The heck with spring cleaning. Our national obsession should be winter cleaning.We’re about to shut ourselves inside for months with all the dirt and grime our houses have gathered during those hot, dusty, open-window days of summer and fall. We’ll be living with indoor air quality that the EPA estimates could be five times more polluted than outdoor air.But you can breathe easy — we’ve made up a checklist of must-do cleaning jobs that’ll get the dust out, spruce up your interiors for the coming holidays, and make those wintry days healthier — and safer — for you and your family.This little chore should definitely be on your list. It prevents lint build-up that can create a fire hazard.Pull out the dryer as far as the vent pipe allows. Disconnect the vent pipe from the dryer, and clean the outlet hole in the back of the dryer with a shop vac or regular vacuum.Clean the vent pipe with a dryer snake cleaning tool ($15 to $20). This is a rotary brush attached to a long cable.

One end is fitted to the chuck of an electric drill that is used to rotate the cable and the brush.Don’t use this tool on the flexible vent pipe sometimes used to connect the dryer to the vent wall outlet. Instead, remove the flexible pipe completely and use a vacuum with a narrow nozzle to clean out the pipe.Related: How to Care for Your Washer and DryerImage: A Little Wife's Happy Life You’re going to be shut in all winter with these little germ havens, so now’s a good time to clean them thoroughly. Cats For Adoption MissouriTake them outside where you can blast the insides with a garden hose, then add disinfectant. Oak Bedroom Furniture CalgaryRegular bleach is an effective disinfectant (one part bleach to six parts water) but we much prefer environmentally safe undiluted hydrogen peroxide or vinegar mixed 50/50 with water. Drapery Work Table

Don’t mix hydrogen peroxide with vinegar — the result is harmful peracetic acid.Let the garbage cans sit for an hour, then pour out the contents and scrub the insides with a stiff bristle brush to remove any residue. Rinse and, if possible, let the wastebasket dry in direct sunlight, which helps eliminate bacteria.Take the holder and the brush outside, and spray wash thoroughly with a garden hose. Immerse the holder and brush in a bucket of hot water mixed with one of these solutions:Let everything sit in the solution for a couple of hours, then rinse the holder and brush with a hose and place in direct sunlight to dry.Image: Jess McGurn You might shift furniture around so you can vacuum the floor, but there’s another side to the story — the underside.Tilt upholstered chairs and couches all the way back (much easier with two people) to expose the bottoms. The dust covers tacked underneath furniture can catch dreck and dust bunnies, so vacuum them off, being careful not to press too hard on the fabric.

You’ve heard it before, but change your HVAC filters! These dust-catching wonders keep particulates out of your air, making it easier on your floors, furniture, HVAC system, and lungs. Change at least every 60 days.Air filters for furnaces are rated by level of efficiency. The higher the rating, the better the filter is at removing dirt, mold spores, and pet dander.Filters are rated one of two ways (you’ll see the ratings on the packaging); higher numbers mean better efficiency, but there’s a point of diminishing returns — some filters with extremely high ratings also restrict air flow, making your HVAC work so hard that the system heats and cools inefficiently.Cheap filters cost about $2, but you’re better off paying $12 to $17 for a pleated filter with a 1250 MPR, or $20 to $25 for a filter rated 2400.Image: Daniela Mellen Tables and countertops aren’t the only household items with horizontal surfaces. In fact, just about everything in your house except Rover’s tennis ball has some kind of horizontal surface where dust and dirt will nestle, often unnoticed.

You’ll want to clean the top horizontal edges of:If we’ve told you once…OK, you get it. Your fridge needs to be cleaned periodically so that it operates at peak efficiency. Ignore this chore and face another $5 to $10 per month in utility costs. Worst case: a visit from an appliance repair pro who’ll charge $75 to $150 per hour!The object is to clean the condenser coils. Here’s how:If the condenser coils are on the bottom of the fridge, then you’ll need to clean them from the front of the unit.You still should pull your refrigerator all the way out and vacuum up dirt and dust that accumulates in back of the unit. Unplug it while you work on it.Put down a piece of cardboard so that grit under the wheels doesn’t scratch your flooring.If the condenser coils are on the back of the refrigerator, then pull the unit out completely, and unplug it while you work on it.While you’re at it, check to make sure your freezer vents are clear. Freezers circulate air to reduce frost, but piling up too much stuff in front of the little grill-like vents inside your freezer blocks their business.

