Spring Cleaning - Do It Like the Pros!

Spring Cleaning Basics

Before you start your spring clean, the supplies and equipment you need to clean should be in your cleaning caddy and ready to go. (If you don't have a divided cleaning caddy, a pail or plastic tote with a deal with will do as well.) If you are going to go "green" with cleaning products, there are fullness of internet sites that can give you great ideas to make your own cleaning supplies using everyday kitchen items such as lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda. If you don't have the time or desire to play kitchen chemist, the following are some very good green cleaners available in stores and supermarkets:

True Glass Door Refrigerator

Mrs. Meyers

Trader Joe's

Method

Greening the Cleaning (Deidre Imus)

Seventh Generation

You literally don't need many cleaning supplies to accomplish a standard Spring cleaning - just the right supplies for the job. A customer who was curious out of his home once asked if our cleaning business would like all the cleaning supplies he had boxed up from under his bathroom and kitchen sink and stable - three large plastic bins full! The following items should be in your cleaning caddy (and can be used for your quarterly maintenance also):

Microfiber towels - small and large -for dusting

Paper towels (lint-free Marcal or Seventh Generation) Floor cleaner (spray) Bona Kemi

Glass cleaner

All-purpose spray

An old toothbrush and an unused soft bristle paintbrush

Non-latex gloves

Magic eraser
A spongy kneepad, the type used for gardening, saves your knees when you are cleaning items such as corners of floors and baseboards. A pail is useful for recovery trips to the faucet for warm water to rinse out microfibers and mopheads. And, of course, for your floors, you will need a vacuum and mop, preferably a mop that uses terry cloth covers.

A spring clean is more detailed and more time-consuming than a quarterly housecleaning. Make a written, ordered list of what needs to be done, and by whom. Recruit family members, and give every person a chore or two. A five-year-old can take small area rugs surface to shake outside, and can wipe down the kitchen table and chairs; a-nine-year old can vacuum, clean drip pans and stove grates with warm soapy, water; a twelve-year-old can dampmop floors and wipe down window sills and baseboards.

Pick a room in which to start your Spring Cleaning (the kitchen or bath are good areas to start). Work top to bottom - that means wiping down ceiling fans first (after turning off their power source!) and damp mopping floors last. Work from left to right, cleaning as you go, and keep your cleaning equipment close by, so that you don't waste time going back and forth to get supplies. Outdoor weather permitting, open the windows and air out the house as you are cleaning. Put on music with a curious beat, such as Dance music or Flamenco, to help move you along. Take the phone off the hook, and do not get caught up going over family photos or momentoes while the cleaning - incorporate on your Spring Cleaning project.

Use old white cotton (dampened) socks on your hands to wipe clean baseboards, blinds, air intake ducts, and louvered doors. Use an (unused!) paintbrush to take off dust from small delicate items, crevices on wood furniture, and lampshades. Mr. Clean erasers are great to take off fingermarks from door frames, grease from kitchen areas including range hoods, discoloration on refrigerator handles, soap scum from tubs and showers. Furniture should have felt pads under the feet so the furniture can be moved, and cleaned nearby and under.

Take down any items on the top of your cabinets, dining room hutch, shelving, and wipe clean with a dampened microfiber. Wipe off the tops of all windows and doors, where dust often accumulates. Wipe down the interior of cabinets and cabinet doors with dampened microfiber towels, especially in the kitchen and bath. Butcher block food surfaces - countertops and cutting blocks - can be sanded, wiped clean with a tack cloth and wiped down with food grade mineral oil to reseal (this should be done once a year). Clean the interior of your refrigerator using warm, soapy water, then dry all surfaces before restocking food. Clean out the interior of garbage cans using dish detergent and warm water and a parasite (when you're done, throw a fabric softener sheet in the bottom to fight odors). If you haven't already done so, this is a good time to change the batteries in your home smoke detectors, too.

If your agenda doesn't allow for Spring Cleaning all at one time, conduct the cleaning room by room over a duration of days or weekends, or hire a reputable cleaning business with to work with you or to take on the whole project. When your Spring cleaning is completed, you and your family will have the satisfaction of enjoying a home that looks and smells organized, fresh, and clean. And with a itsybitsy daily elbow grease and clutter control, you can keep it that way year round.

Spring Cleaning - Do It Like the Pros!

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