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Your Quick and Dirty Guide to Weekend Spring Cleaning


Spring cleaning can feel overwhelming - where do you start? What to do first? How do you make sure you’ve done it all? Completing annual spring cleaning can help your home feel much cleaner (we hope!), lighter, and ready to welcome the warmer season, and it can be helpful to do a large chunk of it all at once so you don’t have to think about cleaning for weeks to come.

Instead of simply compiling a list of chores, we’ve taken the time to assemble the most common spring cleaning tasks into a list, broken down by time so you can plan out nearly all of your work over one, quick spring cleaning weekend. Of course, all timings are estimates and some tasks might not apply, and as always, more hands make light work. Enlist some help, don your cleaning clothes, and knock it out in a weekend.

Friday Night

Don’t worry about cleaning yet - just make sure you have all the supplies you need. Put your cleaning products and tools (duster/broom/vacuum) in one central location; bring any boxes down from the attic to switch out winter for summer gear.

Saturday Morning

Find a big basket to carry with you while cleaning. Place any clutter or out of place items in the basket to take care of later.

This is a good time to schedule annual HVAC maintenance, as you know you’ll be home and it’ll be done for the season.

Collect any winter items (heavy drapes, heavy linens), and start a load in the washer.

While you’ve got the linens off the beds, rotate the mattresses for even distribution of wear.

Go through your closets. Make two piles: to get rid of, and to put away for the season. Replace winter clothes with the summer clothes from the attic/basement. Add anything that needs to be washed to the queue; remember to keep up with the washer and dryer through the day. Place laundry directly into containers after folding for easy put-away.

Moving into the bathroom, wipe down all surfaces (mirror, sink, tub, toilet). Wear rubber gloves to scrub away dirt and grime.

Go through the make-up and prescriptions, disposing of anything past its expiration date. It may be helpful to make a list of anything that needs replacing.

If need be, reseal the grout between the tiles in your bathroom, and replace any burnt out lightbulbs.

Saturday Afternoon

Use the warm spring afternoon sun to take care of your exterior: first, wash any storm windows and replace them with the screens (wash these if you need to).

Clean out the gutters of winter debris; check for roof and gutter damage.

Take care of any other landscaping maintenance to prepare for Spring, from the garden to wiping down outdoor furniture. Bag the debris from the gutters, along with any other fallen branches or leaves.

If the grass is starting to turn green, apply fertilizer to your lawn.

Sunday Midday

Even if you take time to sleep in or have a Sunday brunch, you can still knock out spring cleaning in one weekend. As early as needed, start your oven’s self cleaning cycle so it has plenty of time to finish before dinner. Don’t forget to keep moving laundry along.

Run any kids’ toys you can through the dishwasher. If you don’t have kids or they’ve outgrown small toys, this is a good time to wash pets’ accessories, too. Once you’re done, use a dishwasher cleaner to clean the machine.

Defrost and clean your fridge and freezer; toss anything from the fridge, freezer, and pantry that’s gone bad.

Clean upholstered furniture with the vacuum (or spot cleaner); wipe down and wax wooden furniture with a wood polish.

Dust any and all surfaces you can, moving items if need be. Don’t forget the walls, ceilings, and the blades of ceiling fans. Collect clutter in the your basket.

After dusting, vacuum, sweep, and mop the entire house. Steamvac your carpet if need be. While the floors are drying, move any closed containers of winter gear to the attic or basement. Think over your home and make a list of priority remodeling projects to tackle.

At this point, your house should be close to sparkling clean, with the exception of your basket of clutter and a pile of things to get rid of. Take the time now to go through the clutter, either putting it where it belongs or adding it to the donate pile. Finally, make a run to your nearest donation center, and enjoy coming home to a clean house!

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