Spring Cleaning

Spring is almost upon us, we all know what that means.  It’s time to get to all of those tasks that we didn’t want to do or that would have been a waste of time in the dead of winter.  We’ll be looking at everything so that you don’t have to try and remember.

1. Doormats – Something that gets forgotten quite often, they sit out the front of your house collecting all of the dust, dirt, mud and muck that you almost trekked in to your house. Spring is the perfect time to shake them out as there won’t be half as much dirt sticking to your shoes on the way in.
2. Windows – Your windows are often neglected throughout winter as it seems pointless when the rain keeps beating down on them. When cleaning your windows always start with the shaded windows first as cleaning a window in direct sunlight will almost always cause streaks.
3. Curtains and Blinds – Once you’ve hit the windows with a good dose of Windex it’s time you got on to the inside, dust all of the hard blinds and give those curtains a wash as they catch a lot of dust and you’ll want them open throughout those lovely sunny spring days.
4. The Microwave – Everyone forgets about the microwave, its sits there quietly wanting to warm your winter dinners up, but get in there when you aren’t using it as often and give it a good clean out. Heating up a bowl with water and vinegar is great to get rid of those tough cooked on stains.
5. Fridge – Getting the fridge clean is probably something you do semi regularly but spring time is the perfect time to give it a good top to bottom, take all of the shelves out, the door shelves and buckets and give them all a good proper clean. It would also be prudent to get on a chair and give the top a good wipe down to get rid of all of the dust that collects up there as well.
6. The oven – The oven is something that gets overlooked as well and something that doesn’t need doing all of the time unless there’s a major spill over. So, while you’re doing all of those little things the oven would be a perfect subject for your spring enthusiasm.
7. Kitchen cabinets – These guys can collect a lot of dust throughout the year, especially the ones seldom used, it can be a good idea to pull everything out and give them a good wipe down at least once a year.
8. The Junk Drawer – We all have at least one, it would be a great time to go through that and throw out anything that hasn’t been used in the last year or that won’t be used in the near future, give it a vacuum out and then get a drawer sectioner or place some containers in there so that things can stay sorted, so that you aren’t digging through it when you’re looking for something.
9. Shower Curtain – I know it’s almost just as easy to head down the shops to get a new one if your old tired one gets a bit grimy but it’s just as easy to take it off and throw it in the wash on gentle with a load of towels.
10. Grout – Something that is almost exclusively over looked but will make a massive difference, if your grout is white. Hit it with a grout cleaner leave it for 15 minutes then scrub it with a stiff bristled brush and wipe clean you’ll be kicking yourself that you didn’t do it sooner.
11. Furniture – Give all the furniture a dust, move it away from walls and get in behind it and sweep out all of those dust bunnies, vacuum the lounges and chairs and take care of any stains that have developed over time.
12. Ceiling fans – If you have ceiling fans they likely wouldn’t have been getting much use throughout the winter months so they would have likely collected quite a bit of dust and you don’t want the first time you turn them on when it gets warm to cover the room with dust, particularly if you’re an asthmatic or suffer from hayfever.
13. The skirting boards and cornicing – Dust can collect like crazy on the skirting boards and is hardly ever noticed, get a duster and wipe along the skirts and pay special attention to the corners as it’s hard to get the dust out of there. The cornicing is another area that gets seldom noticed, if you’re living in an older house or in the country, spiders will pop little webs up so it’s important to take care of those before they get to nasty.

Spring cleaning is about taking care of all of those things that you haven’t been able to do during the colder months, or things that would have felt pointless with all of the weather going on.  Write a list of things that definitely need doing around your house, hang it up somewhere and add to it when you notice things that need doing, then when you have a free weekend, work your way through the list and before you know it your house will be spring cleaned.