Spring Cleaning Guide

"It’s that time of year again, the daffodils are starting to peak through, and the sun is making a more regular appearance. If the sun shining through your living windows is revealing how much they need a good scrub, then you might find your mind turning to Spring Cleaning. And what better time than now? The turn of a new season is always the perfect time to give your home a spruce up to welcome in the new weather."

Spring Cleaning historically always took place after a long dark winter. People’s homes had been shut up in the colder months and there was probably a layer of ash and dust from the open fires that had been keeping everybody cosy. These days thanks to time-saving household appliances, Spring Cleaning isn’t essential, but it is a great excuse to have a deep clean and a declutter.

Of course, you don’t have to Spring Clean all in one go, you can spread the jobs over the course of a week or two, or even a whole month.

In this guide I have split the average home into zones for you to tackle. Whilst you are in each room take the opportunity to test your smoke alarms.

Living Room

• Take your curtains down to be dry cleaned or if you have blinds then take them down to wash. (Always check the washing instructions).
• Dust ceiling light fittings and lampshades.
• If you have an open fire or a log burner in your living room, then it is time for it to retire until the nights draw in once again. Empty out any old ash and clean the glass of the log burner.
• Move and clean under your larger items of furniture.
• If you have removable washable covers on your sofas, then take them off and wash them. If you can’t remove them, try using a steam cleaner with an upholstery attachment to help freshen them up.
• Clean the skirting boards.
• Take rugs outside and hang them on a sturdy washing line to air. You might like to try the old-fashioned technique of beating them (they used to do this back in the day when they had no vacuums) you might be surprised at how much dust comes out!
• Clean your windows.

Kitchen

• Clean the top of your kitchen cupboards. There will be a build-up of dirt and grease that will need tackling.
• Clear out your cupboards, fridge and freezer and get rid of anything that has seen better days. If you have food that needs using up, then add it into next week’s meal plan.
• Wipe down the inside and the outside of your kitchen cupboards. You might like to tackle one cupboard at a time to stop the job from becoming too overwhelming.
• Clean the cutlery drawer tray.
• Clean the inside of your fridge. If you can move your fridge, now is the perfect time to pull it away from the wall and clean the floor underneath.
• Clean your oven. You can either do this yourself or hire a professional to come and do the hard work for you.
• If you have tiled splashbacks, then move everything away from the walls and give the tiles a good scrub.
• Clean the extractor fan filters (check manufacturer’s instructions).
• Clean the kickboards of your kitchen cupboards.
• Clean the windows.
• Deep the clean the floor.

Bathrooms

• If you have a washable shower curtain, take this down and wash it.
• Tackle the limescale on glass shower screens.
• Clean the tile grout.
• Clear out and clean the bathroom cabinet (throw away medicines that are past their sell-by date).
• Wash the bathmats.
• Go through all of your towels and cull any that are too old to use (you might like to cut them up to re-use for cleaning)
• Clean the windows.
• Deep clean the floor.

Bedrooms

• Take down the curtains to be dry cleaned.
• Vacuum and flip the mattress. If you have a steam cleaner, then use the upholstery setting to clean the mattress after you have vacuumed it.
• Dust your bedframe. If you have an upholstered bed head, then you can use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum.
• Dust lampshades and ceiling light fittings
• Have a wardrobe clear out and pack Winter clothes away.
• Clean the skirting boards.
• Clean the windows.
• Vacuum under the furniture.

Additional Rooms (study, playroom etc)

• Take down curtains and blinds to be cleaned.
• Dust lampshades and ceiling light fittings.
• Clean the skirting boards.
• Clean the windows.
• Move and vacuum under furniture.

Image Credit: Melanie Lissack