21 Places to Clean in Your Home That You Probably Haven’t Thought Of

You vacuum the floors, wipe the counters, clean the toilets, and scrub the shower. Your house is clean, right? Maybe, but a few places are probably quietly collecting dust, crumbs, hair, grease, and who knows what else.

Some of the easiest places to forget are the ones we rarely see. The tops of cabinets can collect a layer of greasy dust, pantry shelves can hide crumbs behind food, and closet floors may go untouched for months because they’re covered with shoes and storage bins.

If you’re doing a deeper clean, add these often-forgotten spots to your list.

Key takeaways

• Clean surfaces that are hidden by food, clothing, furniture, or other belongings.
• Don’t forget high surfaces, including the tops of kitchen cabinets, bookcases, refrigerators, and door frames.
• Vacuum or sweep inside closets, pantries, and other storage spaces instead of cleaning only the main floors.
• Look underneath and behind large appliances and furniture when you can safely access those areas.
• Frequently touched items such as light switches, handles, remotes, and railings can also use regular cleaning.

1. Kitchen cabinet shelves

You probably wipe down the outside of your kitchen cabinets, but when was the last time you emptied one and cleaned the actual shelves? Cabinet shelves can collect crumbs, spices, food residue, dust, and sticky rings from bottles and jars. 

Start with one cabinet rather than emptying your entire kitchen at once. Take everything out, toss expired food or anything you no longer use, and wipe the shelf. While the cabinet is empty, wipe the inside of the door, corners, and shelf supports, too. Be sure to let it dry before putting everything back.

2. Pantry shelves

Pantry shelves have the same problem, only potentially with more crumbs. Boxes, bags, cans, and small appliances can hide spills and food debris for months. 

Empty one shelf at a time, wipe it down, and check the food before putting it back. Look for expired products, open packages, spills, and anything you bought for one recipe three years ago and haven’t touched since.

This is also a good opportunity to put older food toward the front so you’re more likely to use it before buying another one.

3. Closet floors

It’s easy to vacuum right past a closet without opening the door. Closet floors can collect dust, hair, lint, dirt from shoes, and debris that gets pushed underneath storage bins and hanging clothes. 

Take shoes, hampers, boxes, and other items off the floor, then vacuum or sweep the entire space, including the corners and along the baseboards.

If your closet has become stuffed with stuff, use the opportunity to remove clothes, shoes, and other belongings you no longer use, too.

4. Closet shelves

While you’re cleaning the closet floor, look up. Closet shelves can collect a surprising amount of dust, especially shelves holding items you rarely move. Remove storage boxes, folded clothes, handbags, hats, or other belongings, then dust or wipe the shelf before putting them back.

Check the tops of storage bins while you’re at it. There’s no point in cleaning the shelf and then putting a dusty container right back on top.

5. Tops of kitchen cabinets

If your cabinets don’t extend all the way to the ceiling, climb up safely and take a look at the top. You may find a thick layer of dust mixed with cooking grease. Because grease can make the dust stick to the surface, a dry duster may not be enough. Use a cleaning method that works with your cabinet material, and avoid soaking wood or other moisture-sensitive surfaces.

Once the area is clean, add it to your occasional deep-cleaning list so you don’t have to tackle several years of buildup next time.

6. Tops of bookshelves

Tall bookcases are another place where dust can accumulate unnoticed. Dust the very top of the bookcase, then look at the tops of books, picture frames, decorative objects, and shelves. If you have a large book collection, you don’t necessarily need to empty every shelf each time you clean. Work section by section so the project doesn’t turn into reorganizing your entire library.

Tip: While you’re up there, check the wall and corners near the ceiling for cobwebs.

7. The top of your refrigerator

Unless you’re particularly tall, you probably don’t spend much time looking at the top of your refrigerator. Dust and grease can collect there, especially if the refrigerator is near the stove. 

If you use the top for storage, remove everything before cleaning rather than wiping around baskets, boxes, or small appliances. Wipe the items themselves before putting them back, too, so you’re not returning dusty belongings to a freshly cleaned surface.

