How to Clean Your Baseboards In 5 Steps

But dirty baseboards can make all the difference in the world, aesthetically speaking. You can vacuum and mop all you want, but if your baseboards are smudged, scuffed, or dusty, that polished hardwood and sparkling tile will only make that filth even more noticeable.

It’s tempting to overlook cleaning your baseboards, but we implore you not to. Trust us, you’ll be thrilled when those baseboards are sparkling clean. You might even want to crawl around to clean them.

Cleaning the baseboards is a necessary evil if you value cleanliness. It’s where all the pet hair sticks and the cobwebs accumulate, especially in corners and crevices. We’ve got some solutions to help you simplify this task — and hopefully save your knees.

How often to clean baseboards

Baseboard cleaning can and should be done weekly, or just as often as you clean your floors. Once you’ve done that initial baseboard deep clean, keeping them clean should be much less of a hassle.

When to clean baseboards

Oh, you know when to clean your baseboards. You can see it. You’ve likely been ignoring it for a long time but, that area where you casually kick off your shoes each time you enter the house? The spot on the wall behind where the trash can lives? The dusty bits behind the furniture where all the dog and cat dander accumulates? The nook where the food bowls live?

Yeah, you know those places. The baseboards will let you know when they need to be cleaned. It will be glaringly obvious.

At the very least, you should be cleaning your baseboards seasonally as part of your deep cleaning routine. But we’ll let you slide with a once-a-month job. That sounds reasonable, no?

Baseboard Cleaning Supplies

While you won’t need all of these supplies, you can pick and choose from this list based on which cleaning technique you decide to use. We’ve starred our favorite baseboard cleaning tools here.

• Broom or vacuum with brush attachment
• ^*Swiffer Duster
• ^*Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
• Dawn dish soap + warm water + sponge/microfiber cloth or toilet wand + sock
• Disposable sanitizing wipes
• *Dryer sheet or fabric softener sheet

The easiest way(s) to clean baseboards

While there are several options for cleaning your baseboards, the general flow will always go something like this:

• Sweep, dust, and vacuum: You’ll want to start, as you would any similar chore, by knocking off and collecting any loose grime and debris, from pet hair to dust bunnies.
• Wipe: This is arguably the most important part, where you really remove the grime, scuffs, and marks from the baseboards. We’ll suggest a variety of techniques you can use, depending which cleaning tools you’ve got on hand.
• Buff: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are easily our favorite product for removing unsightly marks from most things, from walls and white shoes to baseboards. They’re inexpensive, simple to use and extremely effective.
• Protect: Once your baseboards have air dried, rubbing them down with a dryer sheet (scented or unscented is your call) will leave them with a handy dust repelling layer and static guard to protect your baseboards from future build up.

1. Wrangle the dust bunnies

• Using either your broom, vacuum with brush attachment, or our favorite option (for minimal bending down and maximum dust entrapment) a Swiffer Duster, go along the edges of your baseboards sweeping, sucking or dusting up loose hair and debris. And the longer on the handle on your dusting implement, the less bending down you’ll be doing.

2. Give ‘em a wash

• Now, you’ve got some options. Welcome to the choose-your-own-adventure baseboard cleaning portion of the article:
  • Mix together a few drops of dish soap with water (1:4 ratio).
  • Using either a sponge or microfiber rag (maximum bending over) or create your own baseboard cleaning device by putting a sock over the bristle head of a toilet brush (way less bending over), dip it into the soapy vinegar/water solution and wring it out.
  • Carefully wipe down your baseboards from corner to corner, being sure to scrub in the nooks and crannies.
  • Rinse your cleaning device and finish the baseboards with a warm, damp wipe to eliminate soapy residue.
  • Alternatively, you can skip the soapy vinegar solution and just use disposable sani-wipes to clean your baseboards. This will sadly require some crawling on your hands and knees, though.
  • Let the baseboards air dry for a bit.