If you’ve just had a renovation, congratulations! There is no better feeling than seeing a vision for your home come to life – but it’s a messy process, and once the builders have left, it’s up to you to get your home looking its best again.
It can be overwhelming cleaning up after a renovation but follow our top tips on things you should be considering following your building work and we’ll get you on the right track. Of course, if you want to have the experts take over the hassle for you, our end of build cleaning services will take the stress out of post-renovation cleaning.
1. How to clean the air after a renovation
It’s all well and good vacuuming floors and cleaning surfaces once your renovations have finished, but it’s important to remove as much dust from the air as possible. If you don’t, that “chalky” feeling to the air will remain and could cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat.
Our tip? Invest in a good air purifier. These machines draw small particles out of the air, including dust, and filter them out, creating a cleaner environment. They are also really useful even for people who haven’t had building work done, as they help to draw out any toxins in the air.
If this sounds like the ideal product for you, don’t forget to check the specifications on each individual unit to make sure they can cope with your room size. It may be the case that you need a few dotted around your home to make a difference.
Alternatively, you could move one machine around your home after it has completed a cycle.
2. How to clean floor tiles after a renovation
Your renovation is complete, but you are now wondering how to clean the building dust from your lovely floor tiles. With the amount of dust created by renovation work, just mopping your tiles will push the dirt around your floor rather than removing it, and you’ll struggle to achieve that coveted streak-free finish.
Start by sweeping up any loose debris that is too big for your vacuum cleaner, and then move on to giving your flooring a good vacuum.
If your floor is new, you will likely end up with what’s known as “grout haze” where a layer of grout has dried over the surface of the tile, resulting in a hazy or dull finish.
To bring back the natural look of your tiles, grab two buckets of warm water, a good quality cloth and follow the below method:
- Add a couple of drops of washing up liquid into one of the buckets.
- Wet your cloth in soapy water and wring out any excess water.
- Wipe over the tiles firmly, lightly rubbing any particularly thick spots of grout.
- Rinse the cloth in your second bucket of water.
- Repeat until clean.
Be patient, this isn’t a quick job, especially if the area you have to cover is quite large – so set aside a good portion of time to make sure it’s done right.
Once finished, be careful not to slip on your tiles as they will likely be damp.
3. Cleaning carpets after a renovation
Carpets can be a nightmare to clean after a renovation, so if you can, reduce the cleaning by closing any doors to rooms with carpets in them. Even better, go an extra step and add a layer of plastic over the carpets if that is possible for you.
Nevertheless, if you do need to clean your carpets (be sure to check out our full carpet cleaning guide too), you can start by vacuuming up any loose debris. Make sure your vacuum cleaner is on the carpet setting (if it has one) to really get into the pile and loosen any dirt that may have accumulated at the bottom.
Once done, think about renting a carpet shampooer or hire someone to do it for you. You’ll be surprised at how much dirt even the most basic shampooing machines can draw out of your carpets.
4. Make sure you dust up high, and down low
Start by cleaning your eye level surfaces – it is worth noting that these will take more than one pass to collect any remaining dust that may be floating around in the air.
Once you’ve done that, it’s important to look around those hard-to-reach places like the tops of kitchen cabinets, around your skirting boards, on windowsills and behind any large pieces of furniture or appliances.
Top tip: use a damp cloth rather than a dry one to stop dust from spreading back into the air. The wet fibres of the cloth will trap more dust – especially helpful for those with asthma or allergies.
5. Don’t forget your windows
Often forgotten both post-renovation and by homeowners in general, the inside of your windows have an amazing way of collecting dirt, dust and grime over the course of several weeks.
The best way to clean your windows is to spray using a window cleaning solution, available from most supermarkets and home stores, and rub that across your windows with a microfibre cloth. Using another dry microfibre cloth, wipe away any excess and rediscover a streak-free window to enjoy.
6. How to remove paint spills from surfaces
It’s an inevitable part of decorating. No matter how well you cover surfaces up before painting, some spots of paint will make their way through your protection. Don’t worry though, there are a couple of things you can do to remove them.
If the paint is still wet, try and scoop as much of it up as possible, and then mix a solution of warm water and washing-up liquid, wiping up the paint spill from the outside in – this allows you to control the area without it spreading.
If the paint is starting to dry but is still soft, you can try to scrape the surface with a tool that is softer than the material you will be applying it to. A plastic putty knife is ideal here but be very careful not to scratch anything.
Finally, if the paint has dried fully, start by softening it with a hairdryer on its lowest heat setting. Keep checking the paint and as soon as it starts to soften, gently scrape away the spill using the method above.
7. Don’t forget your PPE
Dust, paint fumes and cleaning chemicals are a recipe for irritation – whether that be your skin, eyes, nose or throat, so it’s important to protect yourself. Here’s a handy checklist of the protection we’d recommend wearing when undertaking a deep clean of your home.
- Goggles
- Dust mask
- Rubber gloves
- Disposable overalls with hood (if the cleaning is particularly deep)
And there you have it, 7 tips about how to clean after builders have finished. Set yourself some time to get these basics right and your home will be back to its sparkling self in absolutely no time! For more tips, see our latest blog on cleaning vinyl flooring like a professional.
