Winter is almost over, and spring is around the corner. It’s time to get ready to spring clean and declutter your home. Use this guide of some of the best spring cleaning tips for a healthy, safe environment.
Importance of Spring Cleaning
Before you start cleaning your home, it is important to understand why you are cleaning. This is not the normal cleaning that you are used to, but an intense cleaning process of your home to ensure that every corner is clean. When people hear about spring cleaning, all that comes to their mind is probably mopping or cleaning the floor and dusting surfaces. However, there is a lot involved in the cleaning process.
Cleaning can improve your respiratory health and allergies. During winter, the chances are high that your house accumulated a lot of moisture that could have led to mold growth. It takes an expert to determine whether your house has mold or not. However, you can do your own inspection to find out whether your house has mold. One of the key indicators is a stuffy house and greenish-black substance growing on surfaces. This mold can result in respiratory infections or worsen the condition of asthmatic patients. A spotless house will improve your respiratory health and allergies, which will keep the family doctor away.
Spring-cleaning will also improve your productivity. Imagine a situation where you want to prepare meals, and your kitchen is untidy. Such a situation might make you feel lazy about cooking. This is just an example of how an untidy house can make you less productive. If you want to feel energized while at home, it is best to ensure every corner of your house is clean.
You also have to organize things around the house. This will ensure that you can easily access anything you want in your house. If your office is filled with papers you no longer use, it can make you less productive. Spring cleaning the office will keep you motivated to work, improving your productivity.
Spring-cleaning also helps decrease stress. When cleaning, organize everything that you might need while at home. For instance, you can organize your wardrobe to make it easy for you to pick out an outfit. If your wardrobe is not organized, you will feel stressed about what to wear. Many areas in the house need organizing to prevent you from going through such stress. Another example is arranging your bathroom to ensure everything you need is accessible. Imagine looking for your Invisalign aligners for hours without finding them. This can be stressful, yet organizing your stuff can help you avoid such stress.
Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen
The best place to start spring cleaning is your kitchen. You spend most of your time in the kitchen, which increases its chances of getting dirty. If you want to clean your kitchen effectively, it is important to set out a day to tackle spring cleaning. Many kitchen areas need to be cleaned. It is not a job that will take you a few minutes or hours.
The easiest place to clean in your kitchen is your countertops. It is even easier if your kitchen has granite counter tops. All you need to clean such an area is a mild soap solution and water to wipe them clean. You can also make your disinfectant at home to ensure that the countertops are free from germs. To make disinfectant, mix one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide with one cup of water in a spray bottle. Just spray it on the countertops and wipe. You can also make a stain removal solution using baking soda or vinegar. Be sure to know what works for your countertops’ material to avoid ruining them with acidic solutions.
Another place you need to clean is your refrigerator. Remove all the items in the fridge to identify any spoiled items that need to be thrown away. Once you have removed everything from the fridge, clean all the removable parts using soapy water. It is important to pay special attention to the grooves to ensure that they are spotless. A brush would make it easy to clean these parts. Once you have cleaned the removable parts and the grooves, wipe the walls. If the fridge still has an odor, you can pop a box of baking soda in the fridge. Organize your fridge so that you will not struggle to reach the items you use daily.
Next, clean your appliances and organize the cabinets and pantry. You will have to take your time in arranging these areas to ensure everything is in the right place. Once you have organized your cabinets and pantry, you will easily prepare meals because you will easily access anything you need.
Spring Cleaning The Bathroom
The bathroom is one area of the house prone to germs and bacteria, which cause infections. Therefore, you need to ensure that the area is spotless. The cleaning process requires you to scrub every part of the bathroom, including the sink, toilet, bathtub, and medicine cabinet. Cleaning the medicine cabinet will require special attention because you will need to sort out all the medication. If you have expired medicine, throw it out. When sorting the medicine, also look for any ortho supplies that need to be replaced.
When cleaning the bathroom, it is important to get rid of any empty toiletries. Declutter all the bathroom cabinets to identify what needs to be thrown out and what needs to be replenished. If you notice any leaking pipes in the bathroom, call a plumber as soon as possible. Such leaks could result in serious damage, so they need to be fixed as soon as you notice them.
Bathroom vanities might seem like a small area, yet it might turn to be the most challenging to clean. The surfaces of your bathroom are prone to get stained from dirt and soap. You will have to scrub the surfaces to remove the stains thoroughly. If you do not want to seek health care services for adults, then your bathroom is one area to focus your cleaning efforts. Given that it is a shared facility, germs can easily be transmitted. However, if you regularly clean and disinfect it, you can be assured that it will not cause infections. Always wear gloves when cleaning the bathroom. If you do not have gloves, you can use hand sanitizers regularly throughout the cleaning process.
Spring Cleaning The Bedroom
The initial step when spring cleaning your bedroom is to do laundry. Remove all the bedsheets and pillows from your bed and clean them thoroughly, depending on their fabric. If you have a mattress cover, it is important to remove it for cleaning to make your bed feel fresh. A substantial number of people tend to forget that the mattress cover needs occasional cleaning. If you have feathery pillows, you should handwash them since machine washing can damage them. Other fabrics such as cotton and nylon can be cleaned using the washing machine.
The next things to clean are the walls and the windows. The walls might have accumulated mold during winter, and if not cleaned, the mold can be a health hazard. The cleaning of the walls will depend on their material. Most walls will only require you to dust them. While dusting the walls, don’t forget to dust your dressers and the side tables. If you have a ceiling fan, it is advisable to wipe it with a damp cloth since it might have harbored dirt during the winter. This dirt could be a health hazard in the warm weather when you decide to run the fan.
Your storage needs a lot of cleaning and organizing. If your clothes are not well organized, you might get frustrated as you look for something to wear. Remove all the items from your closets and dressers and wipe them with a damp cloth and return them in an organized manner. This is also a great opportunity to declutter and donate any clothes you don’t wear.
Your floors will also need a thorough cleaning. It is advisable to move all the items in your bedroom to ensure you clean every corner of the floor. However, your floor might get damaged as you push the heavy items to clean. If such happens, you can call a flooring contractor to make the necessary repairs.
Spring Cleaning Windows, Blinds, and Light Fixtures
Windows tend to accumulate a lot of dirt, especially on the outside. Begin the process by removing your curtains and wash them according to the fabric’s type. Most curtains are made from a material that can be machined washed.
Once you have cleaned the curtains, focus on wiping the windows to ensure they are free from dust and dirt. You can use a soft brush to dust off the dirt. Use a window cleaner or soapy water to remove any grime. Pay attention to the corners because they tend to harbor more dirt than the other parts of the window.
Your light fixtures also harbor a lot of dust. This is one of the items in the house that most people forget to clean. If the fixtures are high up in the ceiling, the chances are high that you will not remember to clean them. Before you clean them, ensure to switch off the light. Remove any removable parts of the light fixtures and clean them thoroughly, depending on the material. Dust the remaining parts of the fixture and fix back the parts you had removed.