Cleaning your skirting board is something that’s often missed. For most people, if you can’t see the dust, then maybe it doesn’t exist.
After trying a skirting board cleaning hack on the weekend, I can tell you the dust I collected was very much real. Thankfully, the process was easy, and no bending over or getting on the floor was required. Here’s how I did it, plus a few other tried-and-tested methods worth knowing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A dryer sheet, taped or tied to your vacuum’s brush attachment, picks up dust and helps keep it from resettling for weeks.
- Adding a small amount of floor cleaner to the dryer sheet creates a light barrier against dust build-up.
- For scuff marks and grime, a damp cloth with warm water and a splash of white vinegar or dish soap works better than dry dusting alone.
- Cleaning skirting boards every 1-2 weeks prevents the kind of dust and grime build-up that’s harder to shift later.
How to easily clean your skirting boards
Scrolling through Instagram, I came across a post from @carecleaning, a professional cleaner who shared a simple tip to keep your skirting boards clean for weeks. It involved popping a dryer sheet over the head of your vacuum’s brush attachment and vacuuming your skirting boards.
While you may have heard of this hack, the post says there’s one step most people skip: adding a small amount of floor cleaner to the dryer sheet before you start.
“It creates a light barrier that helps repel dust… so your baseboards stay cleaner for so much longer,” she says.
Our verdict
I tried this cleaning tip and was pleasantly surprised by how much dust it picked up. Granted, I didn’t use Pledge; I purchased a box of dryer sheets from Coles in our weekly shop. I tied one over the brush attachment of my vacuum, and away I went.
The dust stuck to the dryer sheet almost instantly. At first I thought the vacuum itself was redundant. But when I stopped using the vacuum’s suction, I noticed dust particles falling to the ground. So the suction was doing its job, holding the dust in place against the sheet.
I kept the long attachment on my Dyson, so there was zero bending throughout. All up, it took me about 5 minutes to clean all of the skirting boards in my house.
Better Homes and Gardens Digital Editor Tahni isn’t convinced, though. She says she prefers to run her mop over the skirting boards. This is a great idea, especially if your skirting boards need more than a dusting.
Is it worth trying?
For five minutes’ effort and a box of dryer sheets, the vacuum-and-dryer-sheet method is hard to beat for everyday dust. If your skirting boards need more than a dust, pair it with an occasional wet clean using warm water and a splash of vinegar.
If bending over is the real dealbreaker, an extendable tool like this Skirting Board Cleaner takes the strain out of the job entirely, and doubles up for windows, ceilings, and the shower recess.
What do other cleaners say?
In the Facebook group Mums Who Clean, there are plenty of skirting board cleaning tips being swapped around.
Agreeing with Tahni, one mum said she uses “a flat microfibre mop, or a soft broom with a wet cloth covering it, held on with a paper clip or two large elastic bands.”
But our favourite might be from Home with Leanne. This expert cleaner puts a sock on her foot, runs it under water, and goes over her skirting boards while she’s already up and moving around the house.
A damp microfibre cloth or a vacuum brush attachment handles most dust. While a dryer sheet helps repel it from resettling for longer.
Use a long-handled tool, such as a vacuum crevice attachment or an extendable mop, to clean from top to bottom.
A damp cloth with a small amount of dish soap or a melamine (magic) eraser sponge usually lifts scuff marks without damaging paintwork.
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