Well, it’s Spring time again. Yes! I love Spring and always look forward to the end of Winter. However, with the wonderful weather comes the dreaded Spring cleaning list. Fortunately, the warm temperatures helps to put people in the mood to tackle those neglected areas of the home. To make things easier, I am including part of my Spring cleaning list to help you get started.
Spring Cleaning List
Spring is a great time to do carpet cleaning. The weather is usually nice and breezy. That combined with the warmer weather means that you can open the windows and allow the air to circulate and speed the drying time for the carpeting.
While you are cleaning those carpets, don’t forget the area rugs. They can harbor all sorts of odor causing agents. If you can wash them, that is best. Placing them in the sun for the day will also help to bake out the odors.
Change those air filters. Just like they say to change your smoke detector batteries when you change your clocks (for those with time changes), I like to always change the filters every Spring and Fall as part of the cleaning list. It’s amazing the amount of dust that can accumulate. In fact, if your filters look as bad as these (above), it would probably be a good idea to change them seasonally, or 4 times per year.
Another neglected area that could probably use a good cleaning are those ceiling fan blades. Adding these to a Spring (and Fall) cleaning list works great, because this is the time of the year when you would want to switch the direction of the blades.
On a side note – for those of you that were unaware, there is a switch on your ceiling fans. It changes the direction that the blades spin. The purpose of this is to circulate the air to best benefit the season. (i.e. during the winter it pushes the warm air down, and during the summer it pulls the warm air up and away).
Now that it is warm outside, this is the best time to clean the exterior windows. I like to use a scrub brush, like the one above, in conjunction with a squeegee. Nothing gets that perfectly streak free clean the way that a good quality squeegee can. (at least nothing with as little effort). 🙂 A good tutorial for cleaning windows can be found at The Family Handyman.
This is also the time of the year that I always try to get to places that are often not thought about – like beneath the sofa cushions. It is amazing how much stuff falls between the seats.
Twice a year, I like to (well, not exactly like) thoroughly wash down all of the molding. I prefer to use a good degreaser for this. Dawn is great or even Murphy’s oil, if you like the scent. You can even get the kids involved in this. Start from the higher up wood work, such as chair rails, and work your way down to the base boards.
Another often forgotten area is the vents above the stove top. Cleaning these at least once a year will greatly improve the function of the vent-a-hood.
And finally, open up those windows! Nothing beats getting some fresh clean air circulating inside. However, you may to wait until most of the pollen has passed. I know that we have several weeks in early Spring where yellow pollen coats everything. You certainly don’t want that blowing inside your home.
But other than that, it is nice to get rid of the stale air and let the house breath.
Final Thoughts…
Although these are a great start for your Spring cleaning list, it is not all inclusive. So, if you have any other suggestions that can be added to the list, don’t hold back. Share your tips with the rest of us!
Feature image courtesy of Judith Doyle. All images above are protected by Creative Commons license.