How To Clean Baseboards

Baseboards add a nice decorative touch to any room and also help protect the drywall. However, they endure the brunt of shoes, pets and vacuums. It’s easy to forget about the importance of cleaning your baseboards, especially when there are so many other cleaning tasks to do. Cleaning areas near the floor usually involves bending over for long periods of time, which is why some people avoid baseboard cleaning altogether.

Vacuum cleaners and brooms don’t touch them, and neither do mops. Baseboards live in that tricky in-between space. Baseboards need to be cleaned regularly to prevent the buildup of dirt, dust and scuff marks. Let the cleaning experts at Molly Maid help you clean your baseboards the right way.

Best Way to Clean Baseboards

Since cleaning baseboards is a little tedious and uncomfortable, do one room at a time to prevent getting burned out or having a sore back. Grab a sturdy bucket or a small stool so you have somewhere to sit while you clean; a folded towel can provide cushion for your knees while you scooch and scrub. Before you begin, move furniture, rugs or other items that are in the way. Then follow these steps:

Vacuum. Use the upholstery brush attachment, and brush the boards to loosen and capture dust. If your vacuum has a long wand, you can just walk around the house and vacuum the baseboards without bending over.
Wash. Fill a bucket with a gallon of hot water and a few squirts of dish soap or a cup of vinegar. Use a microfiber cloth and the soapy water to wipe down the baseboards. Only work on one small section at a time. Once that section is clean, dry it with a new cloth, and then continue cleaning along the wall.
Scrub. Use a dry-cleaning sponge to remove scuffs on the baseboards. For more cleaning power, you may also use this sponge the entire time you clean, instead of starting with a microfiber cloth.

Use these techniques to slowly work your way around the room. While cleaning baseboards that have decorative millwork, you may need to scrunch up the cloth and use firm pressure to wipe the creases and grooves. Once you’re finished, wipe down the baseboards with a dryer sheet to prevent dust from settling.

Baseboards are not very high-maintenance. If you wipe them down once a month with a cleaning cloth (using just water or an all-purpose spray), you won’t have to scrub them down with soapy water more often than once every year or two.