The first buds of spring are just a few short weeks away, and it’s time to start planning your annual spring clean. But this essential job is not for the faint-hearted. It’s hard work, and requires some serious planning and commitment.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to lighten the load. Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be quite as difficult — when you have these very handy hacks to fall back on, that is.
1. Clean your dishwasher in a flash
One job many people dread involves the cleaning of a dishwasher. Awkward and inaccessible, the average dishwasher is a real pain to clean. While you’ll always need to remove spray arms and other moving parts to do the job properly, you can save time by using double your usual dose of detergent in an empty. Just select the hottest cycle without plates, and you’ll be amazed with the results.
2. Make your stainless steel appliances sparkle
Stainless steel can look fantastic when it’s smooth and shiny, so make sure you add this job to your spring cleaning checklist. To make things easier — and a lot shinier — clean your stainless steel first, then polish it with a tiny amount of olive oil, applied with a microfibre cloth.
3. Make your carpets smell magical
While there are some very well known carpet treatments on the market, you can use your own and save yourself some money. For example, you can make your carpets and rugs smell wonderful by sprinkling a little cinnamon over them before vacuuming. Just the tiniest amounts can deliver incredible results… but make sure the carpet is clean and dry first.
4. Clean your ceilings safely
Cleaning ceilings and coving is an essential spring cleaning task, but it can be an awkward one. And in some cases, this job is downright dangerous. But you can make things a lot easier for yourself by attaching a towel to the end of a broom — and using it to wipe away dust and cobwebs from hard-to-reach areas.
5. Remove ALL the debris from your carpets
Tiny bits of lint, crumbs, pet hair and fluff can work their way into a carpet and become very difficult to remove — even for a powerful vacuum cleaner. But you don’t need to get on your hands and knees to start picking up debris bit by bit. Put on a slightly dampened pair of rubber gloves, and run your hands over problem areas of carpet. You should notice that debris sticks to your hands like glue.
6. Clean glass in a tick
For all the glass screens, panels and surfaces in your room, a paper coffee filter is the perfect cleaning solution. Whether you’re cleaning a TV screen or a glass coffee table, wipe the filter over the surface to remove dust, grease and dirt.
7. Clean grills with ease
Whether you’re cleaning a worktop grill, an oven grill or a barbecue grill, you’ll probably be dealing with a combination of carbonised food and grease — a potent combination if ever there was one! You can cut through grease and breakdown old food by cutting an onion in half and using the wet side to clean your grill. Before you start scrubbing, however, spray some white vinegar over the worst-affected areas.
8. Clean cooking ranges quickly
Cleaning a cooking range usually takes a huge amount of time and effort. However, you can speed up the process and cut down on cleaning agents at the same time by using a damp tumble dryer cloth to break through dirt and grease.
9. Have spring cleaning parties
Get together with your closest friends and relatives, and agree on a date for each person’s spring cleaning event. When the day arrives, everybody arrives at the home to muck in — saving time and making spring cleaning a social event. Everybody cleans everybody’s house, which is a lot more fun than slaving away on your own.
Spring cleaning is a great way to get your home spick and span in readiness for the warmer months of the year. And while it’s a big job, it doesn’t have to be a painful one.