Spring Cleaning Tips

We all know when winter ends its officially time for spring cleaning! Out with the old; in with the new!  Throw out old boxes.  You know you’re never going to need them.  And if you do, there’ll be others ready to take their place.  Bring in fresh air.  Lots of fresh air.

A thorough cleaning can be a lot of work. It’ll go lots faster with these spring cleaning tips.  Promise!  We totally recommend dividing up the workload.  Think:  ‘Many hands make light work.’  And let’s not forget the kids who might be running around the house. Give them a microfiber cloth and let them loose on the dust bunnies lurking.  If you are clever, spring cleaning can be done as separate projects all around your living space.  Maybe assign each room to a person to tackle.  Or set a timer and see how much can get accomplished in a half-hour.  You’ll be surprised!

An important thing during spring cleaning is the products used. Some households prefer using homemade products rather than store-bought cleaning detergents. DIY detergents are cheaper and do not contain harmful chemicals.  Full disclosure:  natural cleaning products may take more elbow grease.

Whatever products you use, whatever methods or spring cleaning tips work, here’s a breakdown of rooms.

Bedrooms

As you clean bedrooms, special attention should be paid to mattress covers, duvets, and pillowcases. All items that your body or someone else’s body touches must be cleaned.  Flip your mattress.  Vacuum it too.  All carpets should be vacuumed and then shampooed. You can send some throw rugs to the cleaners.  However, be cautious with rugs.  They may seem light enough to wash in your home machine.  Oftentimes, they will be a huge soggy mess that won’t dry well in your home dryer.  And throw rugs can have lots of dirt in them.  You don’t need that muddy mess in your laundry room.  We recommend sending them out.

Don’t forget your closets!  In our KonMari post, we learned the wonderful art of tidying up.  Be encouraged to let go of things that don’t fit or went out of style in the ’70s.  You’ll feel tons better when your closet is organized.

The Kitchen

One of the most important places in the house is the kitchen.  You and your family spend most of your time there.  And you’re dealing with food.  The kitchen deserves extra attention.  Take the time to scrub and shine your appliances – big and small.  Important spring cleaning tip: Get rid of all appliances that are unsafe!  If a cord looks frayed, ditch it.

Cooking surfaces can be scrubbed with lemon-scented soaps to give everything a fresh scent. Refrigerators and cabinets definitely should be washed.  Don’t forget to get into the grooves of the door on your fridge and freezer.  Eeewww!  Those places can be creepy!

While you’re cleaning out kitchen cabinets, make sure to discard outdated food AND spices.  Expired spices aren’t spices anymore.  They’re something like – well, fluff in a jar.  And these things take up way too much space in your cabinets.  Toss them!  Be merciless!  Remember:  ‘Out with the old; in with the new.’

Windows

We believe in e-cloths.  These are the easiest and best way to clean glass!  Truly.  Don’t forget to clean the sills of your windows and the frames!  We love sprinkling some baking soda on the window track and then drizzling vinegar.  The chemical reaction fizzes and foams and lifts dirt and grime easily.  It’s a science experiment!  Your kids will love helping clean windows.  Really!  Spring is also the time for cleaning curtains and draperies.  Or giving your space a new look with new window trimmings.  Keep the word ‘fresh’ in mind!

Bathroom

Here we go.  Diving into spring cleaning tips for the bathroom!  Actually, bathrooms are not that difficult to clean.  Start at the top – which you should do in every room when cleaning.  We sprinkle Comet into the toilet bowl and then spritz cleaner in the shower.  Don’t forget your shower nozzle and the vent!  Dust can accumulate in the louvers of the vent.  Also, you’ll want to take extra attention with the wall(s) around the toilet.  You know why, right?  Yeah.  We know.  Clean out the bathroom closet, and recycle stained or ripped towels into cleaning rags.  Now is a great time to toss old medications.  Local police stations are a safe and responsible place to turn in your unused and outdated meds.  Spiffy up the sink and you’re good to go.

More Spring Cleaning Tips

We like to tackle the hardest room first when spring cleaning.  For some, it may be the bathroom.  For others, it may be the kitchen.  Whichever room you are dreading cleaning, start there!  And do enlist help from all members of the house.  Make it fun by having contests such as who can find the most lost socks.  Get a pizza for dinner!  You’ve all worked hard and no one will want to dirty up the kitchen.  Ah!  Wasn’t as bad as you thought, right?  Right.