With spring officially being sprung and the weather getting nicer, you know what that means; it’s officially time for spring cleaning! While it can feel really good to give your house a much-needed cleaning after a long winter, it is often a daunting task that people hate doing. Most of us would rather enjoy being outside in the sun enjoying attractions your city has to offer, whether you live in New York, Chicago, Boston, and so on.
However, whether we like it or not, our homes can gather up a lot of filth and clutter throughout the winter months and spring cleaning is necessary. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to make spring cleaning a little bit more manageable.
Not much of a spring cleaner? Don’t know where to start? No worries, we compiled some tips and tricks for you.
1. Put spring cleaning into your schedule
Let’s face it, very few people like to clean. Spring cleaning on impulse? Yeah right. Most of us need to mentally prepare for such a tedious task so if spring cleaning is going to happen you should probably set aside some time in your schedule dedicated purely to spring cleaning. This will keep you in check and give you no excuses for why you can’t get it done. Also, it is a smart idea to make sure that all your cleaning products are all stocked up. You could also make a schedule or plan for the spring cleaning itself, but let’s not go nuts.
2. Don’t neglect the little things
While you might clean your house a little bit during the weekend, the idea behind spring cleaning is to clean EVERYTHING. This means you cannot just gloss over the small and largely unnoticeable things, even though we all want to. You will need to get down and dirty. Make sure that you are scouring through each little crease and crevice in your house to make sure it is clean(er). This means cleaning things we all pretend doesn’t need a thorough cleaning: baseboards, ceiling fans, drapes, woodwork, etc.
3. Don’t just “surface clean”
As mentioned in the last tip, spring cleaning should not be attacked like a regular old cleaning day. In addition to making sure small things are cleaned that you may have ignored, the same is to be said for the large areas and things throughout your house. You should deep clean any carpeting or furniture, clean and wax the floors, and clean the walls and cabinets as best as you can. Also, make note of areas that are incredibly messy and do periodic cleaning throughout the year to make sure it never gets this bad again.
4. Put on some upbeat music
There are those people out there that really enjoy cleaning, but for most of us, it is a chore. However, one thing you can do to lighten the mood and make spring cleaning a bit more fun is to put on your favorite upbeat music. This will not only put you in a better mood, but will help pass the time as you won’t be focusing solely on the monotonous cleaning you are doing. While this has no value in terms of actually cleaning your house, it will put you in a better and happier space throughout the day, which is a huge plus and a good way to be able to work longer.
5. Work from the top down
This tip will be your best friend, as it saves you a lot of time and potential anger. By working from the top of each room to the bottom, you will make sure that you don’t have to clean things more than once if something goes wrong. For example, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to clean the floor before the walls, tables or counters, as there is the possibility things could drop, spill or fall, which would leave you cleaning the floor once again.
6. Do not disregard the appliances
Despite the fact you may not think they can get that dirty, the various appliances in your home can get filthy if you don’t clean them often. In order to get your home as clean as possible, these appliances need to be dealt with. The fridge, the stove, the microwave, and the dishwasher should all be examined closely and cleaned (both inside and out), and you will be shocked of how much grime has likely accumulated over the last few months. While cleaning these appliances will likely be among the most time consuming parts of your spring cleaning, the results are well worth it.
7. Do one area at a time
Trying to do everything at once will not only stress you out as the job seems so mighty, but you will likely also end up missing things that you should have cleaned. By tackling one room (or even one part of a room) at a time, you will be more focused and precise in your cleaning. It also makes sense to only do a few areas or rooms at a time, as to not overwork yourself. There is no harm in taking a few days to complete your spring cleaning, as spacing things out makes the whole idea a little less daunting and more manageable.
8. Go through your closet
One place that people tend to ignore during cleaning is their closet. To be honest, most of us have way more clothing than we need and it just takes up space. Do you have clothing with the tags still on them? If you answered yes, that is generally a good sign you’re getting into hoarder territory. Instead of just letting the unused clothing continue to collect dust, why not donate some of it? You will not only be decreasing the clutter in your room, but you’ll also do a good thing by giving your clothes to someone who needs them.
Did our spring cleaning article get you into cleaning mode? Want to do more improvements to your apartment but you feel like there’s not much to do to a small apartment? Check out our 10 Tips for Making a Tiny Apartment Feel Spacious!
