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Its official—spring has arrived and so has the cleaning! For those of us in the northern regions of the world where snow and ice have covered the ground for the last few months, it’s nice to finally see flowers starting to peek out and birds that are beginning to migrate back to the area. It’s time to open up the windows and air out the house, but oh man, after having the house closed up for months the dust accumulation can get pretty heavy even when you dust on a regular basis.
Spring cleaning sounds great, but where do you find the time? We all don’t have hours to spend focusing just on cleaning. Even when you work from home or have other flexible job arrangements a flexible job doesn’t always mean you have a bunch of extra time to do a bunch of cleaning all at once. So, I am going to share some quick tips that I have learned from my previous job as a housekeeper, so that you can tackle your spring cleaning list in a week, even with your busy schedule. Are you ready?
Day 1: Cleaning from the top
Cleaning your house from top to bottom, pun intended in this case, is the best way to get the dust down to a minimum. Start by taking 15 minutes or so to dust all the ceiling fans, door frames, and around the top corners of the ceilings. This will knock down any cobwebs or dust that may have accumulated over the winter. You will notice that this creates more dust around the surfaces of your house for the day but that’s okay; we will get that cleaned up later. It’s important to let the dust settle after the first dusting, so waiting until the next day to do the next phase of dusting is ideal.
Day 2: Dust Surfaces
Now that the dust has settled from Day 1, its time to dust everything that is eye-level to waist-level. This phase may take you longer than 15 minutes, so break it up however you need to in order to fit it into your schedule for the day. Focus on the heaviest areas of dust first, and move on to the lighter areas of the house last. That way if you need to move on, you will have accomplished the bulk of the dust already.
Day 3: Floors and Baseboards
You are now only left with your floors and baseboards. Take your duster around the baseboards of the entire house quickly, and knock the remaining dust to the floor. Take your vacuum and do a quick vacuum of the house. Dusting is now complete!
Day 4: Clear the Clutter
Take this day to do a quick run-through of your house. Chose items to throw away and clear the trash. Then, make a donation box or bag for anything that you no longer use. You can choose to donate the items you have bagged up or you could even opt to have a yard sale if you choose.
The key here is to not spend any extended period of time in one area. Make quick choices of what you don’t want anymore or haven’t used for an extended period of time, such as 6 months. If need be, spend 15 minutes in the morning in one section of the house and another 15 minutes in the evening for the other.
Day 5: Disinfect
With the dusting out of the way and clutter down to a minimum, you can now focus on disinfecting your high traffic areas! Take some cleaning wipes or a rag with disinfecting spray and do a quick wipe down of door handles and any frequently touched surfaces. Winter time is the worst when it comes to the spread of germs, so disinfecting is a great part of spring cleaning.
Day 6: Wash
Take 15 minutes to gather curtains and any other linens that aren’t washed as often as your clothes. Take this day to wash as many of them as you can. Start by putting a load in during the morning and then another in the afternoon.
Day 7: Storage
Take this day for any remaining tasks that you feel need to be done. I find it helpful to store away the winter gear and take out the spring and summer! It truly makes spring feel official when you put away the winter items. So take a few minutes out of this day to store away the winter items and bring out the spring and summer.
This list may not be a full list of everything that needs to be cleaned in your house, but it is a quick way to get the bulk of your spring cleaning done when you are busy and pressed for time. Making quick decisions and not spending an extended period of time in any one area is going to be your key to success in getting it all done.
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