Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Clean that Indoor AC Vent the Natural Way!

This is embarrassing. I haven't cleaned my indoor air conditioner vents in.... well, a long time. Yes, I am refusing to tell you exactly how long it's been and that's my right as a woman. It's like how a woman never tells her weight or her age-- you can guess, but she'll never confess. ;)


Green Clean your indoor AC Vent #greencleaning
The thing is that the vents are always so hard to clean. ::moan, whine, being really dramatic:::

I've tried to use an old toothbrush, but it just spreads the grim around. And then there is always the old standby of using a rag and pushing it around with my fingers, but unless you have freakishly small circus hands or, in fact, have children to do your manual labor- it will hurt. Adult size fingers just don't go in those little slots!

But do you know what does fit in there?
  • A flat ruler, butter knife, paint stirrer, thin spatula or any other similarly shaped object (knock yourself out world!)
  • Q-tips
I use a two step method... but don't worry. It's so easy!

Step One:
  • Put an old rag over one end of the long flat, thin object of your choosing (popsicle stick, ruler, spatula...) 
  • Spray it with your homemade all purpose cleaner or store bought all purpose green cleaner. 
    • Side note: I'll caution against using a traditional heavy duty all purpose cleaners because the AC is going to be sucking up any cleaning residue and circulating it around your house. I don't know if you want alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride traveling through your air supply-- just saying! But it's all good. I don't judge if you do. ;)
  • Use the damp washcloth (wrapped around your thinly shaped long object) to clean in between the vent... thingies. 
    • I don't know what they are technically called and I think "thingies" is perfectly logical. 
  • Don't focus so much on the edges because dirt will collect there-- that's what step 2 is for. But you will probably have to move the rag around a bit on your object because if it gets too dirty it'll start to smear the dirt around instead of clean it. 
  • Repeat this process until all the vents are clean (except the edges where dirt collects)
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