Speed-Clean Your Porch Checklist

Move everything from the porch into the yard: chairs, tables, potted plants, and anything else that isn’t nailed down. Drape rugs and mats over a fence or a rail to air them out.

Using an extendable duster, sweep cobwebs from high corners, overhangs, and shutters.

With a bucket of warm, soapy water and a large sponge, wipe down furniture, plant pots, and decorative objects.

Rewet the sponge and give wood and metal surfaces (front door, railings, shutters, sills, ironwork, sconces) a once-over. Use a damp microfiber cloth to swipe low windows; follow with a dry cloth.

Grab the push broom to sweep leaves, dirt, and twigs from the floor. Do the steps last.

Dip a long-handled scrub brush in the bucket and clean the floor.

When the floor is dry, replace the furniture, rugs, and plants, leaving out anything that shouldn’t have been on the porch in the first place. Now pour yourself a glass of something tall and cold and kick back to admire your work.