Many of us go into a hibernation-like state during the cold, dark months and tend to let our cleaning routine fall by the wayside. However, winter is now over, and it’s time to brush away the cobwebs and spruce up your home for the coming year. So, spring into action and make your home sparkle and shine in time for Easter. Here are some tips to make the clean-up less daunting.
Have a Plan
Make a quick plan of how you will progress through the cleaning process. The easiest way is to tackle one room at a time. Start by removing clutter. Designate bags or boxes for different uses – one for stuff to go in the trash, one for things you wish to donate to charity, and one to hold the items you want to keep. Be ruthless and not sentimental when it comes to getting rid of possessions, and plan where you will store the things you do keep.
Take your furniture into account. Decide if you really need the pieces, you have and whether or not they are fit for purpose. Streamlining your whole house can help clear your mind as well as floorspace. Invest in some furniture that offers plenty of storage and looks attractive in your home. Steer clear of furniture with lots of grooves and crevices or intricate carving as dust and grime can gather on them easily.
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Large and Small Areas
Tackle the largest jobs first. After clearing clutter, concentrate on large surfaces such as floors and walls. Dust skirting boards and then hoover or sweep your floors. If you have carpets, hire a carpet cleaning service to freshen them up and remove any stains or lingering odors. Mop hard floors with a quality cleaner that will remove residue and make them shine.
Once you have cleaned flooring, wiped down walls, made your windows sparkle, and dusted the ceilings, you can concentrate on cleaning smaller areas.
Limit Chemicals
The range of cleaning products on the market is vast, but unfortunately, the majority of them are chemical-based. Excessive use of chemicals can cause skin allergies and breathing difficulties in some people, so when you are doing a large spring clean, it is best to limit the number of chemical products you use. Instead, concoct your own cleaning solutions with natural products such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice. White vinegar diluted with water is an effective glass cleaner, and baking soda can replace your cream cleanser as an effective, gentle abrasive cleaning agent. Buy a spray bottle and fill it with your cleaning solutions. Add some essential oils such as lavender or peppermint to your solutions to make your home smell amazing.
Get Technical
If you have the right tools, you can make light work of even the most difficult jobs. There are plenty of gadgets on the market that can help you clean your home to an extremely high standard. Steam cleaners are very useful for a variety of tasks and have become one of the most popular household appliances over the last decade. Steam cleaning has many benefits such as providing an intense clean without using harsh chemicals. As their name suggests, steam cleaners use steam to blast dirt and grime away from surfaces.
Not only are steam cleaners safe for you, your family and your pets, but they are environmentally friendly as no chemicals are disposed of down the drain into our water supplies. The high temperature of steam dissolves dirt more effectively than most chemical cleaners. Steam also kills bacteria, thus making your home hygienic and safe from the spread of viruses.
It will kill pathogens such as Salmonella and E. Coli. If you have pets, steam cleaning is a brilliant way to destroy the smells left behind by them as well as reducing allergens produced by their hairs. Allergens from pollen and dust will also be greatly reduced by steam cleaning your home regularly. This will help protect your family from skin allergies and respiratory conditions such as asthma.
If you have large, carpeted areas or lots of rugs, you may want to invest in a carpet cleaner. Most carpet cleaners will pull up pet hair and dirt and then shampoo and rinse the carpet fibers, leaving them fresh and stain-free.
Window cleaning vacuums have become very popular recently and this is probably because they are easy to use and will leave glass sparkling and streak-free. Theses gadgets are rechargeable so have no awkward cables and are simple to use. Fill up the gadget with water and cleaning solution, spray onto the glass and then hoover it off. These tools are great for stubborn stains on shower panels and will easily reach into corners.
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Keep it Up
Once you have decluttered your home and cleaned it from top to bottom, it will be advantageous to use this time to establish a regular cleaning routine. Creating a cleaning schedule will help you stay on top of things, and you will never be required to perform such an intense, time-consuming clean again. Try to refrain from buying unnecessary goods to prevent a build-up of clutter and adopt the mantra “a place for everything, and everything in its place.”
Be clever with your storage and utilize every available space in your house by filling it with concealed storage. Buy coffee tables, beds, and seating with hidden compartments. Buy decorative boxes and baskets and label them according to their contents. Ensure every family member puts items back in the correct place once they have finished with them.
If you have young kids, teach them to clean and tidy from an early age so it becomes second nature to them. Make tidying and cleaning fun for them by getting them fluffy duster slippers to wear so they can polish your floors as they slide around. Ask them to sort piles of washing into colors or let them have fun splashing and playing with bubbly water as they wash the dishes.
