Spring Cleaning - It’s Time!

Although it doesn't look it, feel like it or smell like it – spring is less than 30 days away! Getting your “spring cleaning” started early might be a great idea, so you have nothing holding you back from the warm air and sun as soon as it arrives!  Check out our Spring Cleaning To-Do list with tips and hints below to help get you started.

• Start on the outside of your rooms and work your way in.  Begin with your walls and baseboards. Some say the best way to tackle this project is to start by vacuuming both your baseboards and walls with a brush attachment.  Then wipe down your baseboards working from the top to bottom using a damp microfiber rag that had been dipped and rung out in warm soapy water.  Wipe the baseboards clean with a dry cloth and then to repel future dust and dirt wipe the clean, dry baseboards with a dryer sheet. 
• Clean your carpets and furniture.  Let’s do our best to keep our cleaning green – keeping chemicals off of your furniture and rugs benefits all.  Make a homemade spot cleaning solution –mix ¼ cup salt, ¼ cup borax and ¼ cup white vinegar.  Apply this paste to any stains or highly soiled areas and leave it for a couple of hours until dry.  Vacuum and then steam clean simply using hot water.  If you feel your carpets need more, steam clean again using 1 cup white vinegar to 2.5 gallons of water (according to apartmentherapy.com) but spend twice as much time using the machine to pull the moisture out of your rugs.
• Wash or wipe down your window treatments.  A lot of fabric treatments can be machine washed or dry cleaned, be sure to check labels.  Wooden, metal and vinyl blinds can all be wiped down with a damp cloth.
• Go through your closets as well as your children’s toys.  Create a donation pile and a dumpster pile – no maybe piles!  Drop those donations off immediately!  Once you have sorted through it all – organize it.
• Defrost the freezer.
• Clean the oven.
• If you have a ceiling fan in your residence or even box or oscillating fans – now is the time to wipe them down.  Get rid of all the dust!  Can this be messy and painstaking? Yes – but you will be glad you did!
• Dust your books and shelves.
• Rotate all of your mattresses – flip them if they are not pillow-top.
• Wash your pillows.  Yes – you can wash them!  According to Good Housekeeping it is best to wash two pillows at a time.  Wash with warm water on the gentle cycle – add an extra cold water rinse and spin.  Tumble dry on low heat but fluff and turn them often throughout the cycle.
• If you want to take Spring Cleaning to the extreme – clean out your computer!  Delete old files and pictures – do the same with your tablet and smartphone.
• While there is all this white stuff on the ground it is a great time to kick off your spring cleaning!  Keep at it and by the time the flowers are sprouting you will feel liberated knowing your home is clean and efficient!