Cleaning Your Home for the Spring
By Sarah Aguirre, About.com Guide
The flowers are blooming, the birds are serenading, and our house still feels like it is stuck with winter blues. Spring cleaning is a tradition that allows us to freshen up our homes and get a head start on the hectic seasons of spring and summer. What do you need help spring cleaning?
Here are the top chores that need to be done this spring.
When warmer spring weather arrives, it's time to pack away sweaters, coats, and other cold weather clothing. Storing seasonal clothing is easy to do safely if you follow a few simple rules. Making sure that the storage containers and areas follow the rules of clean, cool, dark, and dry will keep clothing in good shape for next winter.
We expect our appliances to perform whenever we need them, but sometimes their care can be neglected. Each spring take the time to inspect your major appliances for wear and tear. The coils of the refrigerator should be vacuumed, and the drain pan should be cleaned out. Accumulated lint needs to be cleaned from the dryer vents. Clean out accumulated gunk from you oven and refrigerator. Clean dishwashers, disposals, and washing machines. Heating and cooling units need maintenance as well.
Spring is the perfect time to remove clutter and excess from the home. Try the 4 container clutter method to help figure out items that need to be kept, sold, given away, or trashed. If paper clutter is one of your problems, find out how to reduce paper piles around the home.
It may be a little daunting, but chances are your garage could use some attention this spring. Whether you need to organize a garage cleanup day or just need to remove a few items to be used in a garage sale, it makes sense to pay a little attention to your garage this spring. Try some new organizational tools or techniques to store sports equipment, Christmas decorations, or whatever your family hides in your garage space.
Spring is a great time to get the outdoors ready for entertaining. Clean the patio and outdoor furniture. Do some basic landscaping repairs on the lawn, shrubbery, and plants. The exterior doors and windows of the home may need some attention. Check for fence and exterior repairs. Lawn maintenance or pest prevention may need to be performed as well. With a little effort this spring, outdoor areas will be ready to entertain throughout the summer.
Spring is a great time to inspect and clean window treatments. Whether you need to wash blinds, send drapes to the dry cleaners, or throw washable curtains into the washing machine, getting your window treatments clean after a long winter can brighten an entire room. Be sure to dust down the window casing, wash window sills, and clean any window hardware while you are at it.
Even with mattress covers, and all of our bedding, mattresses occasionally need to be inspected and cleaned, and in some cases flipped. Use this time to inspect your mattress pads, pillow covers, and all bedding for needed replacement or repairs.
