Spring Cleaning---Home Maintenance

You should’ve figured it out by now…our cold snap is almost over, which can only mean one thing...SPRING CLEANING!!  Time to rid your life of clutter and dust bunnies we’ve allowed to accrue over the busy holiday season and winter chill.  Out with the old, in with the new, or it’s time to give your space an airing and cleaning! Even if you think the task is daunting, you can get the big cleaning done in a weekend…especially if you make it a family affair.  Here are some tips to shake away the winter and open the home for spring!

Get Your Tools and Crew Together

• Make a point to get the whole family involved: if they live there, they should participate.
• Walk through each room in your house with paper and pen; list what you need to do; anything from de-cluttering the drawers to dusting the fan blades.
• Take stock of cleaning supplies and equipment. Buy items you might need to get the jobs done.
• Call a charity organization or trash removal service and schedule a time after your cleaning weekend for them to pick up items and clothes you want give away.

Good Prepping

• The week before your cleaning weekend, have family members de-clutter their spaces for 10 minutes each night. Be ruthless with things like gift boxes, grocery sacks, old magazines and catalogs and craft materials you've saved but haven't used; chances are you won’t.
• Clean out remainders from your refrigerator and freezer, and purge your pantry of food you never use; if you’re getting rid of canned goods or other non-perishable items, consider donating them to your local food bank. Do one or two shelves at a time during short nightly segments.
• Assign cleaning tasks to family members according to age and skill level.
• Stock plastic buckets or totes with cleaning supplies.
• Put trash bags in central locations for easy access Saturday morning.
• Attach a long extension cord on your vacuum cleaner so you can move quickly through rooms and hallways. Replace the bag if needed.
• Spray your oven with oven cleaner Friday night. Put the drip pans from your stove and the ventilating fan/hood filter in a sink full of hot soapy water. Let them soak overnight.

Get Cleaning

Get up early Saturday morning and have family members strip their bed linens (including mattress pads) and remove curtains that need cleaning. Begin washing. Keep laundry loads moving from washer to dryer every 30 minutes.

Morning Jobs: Living Areas and Bedrooms

• Vacuum. Moving from room to room, use brush attachment to vacuum cobwebs from ceilings and corners, light fixtures, ceiling-fan blades, shutters or blinds, door and window moldings, lamp shades, pictures, windowsills and baseboards. Use upholstery attachment to vacuum drapes and upholstered furniture (don’t forget between the cushions).
• Dust and polish wood furniture, shelves and knickknacks.
• Wipe off woodwork with sponge and mild soapy solution.
• Clean mirrors and glass furniture tops.
• Flip mattresses and put clean linens on beds.
• Dust-mop or vacuum wood floors and vacuum rugs or carpets.

Early Afternoon: The Kitchen

• Vacuum ceiling and corners, fan blades and light fixtures.
• Vacuum refrigerator coils and front grill.
• Defrost freezer if necessary. Wipe off refrigerator shelves.
• Clean inside microwave.
• Finish cleaning oven and stovetop. Replace drip pans.
• Wipe off outside of appliances.
• Clean countertops and backsplash.
• Disinfect trashcan.
• Wipe off woodwork, and drawer and cabinet handles.
• Vacuum, mop and wax floor

Late Afternoon: Clean Bathrooms

• Remove shower-curtain liners. Wash for five minutes with a bath towel on delicate cycle; hang on a line or shower rod to drip-dry.
• Launder throw rugs. (Toss the bathtub mat in this load.)
• Vacuum ceiling and corners, light fixtures, windowsill and baseboards.
• Spray shower, tub and toilet with heavy-duty cleaner. (Be sure to open a window or turn on exhaust fan first.) Let solutions go to work, then wipe off and rinse clean.
• Wipe off woodwork and switch plates, bathroom scale and knickknacks.
• Clean mirror and chrome fixtures.
• Vacuum floor, then mop floor with disinfectant.

Smart Cleaning Tips

• Think gravity. Clean from top to bottom; that's the direction the dirt goes.
• Vacuum — instead of dusting or sweeping — whenever possible. It's quicker and usually more thorough.
• Use time-saving cleaning wipes.
• Don't get distracted. If you find a magazine you've been looking for under a bed, don't stop to read it.
• Don't clean anything that's not dirty. For example, wipe smudges off a door without cleaning the entire door.
• Work around a room instead of crisscrossing it so you don't have to carry supplies and equipment back and forth.