Easy Spring Cleaning Tips for a Sparkling Home
Now is when people start to get the urge to do some serious spring cleaning — or even not-so-serious spring cleaning — of their homes in Quinton VA. Trees are starting to blossom, there’s more color showing up in gardens, and temperatures aren’t quite as frigid. So if you’re thinking of doing some spring cleaning, open up those windows, maybe wear one of your masks if it’s been a while since you dusted, and follow these easy tips for making your home sparkle for spring.
Cleaning your whole home can be daunting, so try to tackle it room by room or even just do one tough task at a time to make it more manageable. Then, once everything is done, you can try to follow a regular cleaning schedule to help you maintain your home so tasks don’t build up.
When it comes to indoor floor mats and rugs, wash the ones you can, and double vacuum the others. Double vacuuming means turning your rug or doormat over and vacuuming the underside. That helps pick some dirt up and helps more move to the top so when you flip it and vacuum again, you get more dirt up. Don’t forget your outside door mats. Make sure you hose them down well and let them dry fully in the sun.
Now is the time to tackle windows. In some cases, it may be easier and safer to hire someone to clean the outside windows, but if you have ground-floor windows, you can start by dusting/vacuuming/washing any blinds, shades and drapes and then — preferably on an overcast day — use glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth to clean your windows. Overcast days help prevent streaking.
In the kitchen, put some lemons to work. Cut a lemon in half and use it, along with some salt, to scrub out any stains that may be sticking around on your cutting board. Then, if you have a garbage disposal that has an unpleasant funk, take some of those lemon rinds, cut into slivers and run them through the disposal and then follow with cold water. That should help freshen things up.
Hopefully your oven has a self-cleaning option, but if it doesn’t, put a hot, wet cloth over any baked-in spills on the bottom. Let it sit for a little while to help soften and then use an appropriate oven scrubber or create a paste of baking soda and vinegar and start scrubbing with a heavy-duty scrub pad until it’s gone or your arms give out. Then rinse and wipe dry.
Even if you run your stovetop hood when cooking, inevitably a layer of grease seems to build up on counters, cabinets and walls. Look for specifica cleaners, such as creams that are made to cut through the dirt without damaging the wood of your cabinets.
In the bathroom, now is the time to go through cabinets and closets and get rid of anything past its date or that has one too many holes or thin patches. Now is also a good time to clean your shower curtains. Put them in the wash on a gentle cycle with some bath towels and then hang them back up and let them air dry. While the curtains are washing, it’s time to start cleaning the grout. Get special grout cleaners that can truly clean without damaging, and get a designated grout scrub brush for best effectiveness. This is one of those jobs where you just have to put the elbow grease in or give each family member a section to do.
Curtains inevitably gather dust and the best way to clean them is simply to toss them in the dryer on the air-only setting for about 15 minutes and then rehang immediately to avoid creases. The dust and dirt will be tumbled away and they’ll be fluffier and full of new life.
Finally, it’s time for your mattress. Ideally, you should vacuum it every time you change your sheets. That helps control all the dust and dead skin that inevitably builds up. Periodically, use some of your vacuum’s tools to really get into any crevices, then spray the mattress with a disinfectant spray. You may also want to iron or use a steamer on the mattress to help kill any dust mites near the surface and then vacuum the mattress.
These are some of the parts of your homes in Quinton VA that don’t always get regular cleaning, so make an effort to hit those spots, along with vacuuming under and behind sofas and beds, to get your home looking and smelling fresher and cleaner. Obviously, there’s always more that can be done, but these are some easy tips to tackle more difficult tasks or those ones you just don’t think about that often. With the whole family pitching in, your home will easily be ready for spring.
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