Related: How to Care for Your FridgeImage: Audrey Fish Pfeifer Keep winter’s slush and gunk at bay by making your entryway a dirt guardian.Related: Cheery Ideas to Organize Your Mudroom or EntrywayImage: Jo @ Let's Face the Music By some estimates, dirty window glass cuts daylight by 20%. That’s a lot less light coming in at a time of year when you really need it to help chase away winter blues.Clean windows inside and out with a homemade non-toxic solution:Wipe clean and polish using microfiber cloths.Those big blades on your ceiling fan are great at moving air, but when they’re idle they’re big dust magnets — dust settles on the top surfaces where you can’t see it.Out of sight maybe, but not out of mind. Here’s an easy way to clean them: Take an old pillowcase and gently cover a blade. Pull it back slowly to remove the dust. The dust stays inside the pillowcase, which prevents dust from flying all over.Related: How to Keep Things Cleaner LongerAll winter long, we dream of bright sunny days with birds chirping, flowers blooming, children playing outside, us laying outside .... days at the beach, drives through the mountains, vacations ... all good things.

But when the sun finally drives the clouds, rain and snow away, what do we see? How did that happen? Environmental dirt consists of dust and smoke that is almost always present in the atmosphere. It's carried through the air by fog and breezes. Even if you live in a forty-mile woods, the outside of your windows attract scum (including mildew and pollen) that shows in the most unflattering ways when the sun breaks through. So now, you have a film of dust, smoke, pollen, mildew and other nasty stuff that keeps you from fully enjoying the appearance of your windows and you have to do something about it. You might never achieve the lofty heights as some window washers do but you probably don't want to climb up that ladder anyway. Nevertheless, you can excel at window washing by just implementing a few tips that make it easier. Ideal weather conditions for cleaning the outside of your windows is a dull, overcast day with no breeze. It if is sunny, however, wait until the windows you want to clean are shaded.

You don't want the solution to dry on the surface before you get a chance to scrub and wipe it dry yourself. Professional window washers are never without a squeegee. A squeegee is absolutely essential if you want a streak-free window. Gather your supplies, including the squeegee, household sponge, plastic scrubby (same you use for Silverstone or Teflon surfaces), soft, white and absorbent cotton rags, a bucket with cleaning solution made of: Stir the above ingredients gently making sure that the cornstarch is thoroughly dissolved. Dip the sponge into the solution, beginning at the top and work your way down. Be generous with the solution and apply with a rotating motion making sure you get right up against the window casings, top to bottom and side to side. When the window has been thoroughly covered, you can use the scrubby and go over it again while it is still wet to dislodge any dried on dirt. Then you can go over the surface again with the sponge. Take one of the soft clean cotton rags and run it along the top edge of the glass, drying about 3-4 inches down from the top.

Then take the squeegee and begin wiping the solution from the window, using strong, smooth strokes. Start at the top and work down. At the end of each stroke, wipe the blade of the squeegee with your soft clean rag. Continue until the whole window has been dried with the squeegee. You may have to use your soft absorbent rag to go around the edges and mop up solution that dripped. If you have a two story home, please be very careful if you decide to do the upper windows yourself. Be sure someone is there to steady the ladder or - hire a professional window cleaner to do that part of the job for you. It shouldn't be a big deal to keep the inside of your windows clean and streak-free. In homes with children and pets, it's often an ongoing job and one that must be tackled frequently. We often receive calls at Mrs. Clean that begin something like this, "Do you do windows? My patio doors are a sight. I have dogs that push their noses against the doors and they jump up on the doors, too!"

That's a hazard of having doggies - and children, too. Slobber gets smeared around and dries on windows and patio doors. While it's kind of a nasty thing that goes with the territory, it's not all that hard if you know the tips. Prepare the solution from the recipe above. Get your bucket, the scrubby, squeegee, clean, absorbent rags, and household sponge and get to work. You probably won't have to apply a lot of elbow grease along with the sponge, and you will want to avoid drips that might get on your wall paint or carpeting. Just exercise a little restraint and caution, and you shouldn't have a big mess. Start at the top with the sponge and work down. Then dry a two or three inch strip at the top of the window as a starting place for the squeegee. Draw the squeegee down, with smooth, strong strokes. Wipe the blade of the squeegee often to avoid drips and so that you don't spread the dirt around. As each window is finished, use a soft absorbent rag to go around each edge and mop up all the remaining moisture.