven’t been keeping up, it’s not too late to join in. Click here to get your free Hug Your Home Challenge checklist, a year full of home maintenance tips that will get your house in tip top shape. This month it’s all about freshening everything up for Spring.

Freshen Up Your Fan & Filter

How long has it been since you’ve shown your oven hood some love? If your filter looks more yellow than silver and you can’t find a non-sticky place to hold onto, it’s probably time to give it a quick bath. If you’ve got a stainless steel filter, you can just pop it in the dishwasher with your next load. Unfortunately, if your filter is made from aluminum, (as many of them are) you’re going to want to opt for handwashing.

1. Fill the sink with hot, hot, hot water.
2. Add 1/4 cup of baking soda and a generous squirt of de-greasing dishsoap like Dawn.
3. Remove your filter from the vent hood. Most will pop or slide out pretty easily. Submerge it in the hot, soapy water.
4. Pour yourself a glass of iced tea while the filter soaks. (10-15 minutes at a minimum. More if you’re reading a good book.)
5. After it’s soaked, scrub the filter with a scrub brush, being careful not to damage it.
6. Rinse and air dry, then re-install. (Make sure it’s completely dry before you put it back in the vent hood.)

Rejuvenate Your Refrigerator

Hopefully you go through and toss out science projects growing in your refrigerator on a fairly regular basis. But how about giving your fridge and freezer a nice, deep clean? It doesn’t take too much effort and you’ll be thankful for the results since you’ll be able to tell what you’ve got stashed away in there. To give your fridge and freezer a quick, more thorough clean:

1. Remove everything, including drawers, shelves and bins.
2. Fill your sink with hot water and a generous squirt of liquid dish soap.
3. Soak shelves, drawers, etc. in the sink.
4. Use a soapy rag to wipe down the shelves, sides, and inside door of your refrigerator. If you come across sticky or stubborn spills, mix some baking soda with some water and scrub the spill with that mixture.
5. Wipe away any remaining soap with a wet rag.
6. Dry the interior.
7. Scrub, rinse and dry the shelves, drawers and bins.
8. Put your food back in place and enjoy!

Wash those Windows

Nothing makes the day a little brighter than having the sun peer in through sparkly, clean windows. In order to tackle this project, you’ll want to wait for a clear day with no chance of rain. Before you do anything else, make sure you mark the window screens. Trying to figure out which screen came from which window isn’t a fun game to play and will add hours to your chore. Then:

1. Remove screens from all of the windows and lay them flat on a tarp.
2. With a gentle setting, spray down all of the screens with a hose.
3. Add a squirt of dish soap and gently scrub the screens with a scrub brush.
4. Rinse again and let air dry.

Meanwhile, for the windows…

1. Mix up a solution of 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup of vinegar and a small squirt of dish soap.
2. Spray on the windows.
3. Rinse off.
4. Use a squeegee to wipe it off. If you can’t reach, air drying is fine.
5. Presto! Now you can actually see outside!

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