8. Underneath the refrigerator

The top isn’t the only neglected part of the refrigerator. Dust, crumbs, pet hair, food, and small objects can collect underneath it. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions before moving or cleaning around your refrigerator, and don’t pull or tug on water lines or electrical connections. Be sure to check the refrigerator’s care instructions for any recommended maintenance around coils, vents, or other components. You don’t want to damage them.

9. Underneath the stove

If you’ve ever dropped a piece of pasta between the stove and cabinet and decided it belonged to the house now, this one’s for you. Food and grease can collect underneath and beside a stove. 

If your appliance can be safely moved, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and clean the floor and surrounding area. Don’t disconnect gas, electrical, or other connections simply to clean behind the appliance.

For ranges that have a bottom drawer, remove it if the manufacturer allows and check whether you can access some of the floor underneath without moving the entire appliance.

10. The sides of appliances

The narrow gap between an appliance and a cabinet can become a crumb graveyard. Look beside your refrigerator, stove, washer, dryer, and other large appliances. A vacuum crevice attachment or another narrow cleaning tool may help you reach some of these areas without moving the appliance. 

Just a warning, don’t force a tool into vents, electrical components, or other openings where it doesn’t belong. You can easily damage sensitive components. 

11. The dishwasher filter

You clean dishes in your dishwasher, but the dishwasher itself also needs cleaning. Many dishwashers have a filter that can collect food particles and debris. Check your owner’s manual to find out whether your model has a removable filter, where it’s located, and how the manufacturer recommends cleaning it.

While you’re checking the dishwasher, look around the door edges and other areas that may not receive much water during a normal cycle.

12. The washing machine

A machine that cleans your clothes can still get dirty. Detergent residue, lint, hair, and other buildup can collect inside washing machines. Check areas such as the detergent dispenser, drum, and door or lid. Front-loading machines can also collect moisture and debris around the door seal.

Follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions, including recommendations for a self-cleaning cycle if your machine has one. Leaving the door or lid open between loads may also help the interior dry, if recommended for your model.

13. Behind the washer and dryer

The laundry room produces plenty of lint, and not all of it makes it into the dryer lint screen. Dust and lint can collect behind and around your washer and dryer. Clean the accessible floor, wall, and baseboards, and check around hoses and connections for anything that looks unusual.

Be careful about moving heavy appliances or disturbing electrical, gas, water, or vent connections. If you can’t safely reach an area, don’t turn a cleaning job into an appliance repair job.

14. Baseboards behind furniture

You might regularly clean visible baseboards but completely ignore the ones hidden behind the sofa, bed, dresser, or bookcase.

You don’t have to drag every piece of heavy furniture around every week. Add these hidden areas to occasional deep-cleaning sessions. When you’re already moving furniture for a deeper clean, vacuum dust from the baseboards and wipe them if needed. Pay attention to corners, where pet hair and dust tend to gather.

15. Underneath the bed

You may be surprised by how much can fit under a bed, including dust. Remove storage containers, shoes, lost socks, and anything else hiding underneath. Then vacuum or sweep the entire area, not just the strip you can reach from the edge.

If you use under-bed storage, wipe down the containers before putting them back. This is also a good time to decide whether everything stored there still deserves the space.

16. Under sofa cushions

Remove your sofa cushions and see what your household has been hiding from you. You may find crumbs, pet hair, coins, toys, wrappers, hair ties, and other debris. 

Vacuum the area thoroughly, including seams and crevices. Check your furniture’s care instructions before using upholstery cleaners or other products. If the cushions are removable, vacuum both sides before putting them back.

17. The underside and back of furniture

The back of a headboard, underside of a table, legs of dining chairs, back of a television stand, and other hidden furniture surfaces can all collect dust and cobwebs. You don’t need to flip every piece of furniture upside down, but take a closer look during your next deep clean. Pay close attention to furniture near air vents or in rooms with pets, where dust and hair may build up faster.

18. Door frames and the tops of doors

Run your finger along the top edge of a door, and you may immediately regret it. Dust can collect along the top of the door itself and the horizontal trim above it. Use a duster or cloth to clean these areas, along with the rest of the door frame.

