Let’s face it. Spring cleaning is a great idea to entertain but a hard task to carry out. Those long, cold winter months you spent indoors drove that stack of magazines on your coffee table to rise, the dust to collect around the corners of your baseboards, and the multiple winter accessories that belong to the inhabitants of your home to be strewn in various spots across your living room, hallway, and coat racks. You’re itching to get your hands on the old, pack it up and put it away in a dark, dark corner.
5 Essential Spring Cleaning Chores
If you’re on the lookout for ways to make your spring cleaning checklist not appear as ghastly as it does, we recommend the following 5 essential spring cleaning chores that you can carry out and not feel overwhelmed by the ever-looming major clean up.
Winter Clothes – Be Gone!
Goodbye jacket and hello t-shirts! Start by going through all of the winter clothes in your home and sort them by jackets/coats, hats, mittens/gloves, and boots. Different sized vacuum bags can help you in packing them down so they don’t take up as much space as they normally would. I like to keep the small items separate from the bigger ones so that they are easier to find later. You can even grab large freezer bags for little kids’ winter accessories and then throw them in with the bag containing adult sized mittens and gloves. After you are all done sorting and bagging, throw it all into an oversize container that you can pick up from a home improvement or housewares department store. I love under the bed storage containers as they take up less space and are tucked away for a solid few months until you need them again.
Wipe Those Baseboards Down!
These guys are ignored the entire year while we maintain our homes but build up quite a bit of dust during that time. However, a little goes a long way. If there’s only one thing that you want to focus on during your spring cleaning it should be your baseboards. They’ll brighten up your rooms and instantly make them look cleaner. An easy way to do this is to grab a microfiber cloth, a quick solution of vinegar and your favorite essential oil, and spray them directly as you wipe. Some areas might need a bit of extra elbow grease and tough corners might require a cotton swab so keep those handy as you move along.
Don’t Think, Just Chuck That Garbage!
Magazines and paper pile up during the winter. After all, we’re inside more often and most of us are convinced that we’re absolutely going to read that magazine that we bought in the grocery store lineup months ago. Reality check? You spent anywhere between 5 to 7 months indoors…you’re going to spend the rest outdoors. Time to grab a big trash bag and round up all the unnecessary paper that you’ve built up in your home during the last few months. Start from your shared areas (living room, kitchen, home office) and move onto individual bedrooms while chucking away anything you see that isn’t necessary in your home. Yes, that also includes that expired pizza coupon stuck to your fridge. Did you even notice it was still there?
To the Window, to the Wall!
Okay, I know this one is not a simple task, but I promised you five tasks to make your home feel like it’s been spring cleaned…not five easy tasks. Those little hand prints smeared with sugary dough from Christmas baking that ran to the window to see if started snowing, yet…are they still there? And we’ve all noticed that the wall behind our trash cans may harbour some spaghetti sauce spots from an expeditious dumping attempt from a few weeks ago. Did I mention that drawing your little one left you on the wall that you oh-so-cleverly covered up with an ottoman that looks like it’s a tiny bit out of place? Then it’s time to grab a spray bottle, a wash cloth and get to scrubbing, my friend! For a quick all-natural window washing solution, we find that a quick solution of water, a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and a few drops of essential oil will do the trick. A good microfiber cloth will lift up any dirt that has accumulated in the window sills.
No More Fridge Funk!
When you start to feel like you’re playing a dangerous game of Sniff-and-Eat when you open the fridge, it’s time to re-evaluate your current fridge situation. Cleaning out the fridge always makes me feel like a new person. I hate having to tell my family to not touch a certain product in the fridge because it’s gone bad…but I haven’t had the decency to throw it out, yet. Grab your trash can, bring it close to the fridge so you have no excuse to be lazy enough to walk the extra five feet to the garbage can and start chucking anything old and expired. This includes the vegetable drawer with greens that have wilted into oblivion leaving you with slimy juices that once told their story of being brought home fresh from the supermarket. Now, roll up your sleeves and start washing out that fridge with a good microfiber cloth that will help you pick up those small bits of food left along the shelves. When you’re done, place a nice opened up package of baking soda in a corner of the fridge to eliminate bad odours.
Even though you might be crunched for time this spring, these five cleaning tips will leave your home feeling fresher than before!
