Cleaning Your Exterior Doors

If you've ever been to Germany, you may have noticed housewives scrubbing away at their front steps or paving-stone walkways. It almost seems to be an obsession for them. Why do they work so hard to clean the outside of their homes? It's because they care about what people think of the appearance of their dwellings. They take great pride in this slice of their identity that is presented to the world. Shouldn't we also care about the outside of our homes? I'm not saying that you need to scrub your front steps weekly, but you probably should clean your front door a couple times a year. If you're not sure how to clean your exterior doors properly, you'll find some helpful tips to follow.

• Solid wood doors should be cleaned with Murphy Oil Soap. This amazing product will not only clean the wood without leaving streaks, but also polish and protect it. If you have a wood floor entryway, use it on that, too, to keep it looking beautiful.
• Most other door surfaces can be cleaned with warm water, mild soap, and a soft sponge. Start out cleaning all around the door frame first. Then wash the door from the top to the bottom.
• Use a clean, soft rag to wipe your door dry after washing it.
• If you have glass in your door, clean that separately with spray glass cleaner and some crumpled newspapers. You can also use this to clean and shine your door's knob and lock fixtures.
• Clean any brass fixtures on your door with a brass cleaner, following the directions on the container. This will keep the metal looking beautiful.
• Oil a squeaky door's hinges as needed.
• Inspect the weatherstrip around your door to make sure it is still functioning properly. Replacing this as needed will make your door last longer and keep heating and cooling costs down.
• Sweep out and/or scrub the area under the door as needed. This area needs cleaning often, as dirt is tracked in and out so frequently. But it's a place people neglect to clean because they only notice the dirt when the door is open.

Now that your door is sparkling clean, you'll doubtless be eager to get that front stoop clean to match. But, unless you live in Europe, you probably won't need to scrub it on your hands and knees.