It’s March and in my household that means it’s SPRING CLEANING time! Spring cleaning can be tackled in many different ways. It all depends on what sort of person you are. I’m the type of person that likes to dash around my house and clean it all in one day. Others like to tackle one room at a time, or clean for a certain period of time. Whatever you do, make a plan and stick with it! There’s nothing worse than having a bunch of half-finished projects all around your house.
I like to take about 10 minutes before I start cleaning and make a checklist of things I need to get done. This way, nothing gets forgotten or overlooked- unless, of course, you forget to put things on your list. Here are some things I always make sure to hit on my spring cleaning lists.
- Pull out those appliances and clean behind them. That includes the refrigerator, stove, microwave (if it’s not an above the range type), washer, and dryer. Make sure to clean your range hood. I like to use a strong degreaser like Simple Green or a water with Dawn dishwashing detergent mixed in. Give it a bit of time to soak in, then spray it again to loosen the crud up, then wipe. The funk will come right off.
That’s nasty! Get it all cleaned up!
- Clean the insides of your appliances as well. I already shared my easy microwave cleaning trick here. If you have a self-cleaning oven, you’re good, but I have not found a particularly easy way to clean non-self cleaning ovens. I just use Easy-off.
- Clean out that refrigerator! Use soapy water to wash down the insides of your refrigerator. If you have any really nasty science projects growing in your fridge, snap a pic and enter this contest.
- Don’t forget to wash down your washer and dryer, and clean out the dryer exhaust hose. Vacuum underneath your dryer- you’d be surprised at what accumulates under there!
- Wash all of your woodwork. I use water with a very small amount of dish detergent in it, so I don’t have to rinse.
Woodwork gets so nasty so quickly! Can you believe I washed that woodwork less than a month ago? Yeah. Me either.
- DECLUTTER!!! As my Auntie always used to say, “Look one way and pitch the other“. Look, I know it’s hard to get rid of your beloved stuff, but trust me, it’s better this way. If it’s really nice stuff that someone might use, give it away on Freecycle. Do NOT save stuff for a yard sale, unless you’re having that yard sale immediately.
- Take those curtains and blinds down and wash them. For those white mini-blinds, toss them in the tub and soak them with some automatic dishwashing detergent. It’ll whiten them to sparkling.
- Don’t forget your outside spring cleaning! Rent a pressure washer and clean your deck.
Once you have all that spring cleaning finished, you’ll be able to sit back and really enjoy your home.
Your turn:
Does anyone have any good spring cleaning tips that I have forgotten?
