One of the advantages to winning trophies is having an attractive display in the home. It gives visitors insight into the people that live there and adds a conversation piece to a room’s decor. When left unattended, however, the trophy shelf becomes an eyesore of dust and grime. The only conversation it stirs is how awful the shelf looks. Giving it a regular cleaning keeps the focus on the pride and joy of the trophy owners and an attractive display.

To clean the trophy shelving, first gather a few soft cotton cloths and the cleaning solution of choice. Be sure to use glass cleaner on glass shelves and wood polish or all-purpose cleaner for other surfaces.

First, gently remove all of the trophies from the shelves. If there is more than one level, be sure to separate the items into which group belongs on which shelf to make it easier to return the mementos to their rightful places.

Use a clean, dry cotton cloth to swab heavy layers of dust and dirt off to the side of the cabinet or shelving. Next, spray a small amount of cleaner over a small area, according to the manufacturer’s directions on the back of the cleaning solution.

Use fresh cotton rags to wipe the area in a circular motion and then side to side until the surface is clean to a shine. Do one section at a time until the entire surface is clean. Run a clean, dry rag along each post and along the side edges of each shelf. Microfiber trowels work well with extremely dusty areas, but any non-shedding cotton rags will do the job.

If the trophies are dusty, us a feather duster over the top ornaments to remove the film. Use clean, dry cotton rags to gently shine up the post and stand. Cleaner is usually not necessary, and may even remove the lettering the tags denoting the event, place and date.

One by one, return the trophies to the shelf. This might be a good time to rearrange the trophy case. They may be arranged by place, location, type of event or height. If there are pets or small children in the home, be sure to leave the bottom shelf empty if it is near the floor. This is done to avoid chew marks, pyramid building or role playing incidents that will damage the trophies.

Once the shelves are clean and the trophies are back in place, check to see if there are dust bunnies or dirt chunks on the floor. Be sure to vacuum on sweep them up as needed.