The Best Tips for a Successful Spring Cleaning

Grant yourself some space for peace with these tips and tricks for spring cleaning!

Maintaining a clean home is critical to us. When the house is a mess, nothing seems right. We feel cramped, our focus drops, and it just gets exhausting to see a mess wherever we look. For the most part, keeping up with our daily chores helps keep our house clean and our sanity up. But sometimes life happens and basic daily care isn’t enough to power through the grime and the chaos. Winter is one such season that makes a deep clean so necessary. Don’t get us wrong, we love winter and have taken active steps to rediscover our love for the season. But with winter comes a lot of stagnant energy and dust buildup that a deep spring clean can do wonders for!

Tips for Spring Cleaning

Break down big tasks

Just because spring cleaning is more thorough than day-to-day cleaning doesn’t mean it has to be done in one big marathon session. We know what it is like to try and dedicate a whole day to cleaning when you have other projects you want to take care of. Instead of doing everything all at once, plan your cleaning schedule and break down bigger tasks to make them more manageable. For us, we do one room of chores a day: bathrooms on Monday, appliances on Tuesday, etc. When planning your spring cleaning, you can add one or two of your bigger projects onto your daily schedule. While you’re doing the appliances, clean out the drawers in the fridge or spray the oven so you can wipe it out later.

Basic cleaning can feel overwhelming, let alone when you add massive projects on top. If it sounds too daunting to add one of the big projects onto your daily schedule, break it up into pieces. Maybe you don’t have enough time to get to all the windows or fridge drawers at once. But maybe you’ll have enough time to do one or two things before work, during lunch, or on one of the short breaks you take throughout the day. That’s how we get through some of those bigger tasks when we feel overwhelmed. There might still be more to be done after one of the small cleaning sessions, but just making a little bit of progress can bring you a sense of relief and pride. The house will be cleaner, and you might have the motivation to finish the project you’re working on.

Get your cleaners organized

It pays to keep all the cleaners you might need in one spot. We suggest organizing your supplies into a portable caddy. That way you’ll have everything you need while you make your way through every room in the house. Some of your tasks might require special tools or cleaners that you can’t keep with you all the time, but there are a few items that are always good to have on hand.

Cleaning caddy items

• All-purpose cleaner (if you want a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner check our recipe here.)
• Window cleaner
• Wood cleaner (If you want a natural, nontoxic wood cleaner check out our recipe here.)
• Washcloths (we suggest using microfiber cloths as they can be more effective than other types of washcloths.)
• Melamine foam (Think Mr. Clean Magic Erasers®)
• Abrasive cleaning paste
• Sponges
• Toothbrush (to get into the nook and crannies)

Create a plan for spring cleaning

Knowing where to start is the hardest part. Looking at or thinking about everything you need to get done can quickly leave you feeling like you’re lost in a maze. Take the stress out of your decision by making a plan of action. One example of planning your chores is The 6/10 List from Organized Chaos. This tool has you make a list of the daily tasks, the weekly tasks, and the tasks that need to be done three to four times a year. Being able to see the plan for each room will allow you to tackle the mess one step at a time and without so much mental stress.

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Below is a list of some of the bigger tasks that we keep up with from a monthly to a quarterly basis. We’ve organized them by area, with the tasks that apply to every room being in the “General” section. The list isn’t exhaustive, and some of the items might not apply to your household. If you have any suggestions on chores that we didn’t add here, feel free to leave them in the comments!

General

• Move large appliances and furniture to vacuum and mop underneath
• Deep clean carpets
• Clean windowsills and door tracks
• Wash windows
• Wipe walls and baseboards
• Let vinegar and baking soda mixture sit in drains for at least 15 minutes, then slowly pour boiling water down the drain to rinse the mixture out.
• Shampoo soft furniture (couches, chair cushions, etc.)
• Check and replace your heating/air conditioning filter

Dining Room

• Use a wood cleaner and polish to clean any wood furniture
• Remove clutter from the table
• Dust and clean hanging light fixtures

Kitchen

• Clean the dishwasher filter and run a clean cycle without any dishes in the washer
• Clean the inside of the oven and remove any burned food chunks
• Wipe down the hood above your stove
• Clean both the inside and outside of the cabinets
• Clean the backside of the fridge
• Move the fridge to clean under and behind where it sits
• Discard any expired foods

Bathroom

• Clean the toilet, making sure to deep clean the inside of the tank
• Clean the shower
• Soak faucets and showerhead(s) in vinegar to clear out hard water deposits
• Go through toiletries and discard anything that you no longer use or is expired

Laundry Room

• Empty washing machine filter
• Clean the inside of the washer and dryer (make sure to wipe the dryer completely to ensure no cleaner remains inside.)
• Depending on the washer model, remove the detergent/fabric softener tray and clean both the tray and the space where it is held
• Move the washer and drying to clean the floor and walls behind where they normally sit
• Clear blockages out of the dryer vent

Bedrooms

• Remove and wash sheets
• Flip the mattress
• Sprinkle baking soda on your mattress and let sit for a couple of hours. Vacuum the baking soda off once done. (This removes any smells and leaves your bed feeling fresh)
• Clean under the bed and other furniture
• Donate any unwanted clothing

Offices

• Organize files
• Organize drawers
• Dust and clean electronics

Outdoor space

• Clean up any pet droppings
• Clear out any debris (sticks, leaves, etc.)
• Clean gutters (if applicable)
• Wash windows
• Power wash your house and patio

Final Spring Cleaning Notes

Cleaning in general can be hard. After a long day, the last thing you want to do is more hard work. But if you can put in even just a little bit of effort to get one or two things done a day, your house will quickly feel so much more content and alive. We hope some of our thoughts on spring cleaning can make yours easier this year. Let us know in the comments if you have any tips for how to make spring cleaning more manageable in your household.