Thinking about how to spring clean your home and getting overwhelmed? We’re sharing some of our best time-saving and cost-effective pointers to help you freshen up your home after the gloomy winter months. Follow these 10 spring cleaning tips and tricks to refresh your home and get organized this season.
Essential Spring Cleaning Supplies
In order to tackle this list, you might think you’ll be making a trip to your local Target to grab a bunch of new cleaning supplies. You’ll be surprised to see most of what’s required, you probably already have on hand.
Besides some food waste (nothing too weird, just some old coffee grounds and citrus peels), you’ll also need:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Microfiber cloths
- Dish soap
- Foam carpet cleaner
- An old toothbrush
- Melamine foam sponge
- Dryer sheets
10 Spring Cleaning Tips for a Fresh Start
1. Empty Your Refrigerator
First stop on the spring cleaning list is to clean out the fridge. There’s no time like the present to get rid of expired food and condiments, wipe down your refrigerator shelves and clean the drawers. Remove the bins to clean them in warm, soapy water, and let them dry before placing back in the fridge.
You’ve probably heard of deodorizing the fridge using baking soda before, but did you know your morning coffee can save the day in another way? If baking soda isn’t doing the trick to deodorize your fridge, coffee also effectively absorbs bad scents. Spread freshly ground coffee evenly on a plate and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours for a quick, inexpensive fix for old food smells.
2. Freshen Up Your Garbage Disposal
It’s easier than you’d think to clean your garbage disposal. First, run a few ice cubes through to sharpen and clean the impellers. Then, add a few lemon or orange peels in while the disposal is running to remove odors and start fresh with a mild citrus scent.
This is a natural way to cleanse your garbage disposal, and a great way to use citrus peels when you’re done with them.
3. Remove Drain Clogs
Clean your shower drains with this inexpensive DIY spring cleaning tip. Mix ½ cup of baking soda with ¼ cup of table salt and pour it down the drain, immediately followed by 1 cup of warm vinegar, which will foam with the mixture. After 15 minutes, run hot water down the drain for 30 seconds.
Noticing water is going down the drain slower than usual? TidyMom shares an easy, natural remedy to unclogging drains with vinegar and baking soda, so you can nip any drain clogs in the bud.
4. Replace Your Cleaning Supplies
This may sound like an oxymoron, but if you clean your house with dirty supplies, how clean can it really get? Replace any rags, brushes or sponges you’ve used regularly over the last few months. These items should be cleaned after each use, and to prevent bacteria, it’s best to replace them once they get worn.
Spring cleaning is also the perfect time to give your most-used appliances and cleaning tools a thorough scrubbing.
How to Spring Clean Your Vacuum
Make sure your vacuum is unplugged before you start cleaning it. Then, empty the bag or dust compartment and use a damp cloth with mild detergent to wipe down the casing, hoses and all attachments. Using scissors or a seam ripper, you can easily remove hair and other fibers stuck on the beater bar and bristles to clean the vacuum’s brush.
How to Spring Clean Your Washer and Dryer
To clean your washer and dryer, wipe down the outside of the machines with a damp microfiber cloth and some mild dishwashing liquid. Then, rinse with a little bit of water and wipe dry. Wipe down the inside of your washing machine with a damp cloth to remove lint and detergent residue. Make sure to fully empty or vacuum out your dryer vent to remove any lingering lint and prevent a potential fire hazard.
5. Get Streak-Free Windows
One of our favorite spring cleaning tips is to wash your windows on a cloudy day, using a microfiber cloth. Since cleaners like Windex dry more quickly on warm windows, washing them in direct sunlight can cause streaks, as can wiping down your windows with paper towels.
Use your vacuum’s upholstery attachment to remove dust and clean window treatments. You can put most curtains in the dryer on low with a fabric softener sheet for a deeper refresh.
