10 Spring Cleaning Tips to Get You Started

Spring is right around the corner, and so is the time to get your spring cleaning done. The items you’ve ignored during winter need your attention.

Your house cleaning for the newness of warmer weather doesn’t have to wait until the birds are chirping and the trees begin to flower and bud. Instead, you can begin to clean your home now and get ready to enjoy a wonderful feeling throughout the spring and summer. Here are ten tips that can help you get your home looking great before the warm weather arrives.

1. Put a schedule together

Before you begin, take a walk around your home with a set of fresh eyes and scope out the areas that need your attention. Are there some things you typically skip and avoid when cleaning? Do you have spring projects that require a bit of warmer weather to accomplish? What can you get done inside your home before the higher temps arrive? Go room by room and create a cleaning schedule. This will help you stay on task and clean the areas that make the most sense every day. It’s also fun to check off each item as it’s completed.

2. Break down the cleaning into pieces

If you’ve got a busy schedule, and most of us do, breaking the cleaning down into small parts that take 10-15 minutes at a time can be a great way to tackle everything that needs to get done. Your spring cleaning doesn’t need to be back-breaking work that takes all day long. Of course, if you’ve got a free weekend, this could be a great time to knock most of it out. That said, when you break it down into smaller pieces, it doesn’t feel like the cleaning takes too long.

3. Take your time for a deep clean

The reason most people save time in the spring and fall to do many of their home cleaning projects is they want to get things done right during these times. This is the first time this year that you’ll move furniture, clean under and behind things, organize your closet, change out your wardrobe, and go deeper than any other time. The deep clean you’re after happens in the spring and fall. Take your time and do it right.

4. Organize your storage spaces

A big part of spring cleaning is putting away the winter gear and bringing out the spring and summer stuff. This means you’re spending time in your attic and garage. While doing this, you should go ahead and organize that storage area. This is a great time to play the Keep, Donate, Toss game with yourself. If you’ve accumulated some items that you don’t need to keep, put them in the donate or toss piles. This will help declutter your home.

5. Clean from the top down

If you weren’t aware of it, you are now; we’re all subject to gravity. This force keeps us planted on the ground and forces the dust, debris, and dirt to fall from your ceiling fans, high shelves, and other upper spaces to the floor. Start at the top with the cobwebs in the corner, the ceiling fans, and the tops of your cabinets. The last place you should clean is the floor, where you’ll find all the dirt that has fallen from above.

6. Don’t forget about your walls and windows

Some of us think that only horizontal surfaces get dirty, but that’s not the case. You’ll be surprised by how much dust and dirt settles on your walls and windows. If you want a fresh and clean home, make sure you clean these vertical surfaces. Once the weather is a little nicer, you can go outside and spend time spring-cleaning the siding and windows with a pressure washer and some good window-cleaning products.

7. Make cleaning more efficient with the right tools

Have you ever tried to dust blinds one slat at a time? Do you get down on your knees to clean the floor grout with a toothbrush? These are the least efficient methods of cleaning these items. Find the right tools to make your cleaning easier. You don’t need to break your back to get the job done. In fact, if you do, you’ll most likely never want to deep clean your home again.

8. The first thing to do is declutter

It’s hard to dust and wipe down surfaces if those surfaces are covered in paperwork and unnecessary items. Declutter each room and then clean the surfaces. This could mean removing everything from tables, desks, and counters to get to the surface and clean it. This is an important part of your spring cleaning process. When you’re done decluttering and cleaning, you should be left with a great-looking area that you’re proud of. This will make you want to move on to the next room and do the same thing.

9. How gross is your microwave

We often forget about the microwave when cleaning the kitchen. Your countertops might look wonderful all the time, but that microwave door is hiding the real mess. All you need is a bowl with a cup of warm water, chopped-up lemon, and some vinegar. Put this in the microwave and turn it on high for several minutes to let the solution boil and the window gets steamy. After this, let it cool for five minutes, and then wipe out the inside so it can be clean and fresh.

10. Make cleaning more fun with music

Spring cleaning can be a therapeutic activity. Play some of your favorite music while you’re cleaning your home, and you might catch yourself dancing or singing along with the music. It doesn’t take a lot of mental energy to clean your home, which makes it a great activity when you need to think, lose yourself, or clear your mind. It’s easy to use cleaning as a way to refresh yourself and your home.

That winter weather is nearly gone, and you’ll want your home to be clean, fresh, and ready for spring with a great cleaning routine. You’ll be amazed at how great you feel about your home once you’ve completed this cleaning routine.