The Best Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring has snuck up on us this year, and those dust bunnies that have been growing all winter are at their fluffiest.

Every spring we get out our yellow gloves and bottles of cleaners that promise a fresher, brighter home. It’s our annual spring cleaning ritual.

But with busy lives and longer, warmer days, it’s hard to want to spend time indoors giving our homes the makeover they deserve. With the guidance of these best spring cleaning tips, we can give ourselves the clean home we crave under half the time it took us last season.

Create a Plan of Attack

Sporadically cleaning rooms around the house, never fully finishing the job, leaves some spaces uncleaned while others are cleaned twice because we can’t remember if we had done it already.

There are two ways you can approach your interior spring cleaning: by room or by task. Either way, you should create a list so you don’t leave certain spaces uncleaned while doubling up on others.

If you choose to work your way through the house room by room, make a list of each of those rooms and what needs to be done. Create a logical order for completing each task.

For example, you don’t want to wipe off the kitchen counters after you’ve swept, as crumbs will more than likely find their way to the floor. Wipe the kitchen counters first to eliminate extra work for yourself.

To organize by task, create a list of tasks for each room in the house. You don’t need to vacuum the bathroom, and you don’t need to sweep your carpeted bedroom.

Determine the order in which it makes sense to complete the tasks. For instance, dust the shelves in your living room before you vacuum. You can vacuum the carpets and furniture at the same time.

Use this thorough spring cleaning checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Enlist Help

Who said spring cleaning has to be a one-person job?

Get the kids and other family members in on the spring cleaning mission to tackle the undertaking with relative ease.

Cleaning helps instill responsibility and independence in children, and can be a great motivator for a fun reward at the end of the day. Instead of spending the entire day picking up after the kids, the whole family can clean in the morning and treat themselves to a bike ride or picnic that same afternoon.

If your request for help is met with groans or eye rolls, incentivize the task or turn it into a game. There plenty of ways to get creative with cleaning. Here are a few ideas to get started:

• Go ice skating indoors — Put cloths under your feet to help wipe and dust wood, tile or laminate floors.

• Play laundry basketball — Take turns throwing laundry into the basket across the room. Play HORSE; the winner gets to skip out on helping fold the clean clothes!

• Make a spring cleaning board game — After completing assigned cleaning tasks, fill in a color on a homemade game board. Make sure each job is done right; not just quickly!

Multitask

Some spring cleaning chores require full attention, but others allow you to double the work in half the time.

If your laundry is running, clean the windows while you wait. When you’re waiting for the dishwasher to finish, start scrubbing the shower. This will help you finish your list and enjoy your freshly cleaned home more quickly.

Make Purging Your Friend

It can be difficult to know where to begin when it comes to decluttering. Between sentimental value, a hefty price tag or that nagging feeling that you’ll someday use it again, there are endless excuses to keep a house cluttered. But too many possessions can leave us feeling cluttered and unfocused in our homes.

If an item doesn’t truly add value to your life, it’s a good indication that it’s time to get rid of it. When it comes to clothing, if you haven’t worn it in the past six months, find a new home for it.