While it’s nice to have a clean and tidy house throughout the seasons, there is just something about making sure that everything is sparkling right before spring. The sun will be out a bit more, after all, revealing every dirty spot on your windows – and the extra sunlight gives us the energy we need to make it clean and fresh again.
If you’d like to get started on the spring cleaning as soon as possible, you’ve come to the right place. Here is a guide to making it easy while still making sure that everything is thoroughly clean. You’ll have it done in a short day and can look forward to long, clean, and sunny days from now.
First: Divide the rooms and responsibilities
If you’re cleaning the house or flat on your own, it’s a good idea to work your way through each room. That way, you won’t lose your sanity – and you can have a tea break in between each room. Clean the fabrics in your living room, such as the carpets, furniture, and curtains, before wiping off and dusting everything.
The last thing you should take care of is the floor so that you’re not making it dirty again after cleaning it by dusting. Give it a good mop, and work your way through to the next room. With more hands to help out, this will of course be much easier; simply give each person the responsibility of cleaning a room, and you’ll all be done in an hour or two.
Ask your kids to clean the bathroom, for example, so that you have a chance to focus on the living room.
Spring cleaning does mean that everything should be organised as well, though, and making your family help out makes it a lot easier to avoid throwing out something they’d like to keep.
Ask them to take care of their own bedrooms, first of all, have them tidy up their wardrobe so that you can put all of their winter clothes away – and you’ll have much more time to organise the kitchen cupboards in the meantime.
If you like to make lists and charts, this is a great opportunity to unleash the creative neat freak inside of you. Create a list that everyone can follow and have them tick off what they’ve completed themselves. That way, you’re not the only one having fun with crossing things off that list.
Next: Organise and throw away
A clean and neat house will make your mind much more at peace as well. Having it clean is one thing, though, but if you keep bringing things into the house without ever throwing anything out, it’s really just going to get more cluttered over time. Learn to let go of your stuff, embrace a more minimalist lifestyle, and you might find that having it clean becomes a bit easier too.
This is something you should do before you start deep cleaning your house or flat, though, so that everything can be a bit more orderly before you get started for real. Go through everything from your wardrobes to those kitchen drawers you always just toss random things into, tidy up in your bookshelves, and consider working your way through your garage as well.
It might take a bit longer than just a day but, if you manage to have it done, you’ll feel a lot lighter afterwards. It’s almost as if the stuff we hold onto is dragging us down sometimes so give it away or just look for a skip hire and have someone take it all away for you instead. Now you’re ready to clean up your house as well as your life for real – and the less clutter you have, the faster you’ll have it over with.
Start with your appliances and furniture
While cleaning tends to make us think about washing floors and windows, this is actually something you’re better off saving for last. Start with those appliances instead, clean out your greasy oven, dust off all of your furniture, and give the refrigerator a good clean so that you’re able to clean up whatever spills out on the floors afterwards.
Since this is a proper deep cleaning project, you will need to go through each and every kitchen cupboard too, wash them out, dust on top of them, and work your way through the lists in your house as well. This is something that will take time, for sure, but you only do it once a year – and, luckily, it takes some time to build up dust and get dirty again, in any way.
Have your family help you out here too and give each person the responsibility for a room of their own or just divide it by tasks and ask one of them to clean out the cupboards while another vacuums the furniture. It’s going to make everything a lot easier and you’ll be done before dinner time as long as you start in the morning.
You can have a look at this article to learn more about cleaning your furniture properly, by the way, to make sure they last longer and to keep your home a bit healthier. House dust isn’t really good for anyone, you know, and especially not young children who can develop allergies.
Embark on the windows and the floors
Finally, it’s time to turn up the volume on that music and let the actual washing begin. You’re done with all the sorting out, tossing out, organising, and dusting, after all, and only have the floors and the windows left. It won’t even take that long as long as you work together as a team.
Remember to vacuum the floors first, though, so that you’re not just mopping the dust around instead of actually washing it. Another tip is to consider the weather before you clean the windows; a bright and sunny day will make the cleaner dry too fast and you risk being left with those streaks on the windows when you’re done.
Get the chairs up on those tables, find your mop, and get started. After you’re done, you can finally put your feet up and embrace spring; it is, after all, an entire year until you should do it all over again.
