Spring cleaning is a necessary part of home maintenance, but most of us dread the chore every time spring rolls around. So many areas need attention that it’s easy to forget one or two essential tasks. Follow these spring cleaning tips to make your whole home sparkle in the warm months ahead!
Start by Decluttering
The first step of any spring cleaning job should be decluttering. Start by reorganizing your home before moving to the cleaning stage. Pick up anything on the floor, rearrange furniture and sift through the various cabinets and drawers around the house. Discarding items you don’t need will simplify the project and put you more at ease.
Clean Room by Room
Some areas gather more clutter than others, so you should start with the messiest room first before moving on to the next one. Don’t overwhelm yourself by attempting to rearrange multiple rooms. Take the project one step at a time.
You might also find it helpful to create a checklist for each room’s particular needs. A checklist enables your entire family (yes, even your children who avoid chores at all costs) to participate without much parental supervision. You can even make it a competition to see who finishes cleaning their rooms first.
Work From Top to Bottom
We’re supposed to wash our vehicles from the top down, and the same logic should apply to your home. Don’t keep your eyes on the floor. Pay attention to the ceiling (the hardest spot to clean) first and work downward in the following order:
- Walls
- Windows
- Curtains
- Furniture
- Flooring
The cleaning tasks will get progressively more manageable and you won’t get as stressed with each step. When you reach the floor, everything that fell from the other locations will be easy pickings.
However, there are exceptions for certain parts of the house. For example, you should clean the refrigerator, dishwasher and cabinets in your kitchen first before focusing on the exterior. Washers, dryers and closets also deserve special attention apart from the rest of the room. These places should be part of the “decluttering” stage mentioned earlier. And if you’re super busy you can hire someone from eMaids of Volusia County to help clean and declutter the whole kitchen.
Minimize Cleaning Products
You don’t need to use a plethora of cleaning products to maintain your house, especially of the chemical variety. We like multi-surface disinfecting wipes because they’re convenient and easy to use, but other similar products aren’t necessary. Focus on using these basic tools:
- Dusters
- Brooms
- Vacuums
- Steam cleaners
If you need to use a chemical to break through stubborn grease or other stains, stick with basic ingredients like soap, vinegar and baking soda. The other heavy-duty cleaners can stay on the shelf this spring. You’ll be doing yourself and the environment a favor.
Clear the Air
Your home’s air quality is equally as important as the other locations we discussed. The following areas are magnets for pollutants and allergens:
- Carpets
- Pillows
- Curtains
- Floor mats
- Kitchen appliances
- Shower walls
- Cramped rooms with little airflow
Break out that steam cleaner for your carpets and throw the pillowcases in the washer. You can clean the other areas with soap and water. Then, evaluate your HVAC system’s conditions. If you haven’t cleaned it in a while, the filters will be clogged with nasty stuff that gets into your home’s air. Make sure you replace these filters every 60-90 days or earlier if your family struggles with seasonal allergies.
Remember the Neglected Areas
We like to think we know our homes like the back of our hands, but there are many places around the house that we forget to clean each year. Here are some likely suspects:
- Toys
- Electronics
- House plants
- Trash cans
- Purses, backpacks and other reusable bags
- Drains
- Gutters
- Door cracks
- Cleaning supplies
Some of these items – toys, bags and trash cans in particular – get almost constant usage in our family’s daily lives, so it’s easy to get used to their dirty appearances. It’s imperative that you keep them clean. Even your brooms and vacuums need their own maintenance. Make sure to add them to the room-by-room checklist we discussed earlier. If you need some help you can also hire a cleaning service such as Cleandy.
Spring Into New Cleaning Habits
Spring is a hectic time for many families as the weather warms up and they make more plans outside the house. However, you can’t let your spring cleaning fall by the wayside. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start with a simple and satisfying decluttering job. Assign a room to each family member to speed up the process and make it feel less like a chore.
Remember the “top to bottom” rule as you go along, but trust your judgment and make exceptions for areas that will take longer to clean. Keep the chemical solutions at a minimum and focus on more natural cleaning products. This decision, along with frequent HVAC cleanings, will improve your home’s air quality in a short time.
Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget those small areas! You might not notice how dirty they are, but germs don’t discriminate! Follow these tips and spring into new cleaning habits this season!
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