If there are very dusty rafters, ceilings, or heavy cobwebs in your home, you should make an initial trip around the room with a long vacuum wand or broom to speed up the job. It’s surprisingly easy to crash into things while you’re doing that, so be extra careful.
The way to vacuum heavy dust is to start in one corner of the room and work your way around the perimeter of the room. Start high to get the cobwebs and high molding, and then vacuum all the way to the floor molding. Be sure to vacuum pictures and small objects as you come to them. Carefully.
If the objects are densely spaced in an area, you’ll have to vacuum one, put it down in a clean spot, and repeat these steps for all other objects in the immediate area. Place each object in the temporary area in the same relative position in which you had originally found it so it will be easier to restore everything to the original positions. Then vacuum the shelf or area in which the objects were originally located and restore the objects to their original positions.
Also, vacuum lampshades, mirrors, furniture, plants (as is possible, or shake them thoroughly), drapes, blinds, window frames and sills, shelves, shutters, and heater and exhaust vents. Make a special effort around the TV, VCR, and stereo – especially their power cords. Vacuum the TV knobs and the cloth over the speakers. Move the TV out from the wall if you can manage it or if you can find some help. Vacuum the back thoroughly and the floor area where it was. In fact, move anything and everything in the room that you can when doing heavy cleaning. In the middle of the room, vacuum the furniture and light fixtures (including their chains). As with the other rooms, clean light fixtures in the dishwasher if possible. If the fixture has been broken for months, now is the time to get serious about replacing it. It’s not fair to spend a day or two to make your home sparkle and then have company notice mainly the broken fixture in the hallway.
Use a 50-foot extension cord when vacuuming so you don’t waste time having to stop to unplug and replug it all the time. You can’t imagine how much time this will save until you’ve tried it.
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