While you’re there, wipe frequently touched areas such as door handles and the area around them.

19. Light switches

You touch light switches constantly, but they don’t always make it onto the cleaning list. Switch plates can collect fingerprints, grime, and dust. 

Clean them carefully without spraying liquid directly onto electrical components. Put a little cleaner on a cloth and wipe them down instead, making sure that liquid doesn’t get inside the holes.

20. Air vents and return grilles

Dust can collect on the outside of heating and cooling vents and return grilles, making them look dingy and potentially sending loose dust back into the room.

Vacuum accessible dust using a brush attachment or wipe the exterior grille as needed. Don’t push objects deep into the ductwork or start dismantling parts of your HVAC system unless you know what you’re doing.

Check your HVAC filter while you’re thinking about it, too, and replace or clean it according to your system’s requirements and the filter manufacturer’s recommendations.

21. The things you touch all the time

Some of the easiest things to forget aren’t hidden at all. They’re so familiar that you stop noticing them.

Think about the objects everyone in the house touches repeatedly, such as:

• Remote controls
• Cabinet handles
• Drawer pulls
• Refrigerator handles
• Stair railings
• Appliance handles
• Faucet handles
• Keyboards
• Computer mice
• Game controllers

Clean them using a method that’s safe for the item, particularly when electronics are involved. You don’t necessarily need to sanitize every object in your home constantly, but visibly dirty, frequently handled items shouldn’t be left off the cleaning list indefinitely.

Make a rotating deep-cleaning list

You don’t need to clean all 21 of these places every Saturday. That just sounds like an excellent way to ruin your Saturday. Instead, add a few forgotten areas to your regular cleaning routine. You might clean pantry shelves one month, tackle closet floors the next, and clean the tops of cabinets during a kitchen deep clean.

Storage areas are also easier to clean when they aren’t packed. If you have to move 47 things before you can wipe down a shelf, consider whether everything needs to stay there. Donate, sell, recycle, or toss things you no longer need. Seasonal belongings and things you want to keep but don’t need regularly can be moved to another storage area or a storage unit.

The goal isn’t to endlessly find more things to clean. It’s to occasionally clean the places that your normal routine skips so dust, grease, crumbs, and clutter don’t get years to settle in.

Cleaning FAQ

What are the most commonly forgotten places to clean in a house?

Closet floors, pantry and cabinet shelves, the tops of cabinets and bookcases, underneath appliances and furniture, door frames, vents, and frequently touched objects are easy to overlook during routine cleaning.

How often should you clean the tops of kitchen cabinets?

There’s no single schedule that works for every kitchen. Check them periodically and clean when you notice dust or greasy buildup. Kitchens where you cook frequently may need attention more often.

Should you vacuum closet floors?

Yes. Closet floors collect the same dust, hair, lint, and dirt as the rest of your flooring. Move shoes, storage bins, and hampers periodically so you can vacuum or sweep the entire floor.

How often should you clean pantry shelves?

Clean spills and crumbs when you notice them, and periodically remove food so you can wipe the entire shelf. A pantry cleanout is also a good opportunity to check expiration dates and move older foods toward the front.

Should you clean underneath large appliances?

If the area is safely accessible, periodic cleaning can remove food, dust, lint, and pet hair. Follow the appliance manufacturer’s instructions before moving an appliance, and avoid disturbing gas lines, water lines, electrical connections, or vents.

What areas should you clean during a deep clean?

In addition to your regular floors, bathrooms, and kitchen surfaces, tackle places normally hidden by furniture or belongings. That might include under beds, behind furniture, closet shelves, pantry shelves, appliance gaps, baseboards, vents, and high surfaces.

What’s the easiest way to remember overlooked cleaning jobs?

Create a rotating list rather than trying to do everything at once. Add one or two overlooked areas to your normal cleaning routine each week or choose a different room or storage area to deep clean each month.

Should you declutter before deep cleaning?

Decluttering can make deep cleaning much easier because you have fewer objects to move, dust, and organize. Work in small sections, remove things you no longer use, clean the empty surface, and then put back only what you want to keep.