While you’re cleaning the windows, make sure to dust your blinds. Jenny Silverstone of Mom Loves Best shares, “So many blinds can be a pain to clean. I’ve found an easy way to do it, though. I grab an old sock – there always seems to be one I can’t find a match for – and make a 50-50 mixture of water and white vinegar. It grabs onto that dust and the sock is heavy duty enough for the job.”
Another tip for cleaning your blinds shows that keyboard cleaner isn’t only useful in the office. Use a can of keyboard cleaner to quickly clear dust and dirt off your blinds, and vacuum the room when you’re done.
6. Spruce Up Your Bedding
Nothing says “spring cleaning” like fresh linens. Now is the time to flip your mattress, wash your pillows and air out your comforters.
We recommend washing your pillows with ½ cup of baking soda added to your detergent in the washing machine. To fluff and extend the life of your pillows, use your dryer’s air cycle and run a load with two tennis balls in socks.
Take your comforter and blankets outside to shake them out, and run them through the air cycle of your dryer with a fabric softener sheet for extra freshness.
This is a great opportunity to flip your mattress as well, which you should do every six months. Ready to start fresh with a new bed altogether? Here’s how to tell if it’s time replace your mattress.
7. Clean Carpets and Tile at the Same Time
Your carpets and tile flooring take a beating throughout the winter, and this spring cleaning trick lets you clean both with a single product. While you’re freshening the carpeting with a foam carpet cleaner, like Resolve, you can also use it to clean your tile grout.
Spray the carpet foam around the edges of each tile, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, scrub the cleaner off with a scrub brush or old toothbrush. As you scrub, have a rag handy to wipe up the dirt that’s released from the cracks.
8. Use Dryer Sheets to Tackle Dust and Residue
Your home gets dustier than you might think over the winter, but it can be hard to tell how much has accumulated when sunshine isn’t flooding in your windows every day. Luckily, there’s a simple way to tidy up with something you likely already have sitting around.
Use dryer sheets to dust items like electronics, lamp shades and appliances. The sheets have anti-static properties that will prevent dust from settling back onto the screens or stainless steel.
Dryer sheets can also be used to scrub soap scum off your shower doors, clean food residue off pots and pans, clean your blinds, pick up pet hair from your couch and more.
9. Clean Scuffs, Marks and More Around the House
House cleaners rejoice – Mr. Clean saves the day yet again. Armed with a Magic Eraser or a melamine foam sponge, you can tackle everything from marks to mildew across the rooms in your home.
Put on some cleaning gloves and use a Magic Eraser to erase scuffs from walls, clean cabinets, eliminate soap scum and remove mildew from shower curtain liners. These sponges make a quick visible improvement, so you’ll save time as you get your baseboards sparkling clean.
10. Eliminate Hard Water Without Being Harsh
If you have hard water build-up around your faucets, sink sprayer, shower head or refrigerator water tray, we have a natural spring cleaning tip to remove it with ease (and without chemicals).
Fill a spray bottle with distilled white vinegar, saturate the area you’re cleaning, and let it sit for 20 minutes. The easiest way to clean your faucets is to wrap vinegar-soaked paper towels around the handles. Then, use an old toothbrush to scrub the hard water right off.
11. What about the Hot Water Heater?
As a homeowner, do you like to save money? If you said “yes”, and really who doesn’t like to… another question to ask is “have you flushed your water heater recently?”. If you haven’t don’t worry, thousands of people do not. Flushing your water heater is not something much people give thought to, but many do not realize the cost benefits of doing so.
Flushing will save you money on energy costs. Also, the build up of sediment in the form of minerals (calcium, rust, dirt, iron and sand) displaces the amount of hot water, so you have less available. If you have an older water heater tank bacteria can also grow and can cause the rotten egg smell of sulfur.
Flushing your water heater yearly can also help the unit to last longer. You will be able to detect any visible signs of rust and possibly heed a flood in your home.
While you are doing your spring cleaning it is a great time to either perform this maintenance or higher a professional.
