With the cold, winter nights slowly disappearing and the summer evenings approaching, spring is a great time to start doing some work around your home and garden to get it into shape for the months ahead. Big cleaning sessions aren’t for everyone, but they don’t need to feel like a chore. Below we look at 7 ways to get your home looking great, saving you time and money in the process.
7 Spring Cleaning Tips
1. Give your floors a fresh look
Regularly cleaning floors is just part and parcel of any weekly clean, but give them a deep clean over the coming weeks and get them ready for the summer months ahead. A deeper clean will help to remove any grime that has built up over the past 6 – 12 months, while also enabling you to protect your floor from wear and tear.
Wooden flooring will often take the biggest battering over the course of the year, so clean them and polish them to provide a makeover that has your floor looking like new again. If you have carpet in your home it may be worth considering pulling up the carpet and replacing it to give your room a new look. Move your furniture around and add a new rug to give a fresh look and feel to your living space for the remainder of the year.
2. Sort out those messy drawers
Let’s face it, we all have a drawer or cupboard that is used for hoarding post and items that you don’t really need but don’t want to get rid of. Friends fans may often refer to it as the ‘Monica Drawer’, and while this is drawer / cupboard continues to fill up, finding something in it is becoming a task in itself.
Get organised this spring by taking the time to go through this space and remove everything you no longer need. If there’s something there that you haven’t used for a few years, chances are it won’t be missed when you bin it. Just be sure to not fall into the trap of packing it again in the future with stuff you won’t ever need again!
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3. Clear out your freezer
Your freezer is another place in your home where things can often pile up. From leftover soup and stew, to frozen chicken and peas, you never know what you’ll find in the freezer. Spend some time going through your freezer and throwing out food that isn’t going to be used. You many even decide to totally empty your freezer and defrost it, especially if ice has built up over the year.
Defrosting your freezer will help to make it run better, and will also allow you to give it a proper deep clean, leaving it gleaming and ready to be filled again. You should aim to defrost your freezer at least once a year, but if frost builds up on a more frequent basis, be sure to defrost it as and when you need.
4. Give your exterior a facelift
One of the biggest areas to make an improvement on your home over the spring period is outside your home. The wear and tear of winter will no doubt have taken its toll on your garden, windows, doors, facia boards and guttering, so take a few days to address this and give your exterior a fresh look. From giving your windows a clean and polish to painting your doors and cleaning your guttering and facia boards, spending time improving the outside of your house this spring will go a big way to making it look and feel fresh to visitors arriving during the summer months.
5. Give your oven a deep clean
There are many reasons for your oven becoming dirty and covered in grime, with regular Sunday roasts high on the list for many. There’s just nothing quite like a home-cooked Sunday roast with all the family, and while your belly is thankful for it, your oven won’t. You should aim to give your oven a deep clean at least once, if not twice a year, and springtime is perfect for one of those cleans.
While you can buy all sorts of oven cleaning products in the shop that will certainly help remove most of the dirt and grime, one of the best ways to giving an oven a deep clean could be sitting in your pantry cupboard. All you need to clean your oven naturally is vinegar, baking soda and a good batch of elbow grease.
Remove all the racks and mix some baking soda with water to make a paste and then apply this to the oven and leave it sitting overnight. Take a damp cloth to wipe clean the baking soda and then spray vinegar over any areas where this remains. Wipe clean and add you racks. The guys at thekitchn.com have put together a great guide to cleaning your oven with baking soda and vinegar, and you can check it out here.
6. Clean out your wardrobe
Next up is the bedroom, and your wardrobe. While the closet is often home to many of your best outfits, it can also become a dumping ground for all sorts, and finding an outfit when you need it can become a struggle. If this sounds like your wardrobe, take some time to organise it, getting rid of any clothes or shoes that you no longer need or no longer wear. Start to organise your wardrobe by colour or clothing type to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
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7. Clean your walls
When it comes to dust and soot, it’s more than your floors and work surfaces that take the brunt of this, as vertical surfaces like your walls attract dirt. Use a sponge and some warm water with washing up liquid and wipe clean your walls. Use a broom or mop to reach the higher surfaces and once your wall is wiped clean, consider a fresh coat of paint to give a new vibrant look and feel to your living room for the summer months ahead.
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What are your top spring cleaning tips?
Do you make a point of giving your home a thorough spring clean every year? What are your top tips and areas you really focus on? Let us know by commenting below or sharing your top tips with us on Facebook and Twitter.
