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.
Speaking of old food smells…
One of the tips my mom taught me that I can’t live without is to run a cup or two of white vinegar in your empty dishwasher every couple of weeks to prevent it from smelling. This is particularly helpful if you aren’t great at rinsing your dishes before loading them into the dishwasher.
Jenny Silverstone | Mom Loves Best
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.
Check out this deep cleaning checklist for more tips to tackle messes in every room in your home.
Pace yourself, and focus on one room at a time. You’ve finally crawled out of hibernation and want to start spring cleaning, but if you bite off more than you can chew, you’ll run out of steam and give up before completing the project.
Janet Bernstein | The Organizing Professionals
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.
Additional Spring Cleaning and Decluttering Ideas
Decluttering your house and removing unwanted items is an essential part of spring cleaning. We’ve assembled a few more guidelines to help get your home organized (and keep it that way year-round).
Organize As You Go
While you spring clean your home, you should try to get organized as you go. As you come across items you won’t need for the spring and summer months, divide them into three categories: throw away, give away and put away. Keep track of this system, and organize items into their respective bins as you clean each room.
My number one tip for staying organized is to take 15 minutes every evening after the kids go to bed to power clean. Also, I’ve gotten better at asking for help. Your partner, if you have one, should be shouldering their fair share of the chores. Some people feel bad about asking for help, but the truth is they shouldn’t have to ask at all. Keeping up a clean house is everyone’s responsibility!
Jenny Silverstone | Mom Loves Best
Declutter Your Closet and Transition Your Seasonal Wardrobe
Regardless of what Mother Nature is up to outside, spring cleaning is the perfect time for decluttering your closet and dresser. If you’re swapping out seasonal items, before putting clothing and accessories away for the year, evaluate if you truly want to keep an item or if you should donate or sell it.
Another great spring cleaning idea is to try folding and stacking your clothes vertically to save space and neatly see all your clothing options as you’re cleaning out and reorganizing your dresser drawers.
Clear Out the Nooks and Crannies
Sort through the random areas in your home that accumulate a mess, such as your home office, junk drawer or magazine basket and get rid of stuff you don’t need. Throw away old magazines, mail, expired coupons and receipts that have piled up. You’ll be surprised to see how much room these items are taking up and how much easier it is to find what you do need with all of the junk gone.
The best tip we have for spring cleaning is to declutter before you start to clean. Go through everything in that room or space and determine to keep, throw out or donate the items. When you are finished, find a home for the items that you have decided to keep.
Rebecca Nocheck | Organized Living
Purge Unnecessary Objects
Our motto for spring cleaning is, “out with the old, and in with the new.” Now is the time to assess what items you no longer have use for and clean out larger items that are causing clutter. For a deeper dive on thoroughly decluttering your home, check out our room-by-room guide.
If you’re ready to get rid of that old couch sitting in your basement or finally part with the old fridge in your garage, we can help.
You’ll feel rejuvenated after this final stage of spring cleaning and can truly start fresh in your main living areas.
Spring into More Warm-Weather Projects
Armed with these efficient, simple tips, you should feel confident about how to spring clean your home this year. If you’re ready to take your spring cleaning and organizing projects even further, check out these additional resources:
