Sweeping Winter Out Your Door

Photo by hans s

Spring, one word that brings up feelings of hope, warmth and visions of tulips and sunshine. Spring cleaning can also bring a feeling of new beginnings. It’s the time of year to clean all the dust that collected during a cold winter, put away warm clothes, and plan out your new projects.

In order to make spring cleaning efficient, effective and maybe even something you enjoy, there has to be a game plan. Make a list and map out your plan of attack: where you are starting, what is most important, and what can wait if you run out of time. Make sure you give yourself enough time and take a few days to do it all.

When in Doubt, Throw It Out!

Walk around your house and take inventory of all the clutter that has accumulated. Before you can clean, you need to get rid of it all. Go through old clothes and shoes and donate unwanted things, buy organizational bins and folders to get rid of the piles of papers and mail, and go through all cabinets and drawers and throw out anything you haven’t used or are past an expiration date. Organize! Organize! Organize!

Scrub a Dub Dub

Now, the cleaning begins! Hopefully, you will have a little less to clean and dust after the previous step. Either way, the best advice is to start from the top and work your way down. Take down all window treatments and other linens to have laundered or soak so they won’t collect extra dust and won’t spread dirt taking them out later. Make sure to dust the ceiling fans, shelves, any art or pictures on the walls, and furniture before you vacuum or sweep the floor.

This step can sometimes be seen as tedious because everything you do can be repeated in other rooms with some variations, such as scrubbing the toilet and shower in the bathroom and running an empty dishwasher with a little baking soda and defrosting the freezer in the kitchen. When asked for tips and tricks on spring cleaning, one of the best responses was, “baking soda, water, vinegar…can clean just about everything!” (Thank you, Nancy!).

It’s the Little Things

Last but not least, there are many small chores people wouldn’t think of doing during spring cleaning. Two of the most important ones have to do with your family’s safety and well being. Make sure to change the batteries in the smoke detectors, dust the units and teach everyone in the house how to use a fire extinguisher. Also, update your 1^st Aid Kit. Make sure everyone in the house knows where it is, that it has the most current emergency numbers and is stocked full of supplies.

Hope you are able to get some enjoyment out of getting rid of Old Man Winter and welcoming spring but if not, throw on some old clothes, blast some of your favorite music, sing into whatever cleaning supply you have handy and get ready for some hard work. Trust me; you will be happy when it’s done.