No one likes unclean, dirty, and messy houses. Cleaning a traditional home can be a daunting task especially if the house is big. In contrast, cleaning a container home is straightforward as they're usually smaller but still require some know-how due to the different build material. Here are a few things you should keep in mind while cleaning the interior and exterior of your shipping container home.
Dusting
The first thing to do is dusting. Make it a habit to dust the interior daily and you would not have to deal with a ton of dust and dirt inside your container when you go for a complete sweep after 2 to 3 months.
The container home's interior is insulated meaning you only have to clean the insulating material like fiberglass, material wool, etc. and not deal with metal. If you have kids or pets you might have stains and smears all over the walls. You can use different methods to remove stains from the walls like using dish detergent and vinegar.
Washing
It is important to wash the interior and exterior of your container home once in a while. It will make your container look new. Removing dirt and toxic materials will have good effects on your health. Yes, you read that right. Wash the walls, roofs, windows, and doors.
Simply get some sponges, dip them into a solution of water and cleaning chemicals, and gently wash your walls. After cleaning the walls, it's better to wipe them with a cloth to speed up the drying process. Do not use excess water or it will damage the walls.
The same process goes for the roof of your container home which usually remains much cleaner as compared to the walls, windows, and doors.
Floor
If not insulated, cleaning the floor of the container is extremely easy. A leaf blower can do the job of completely ridding your container floor of any dust, dirt, and debris. However, if you have installed insulated wooden floors or carpeted the floor you are going to need a vacuum cleaner to get rid of all the dust and debris and also do a complete sweep, removing the carpet, every 3-5 months.
Corrosion and Rust
The most important thing is to keep your container home clean from rust so it doesn't start corroding. First, try and get flat-pack shipping containers that are made from metals like aluminum and steel as they corrode less than other metals. The process of corrosion of metals cannot be stopped but it can be slowed down by taking some precautionary measures.
Every time you notice a little patch of rust on your container, clean that with sandpaper and apply protective coating on that area. This will keep your container home looking clean and nicer and also prolong its life.
Windows and Doors
The next thing on your list is the door and windows of your container home. They are actually similar to the traditional homes only smaller. Nobody is a stranger to wooden doors and they are fairly easy and simple to clean all you need is water, a sponge, and a cloth to dry the door once you are done cleaning. Cleaning windows used to be tricky business but with so many window cleaning solutions and sprays available in the market, it has become extremely easy.
The Exterior
Now we come towards the exterior of the container homes. The exterior is what faces the worst conditions. Even though made completely out of metal, shipping containers are not invincible. They can corrode and rust after some time and removing rust can be difficult. The first thing to do is to cover the exterior of your container home with marine-based paint to protect against corrosion and rust.
Secondly, get a good pressure washer. These essentially reduce your work to half as pressure washers turn cleaning your exterior into a two-step process. Wash and let it dry. The pressure washer loaded with water and cleaning chemicals will completely rinse and renew the exterior of your container home. But be careful regarding how to use a pressure washer as they are powerful and can cause damage.
You should be extremely careful when using water to clean the exterior if you have decorated your container with LED lights, as liquid might cause short-circuiting.
Conclusion:
To conclude our little guide, we would like to say that cleaning your container home is not extremely difficult and requires little effort. The compact and small container homes should not be allowed to be filled with dust and dirt for long periods or it will cause damage to the container body.
Sweeping the entire interior and exterior of a container home every few months is a good habit to pick up for a container homeowner. Also on your watchlist should be signs of rust and corrosion. If you see any, take measures written in this guide. We hope this guides you on how to clean your container home efficiently.