There’s nothing like a good spruce up to liven up your home – especially as spring arrives, bringing new blooms, warmer weather and earlier sunrises! It’s no wonder that households traditionally carry out a “spring clean”; you’re more likely to have sunny days to hang out the washing, you can open up the windows while you dust, and you’ve got more daylight hours to work with!
However.
When you’re busy (or just lazy, like me), you probably don’t want to spend all your time cleaning. My problem is that I often start cleaning projects with the grandest of intentions, which basically involves me pulling out everything I own to “sort”, then getting tired/distracted/mentally over it, leaving the clutter everywhere for a couple days until I get sick of it or visitors are coming round, and then quickly shoving it all back where it came from. Not ideal!
Although I hate cleaning, I like having a clean(ish) house. Clear home, clear mind and all that. So I’ve come up with ways to streamline and speed up the spring cleaning process so that it feels like less of an effort, whilst still being effective … enough.
Start with a box
You gotta shift the top layer before you can get into the deep clean! Put on your favourite song, go from room to room and shove everything that doesn’t belong in each room into the box. If something is in the wrong place but belongs in that room, put it away straight away. As you take your “clutter box” to each room to fill, have a quick look and see if anything can be taken out and put away.
Look up
Any cobwebs or fly poo up there? Be honest – I won’t judge! If there are, whip around with the vacuum and suck ‘em up. No point in cleaning anything down below until you’ve cleaned above!
Wipe down surfaces
Grab a damp dusting cloth and have a whip around your house and wipe down all your surfaces (think bookshelves, mantlepieces, cabinets, tops of mirrors and frames – anywhere that gets dusty!). This won’t take long because your house is still beautiful and clutter-free from earlier … right? 😉 Once you’ve cleaned up any cobwebs and wiped down surfaces, do a quick vacuum to suck up any debris that has now settled down.
Dishwasher & washing machine
Treat your dishwasher and washing machine to a spa day by running them both for a hot cycle with a cup of vinegar. Heck, while you’re at it, clean your microwave too by adding a cup of vinegar to a cup of water and microwaving for 5-10 min depending on how powerful your microwave is. This will loosen any grime and allow you to easily wipe it out after.
Check your beauty products
Throw out any old makeup/sunscreen/shampoo/etc that are a bit *past it* – plus all those wee sample products you have lying around if you haven’t used them!
Unleash your inner wrath on your rugs
If you have rugs, it’s likely that they’ve got a bit of dirt build up – even with regular vacuuming. Take ‘em outside, and beat the living daylights out of them. If it’ll help your motivation, play Eye of the Tiger or something high-energy to really get the blood pumping!
Get good in bed
Set aside a day for this one. Strip your sheets in the morning, and sprinkle baking soda over your mattress to draw out moisture and dirt and eliminate odours. Pop your pillows in the wash, and then either put them in the dryer or hang them out in the sun if it’s a nice day – either way, you want to make sure they’re fully dry before using them again. If putting them in the dryer, adding a couple of clean tennis balls in clean white socks will help to dry them quicker and keep them fluffier. At the end of the day, vacuum the baking soda off your mattress and remake your bed.
Bonus points: Curtains
If you’re feeling particularly motivated, take down your curtains for a wash. HOWEVER! I recommend you only do this one room at a time, so that you’re more likely to be able to get a set washed, dried and re-hung – rather than taking them down, washing them, then leaving them to sit for a couple days/weeks/months(!!) because it’s too overwhelming to try and get them all back up.
With deep cleaning, there’s always more you can do – and it often becomes a case of “once you clean one thing you see how dirty everything else is” and so it can quickly start to feel like a huge job. Start small, set yourself achievable goals, and have a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge as a reward! And remember – any cleaning is better than no cleaning, so if it’s easier, just do little bits here and there as you can.
Happy spring cleaning!
How hard out do you go with spring cleaning?
See more:
Written by Bunny T
A mama of two who advocates for mental health awareness (yes girl!), Bunny is a badass babe blogging about womanhood, motherhood and the adventures that happen in between. You’ll usually find her exercising (running after kids), partying (drinking coffee) and rocking out (sleeping).
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.