How to Spring Clean with a Spring Cleaning Checklist
Spring is in the air! (Hallelujah.) With the arrival of warmer weather, it’s the perfect time to clean up and clean out. Let in some fresh air, listen to the birds, and freshen up your home with some spring cleaning. You can use my spring cleaning checklist to easily clean your home from top to bottom.
The best spring cleaning plan involves a little decluttering, especially if it has been a while since you’ve decluttered your home.
Take advantage of the fact that you are moving items around to thoroughly clean each area by decluttering before you put items back. It will save you so much time if you can marry your spring cleaning to the regular editing of the items in your home. Efficiency for the win!
A Regular Cleaning Routine
Spring cleaning can seem overwhelming since it involves getting our entire homes in tip-top shape. But, as long as you already have a cleaning routine that works well for you, it won’t take as much time as you might think.
Spring cleaning is about getting those hard-to-clean or hard-to-reach areas that we simply need to do less often. So, if you have been mostly keeping up with your regular house cleaning, spring cleaning is just going to take it to the next level.
For a good spring clean, we focus on the areas that get neglected most of the year. It’s amazing what a little cleaning can do to freshen a home and make it look, feel (and smell!) almost like new.
If you need help with establishing a regular cleaning routine that will seriously simplify your life, be sure to check out the Simplify My Life! Starter Kit. It’s full of tips and resources to help you simplify many areas of your life, including household chores like cleaning and laundry.
Stressed or overwhelmed by all that is on your plate? Get the Simplify My Life! Starter Kit today and start having control over your time and energy again.
How to Spring Clean Your Home
Before you being spring cleaning your home, there are a few things you can do to prepare that will make it go more smoothly.
1. Decide when you will clean
First, decide when you will spring clean your house. Do you have an entire day or weekend you can set aside for this? Or do you need to split up the cleaning tasks across multiple days? Figure out what your schedule will allow and what works best for you.
Use a spring cleaning checklist so that you have a solid plan for what needs to get done. Often times, when we are aimlessly cleaning, we don’t get as much done or we quit altogether! Having a good plan will help you succeed.
(You can download the printable spring cleaning checklist I created below. This cleaning list is specially designed to work well no matter what your schedule!)
2. Buy supplies
You are more likely to start (and keep going) if you have all the supplies you need and ready to go. Look at your spring cleaning checklist to see what needs to get cleaned, and make a list of what you need to buy.
The supplies you need depend on your home and preferences, but here is a good place to start:
- Dusters and/or microfiber cloths
- Cleaning brushes (don’t forget to set aside an old toothbrush!)
- Cleaning chemicals or homemade cleaners
- Disinfectant wipes
- Magic erasers
- Vacuum, broom, and/or mop
- Ladder or step stool
Go out and purchase what you need so you’re ready to get cleaning!
3. Make it more enjoyable
Cleaning isn’t much fun for most of us, so do what you can to make it more enjoyable!
Open the windows, put on some tunes, and light a candle or diffuse essential oils. You could even dance as you clean or watch a favorite show.
(Don’t watch TV or do anything distracting while you spring clean if you have a limited amount of time. You will do a better job and get it done faster if you aren’t multitasking. Learn more about being more productive!)
4. Clean in a pattern
When it comes to cleaning, top to bottom is always best. That way you aren’t getting clean things dirty again as you go along.
Another tip to helping you clean efficiently and not lose track of what you’ve already done is to clean in a pattern such as clockwise around the room or simply left to right. Knowing where you’re going to go before you stop will keep you from wasting time by going over the same areas.
5. Declutter as you clean
As you clean each area on the spring cleaning checklist, you should be taking items out or at least moving them around. That’s why this is the perfect time to reassess what you still need and use! Simply don’t put items back that aren’t serving an important purpose in your life right now.
When you’ve finished cleaning, simply declutter the items that didn’t deserve a place there. Or, if you find items that belong somewhere else, put them away right away.
6. Look closer to clean deeper
Spring cleaning is about giving your home a deeper clean then usual. It doesn’t necessarily involve labor-intensive tasks like scrubbing. Sometimes it just involves looking a little closer.
Look at areas that you normally don’t pay attention to like ceilings, corners, and under your things. These are often the areas that get neglected during our regular cleaning routine. Spring cleaning is the perfect time to look at your home with fresh eyes!
7. Learn new ways to get difficult areas clean
Sometimes we make cleaning harder than we need to by not using the right cleaning products or techniques. A little research on the problem areas in your home can go a long way.
I’m big fan of learning deep cleaning tips and hacks, and these two articles do not disappoint. They are full of amazing tips and tricks for everything you can think of in your home.
Get Your Spring Cleaning Checklist
Having a spring cleaning plan or schedule will help you get the job done. That’s why I love this spring cleaning checklist to help me stay on track, see what I have left, and go at whatever pace works for my schedule.
I’m a big fan of doing a little each day instead of all at once, but you can use this spring cleaning checklist either way. You can use this spring cleaning list as a simple checklist, or you can used it as a challenge to get it done in 30 days.
Get your spring cleaning checklist!
You can spring clean your home a little each day or all at once, but having a plan makes a world of difference. Use my spring cleaning checklist to tackle all of the important areas and track your progress. Happy spring!
Talk soon,
Theresa Bedford is a syndicated freelance home and travel writer with regular contributions to the Associated Press wire and MSN. She helps everyday people love the life they have through simplicity, organization, and prioritization.
Love all your tips here. Springtime is a perfect opportunity to declutter and put order back into our lives.
Thanks! I totally agree.
This inspires me to schedule a family spring cleaning weekend- thanks! Paige Bainbridge (paigebainbridge.com)
That’s great, Paige! Glad you’re getting the whole family involved. 😊
I love these lists, now i just gotta go and do it myself!
Haha, yep!
Amazing post. By reading your post , I think I should clean my room. Though I clean it every week and there is no need but I need to declutter some stuff. Thanks for sharing. Smile
Thanks, Kajal! That’s great…decluttering is just as important as cleaning. Happy decluttering!
I absolutely hate cleaning my blinds because like you said, I always think I’m making it harder. So I always make sure I tackle that project for my spring cleaning task. I did come across this guide for full time working mamas that don’t have the luxury of time on their side when it comes to cleaning: https://www.chicology.com/blog/2018/11/13/busy-peoples-guide-to-natural-wood-and-faux-wood-blinds-maintenance-and-care-faqs-and-more/.
It helped me so I’m hoping the tip will be useful to someone else
Hi, Angela! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 😊 Thanks for sharing the guide your found!