If you took your window air conditioner out last fall and tucked it away in the basement or garage figuring that all the months of it being in storage are enough to dry it out and be ready for this season, you'd be wrong.

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This is something that most of us don't think about but we really should. We have air purifiers and dehumidifiers and all sorts of things to keep the air in our home clean and smelling fresh but if you're putting in a dirty window air conditioner and turning it on, we're undoing all the work you've done to purify the air in your home. A dirty air conditioner can also be a breeding ground for mold and you absolutely do not want to suck that into your lungs.

The thought of taking apart a window air conditioner can be a scary one, but the process is actually very simple and as an added bonus, if your unit starts to smell like a stale sock in the middle of summer you'll know what to do to get rid of the smell right away (as well as whatever other gunk has built up inside your unit).

While cleaning your window air conditioner might seem like a time consuming ordeal, you will be so thankful that you tackled the job and the more times you do it, the faster you'll get. You'll also extend the life of your unit and let's be realistic, very few of us can afford to replace our air conditioners on a regular basis.

When it comes to what you use as a cleaning solution, the choice is completely up to you. You can make your own solution by adding a few drops of dishwashing detergent to a spray bottle filled with distilled water. Or, if you'd rather just buy a cleaning solution, that's also an option.

Now for the cleaning process. I could write everything down for you step, by step, but I learned by watching this video from Becky's Homestead and I think you will, too. Becky has a way of explaining things in a way that makes so much sense.

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