VWB Blog A clean home has benefits for your mental and physical health, including lowering stress and fatigue, as well as allergy and asthma symptoms. However, many people view the task of cleaning and decluttering as overwhelming.
Whether you have to do a serious deep clean or simply need to tackle daily cleaning tasks, having a strategy and a few tips for spring cleaning to get the job done makes it much easier.
While these tips are great for a home refresh as the weather warms, you can use them throughout the year. A clean home makes for a happier and healthier life.
1. Create a Cleaning Schedule
Whatever state of cleanliness your home is currently in, jumping into cleaning can feel overwhelming. Before you tackle any cleaning projects, make a strategy by creating a cleaning schedule.
Take a look at your home and take inventory of what rooms need to be cleaned and what specific tasks need to be done. Use this as a framework to create a cleaning schedule that works for you.
Many people find cleaning room by room a good strategy, especially when the entire home needs cleaning. For example, plan to clean the kitchen and bathrooms one day and straighten up the living room and bedrooms the next.
You can also use this information to create an ongoing cleaning schedule for tasks that need to be done daily, weekly, and monthly. With this method, you’ll always feel like you have a handle on the cleaning.
2. Start with Decluttering
Oftentimes, homes look dirty because they’re stuffed with unnecessary things. It’s normal to accumulate things over time and not realize it until the home is overwhelmingly messy.
Remedy this by starting your cleaning sessions with decluttering. In each room, thoroughly go through it to find any items you don’t use. Every room is guilty of having these kinds of items.
These might be clothes you no longer wear, old dishes, kids’ toys, or miscellaneous things in a junk drawer. If you need to do serious decluttering or a cleanout, consider a Dumpster rental to make the process easier.
3. Don’t Forget About Walls and Windows
When it comes to cleaning, maybe people focus on vacuuming area rugs and wiping down counters, but there are a few areas many tend to forget. Your walls and windows need some cleaning attention as well.
To clean your walls, focus on dusting with a damp cloth. Run it over the walls, baseboards, and crown moldings to remove any dust that might have settled. This is a good opportunity to tackle marks or scratches on the wall, as well.
Windows you’ll also want to dust with a damp cloth before wiping the glass with a glass cleaner. For the ultimate clean, be sure to clean both the inside and outside of the glass.
When focusing on the windows, clean the window dressings like blinds and shutters as well. Wipe down curtain rods and put the curtains in the laundry so they’re fresh.
4. Clean the Air as Well
While cleaning, you may kick some extra dust into the air. The air can also get dirty with everyone coming and going from the house as well as simply living in the space.
Don’t forget to focus the air to make your home feel completely clean and lengthen the time between deep cleanings. Use an air purifier to remove impurities like dust and dander from the house.
You’ll also want to clean or replace air filters in your HVAC unit and the vents around your home to ensure no extra particles gets into the home. Improving your indoor air quality makes your home cleaner and healthier.
5. Implement Organization
One of the easiest ways to prevent your home from getting too messy again is by implementing organization. Use baskets, bins, and drawer organizers to keep your spaces clean.
The key to organization is to make it personalized to the space and your needs. Drawer organizers can help keep cooking utensils in place. Baskets for toys and trays to corral items on a coffee table will help make the space less cluttered.
It’s important to find an organizational system that works for you and that you can stick with.
6. Get Nooks, Crannies, and Corners
It can be tempting to only clean the areas that you can see. However, for a truly clean home, you have to tackle the nooks, crannies, corners, and all the hard-to-reach areas you may not think about.
Move furniture to get behind those usually hidden areas. For sofas and armchairs, remove the seat cushions, if possible, and vacuum up any crumbs or dust that may have accumulated.
Vacuuming your mattress is often overlooked, but that’s an area where dust can easily accumulate. You may even want to remove items from drawers and cabinets to clean those tight corners.
7. Focus on High-Traffic Areas
High-traffic and often-used areas usually get the dirtiest. After you’ve cleaned the entire home, put some focus on the areas that get the most use in your home, such as the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms.
Create a strategy to do mini-task daily and weekly to keep these spaces looking clean and put together. When you put effort into cleaning these high-traffic areas more often, you’ll have less large-scale cleaning to do.
This can be as simple as doing the dishes and wiping down counters every evening, cleaning the bathroom sink after brushing your teeth, or swapping out and washing your bedsheets every week.
Tips for Spring Cleaning for Every Home
Refreshing your home with a deep clean can seem overwhelming, but you’ll be so happy that you did. Even if you don’t find yourself to be a natural cleaner or particularly enjoy cleaning, these tips can make it easier.
Apply these tips to your future cleaning sessions and the process will become easier with time. These tips for spring cleaning your home will help you create the clean environment you deserve.
Did you find these tips helpful? More articles with tips, tricks, and advice on home maintenance are posted on the site daily.