5 Things You're Forgetting to Clean

The Almost-Invisible Residue
Not long ago, open kitchen shelving was everywhere, celebrated for its airy look and effortless accessibility. But as trends shift, many homeowners are realizing the downside—dust, grease and the constant upkeep. If your open shelves are near the stove, a sticky film can build up fast, making frequent cleaning a must. While more people are opting for closed cabinetry now, those still living with open shelving can keep it looking fresh by giving dishes and glassware a good wash at least twice a month.

The Environmentally Friendly Bulb
If you can't figure out why your living room looks a little dingy—even after a good scrubbing—it might be the lighting. As costs drop and quality rises, energy-efficient LED bulbs are increasingly popular. But there's more to consider than brightness when picking a bulb. LEDs have different color temperatures, meaning the light they cast can look warmer or cooler (higher numbers on the packaging indicate cooler undertones). They also vary in "color rendering index," a measure of how accurately the light renders color (80 looks good; 90, even better). "Bright, well-lit spaces seem much cleaner," says Jaymee Sohmer, a realtor with Dream Town Realty. But with LEDs, mastering well-lit takes trial and error to find a hue you love.

The Popular Countertop
If you've committed to marble countertops seen in home-décor photos everywhere, you've noticed that even when yours are clean enough to eat off of, they can still look grimy. Marble is a porous material that soaks up spills after just 30 minutes, but those stains can also be removed—even if they're older, according to Fredrick Hueston, author of Stain Removal Guide for Stone, Tile and Concrete. For organic stains, mix hydrogen peroxide and flour to the consistency of peanut butter; for oil-based stains, use dishwashing liquid and flour. Spread the mixture over the stain and let it sit for 24 hours, then scrape it off with a putty knife. For truly stubborn stains, you might have to repeat the process.

The Decorative Towels
You've cleaned the bathroom from shower stall to bath mat, but three days later it's feeling less than fresh? Blame the hand towels. The humidity in bathrooms makes textiles look limp quickly, even if they've recently been laundered, says Laura Dellutri, author of Speed Cleaning 101. To lessen the effect, leave the bathroom door ajar after showers and baths, and turn on ventilation fans. Or, for the truly fast-fix, swap out towels more frequently.

The Superconvenient Dryer
When washing machines and dryers migrated out of the basement and closer to the bedrooms, our backs took a break from schlepping all those baskets of laundry. But many of us swapped one problem for another: messy laundry nooks that peek out from the periphery any time we're upstairs. "Usually people are good at getting dirty clothes into the laundry, but not at getting clean clothes folded and put away. It just builds up, in piles and in baskets," says Sarah Gabriele, a professional organizer and founder of the organizing service A Place for Everything. If creating a system for regularly folding and stowing clothes feels impossible, consider instituting a closed-door rule on the laundry closet—or, if the machines are in a nook, installing inexpensive bifold doors—to bring an instant sense of order to the upstairs.

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