Spring is the perfect time to freshen up your home and give it a good deep clean. With these easy spring cleaning tips and tricks, you’ll have your home looking and smelling its best in no time!
Make a Cleaning Plan
Before you start spring cleaning, make sure to plan out what needs to be done. Decide which tasks need to be completed and in what order. Take care as too much thinking and not enough doing will scupper your chances.
Prioritise tasks so that you can focus on what’s most important job to tackle first. This way, you won’t waste time deciding what to do next and have a clear direction on where to start!
Maybe do the worse room first or do the smelly jobs first such as empty the bins and clear out the fridge etc. Doing the least favourite jobs first get’s them out of the way and everything else is easier.
The Air of Freshness
Having the windows open allows a freshness into the house taking away the staleness that sets in during winter months. Doing this every day helps keep that aired well ventilated quality year round. It’s good to air you home every day even in the winter months even just for 10 minutes.
Personally I like the windows open as I work, housework seems easier with air and fresh smells.
Your sense of smell tells you so much, you can smell if somewhere is stale, if it’s damp if a dog lives there! Getting rid of pungent pongs doesn’t mean masking them with artificial aerosols. Identifying what has caused the bad smell this helps you eradicate it rather than hide it.
9 of the common causes of bed smells in the home and the solutions.
1 The Fridge
We’ve all had leftovers that linger much too long in the fridge, we should throw away anything passed it’s best before putting fresh food away. Do a cull, remove all the shelves and storage you can and wash in warm soapy water.
In most fridges there’s a little drainage hole at the back that can get full of nasty bits. Clear this out, manufactures normally supply a little tool for this but if lost use a tooth pick, taking care not to drop it into the hole. Wash down the inside of the fridge with water, you can use a little drop of washing up liquid but not chemicals or bleach. Choose food safe cleaners, or try natural ones such as vinegar and bicarb work well.
2 The Washing Machine
Each machine will have instructions how to clear filters and drains so follow the advise for your model. Often around the seal get’s a build up of muck and if the door is closed all the time this can start to smell. Ensure you clean around the rim to get rid of any debris.
Sometimes the machine smells stale if something was washed and left in the drum, re wash it this often is enough to stop that bad odour.
3 The Dog Bed
Yes pets can pong, litter trays and pet beds. Keeping the littler tray fresh is an ongoing task empty it as soon as possible this will stop the smell lingering all day. Soft furnishings including dog beds and blankets can start to absorb the odours trapping them in. If they can be laundered do that, if not a spritz with few essential oils drops water mixed is a great idea. Not all essential oils are suitable for pets so check with the vet for pet safe oils.
4 The Bin
The food caddies, whilst required end up getting crammed and the lid get squished down on the yucky stuff. Ensure when you empty the bin you wash it and allow it to dry before replacing any (biodegradable or compostable) liners.
5 Kids Bedrooms
When they’re young, you can control the cleanliness of the kid’s bedrooms. As soon as they start to get independant, things can go a little awry.
And when they get to teenage years? The joy of discovering mouldy food under the bed. The collections of plates, mugs and glasses sit festering instead of waiting in their cleanliness in the kitchen cupboards.
Storage, no matter how young or old they are is key. The larger the better, so that they can basketball-dunk their clothes and toys away.
Room sprays are the best solution for keeping kids rooms fresh. Pillow sprays are also a great way to invigorate the bedding for a mid-week refresh.
6 Laundry Basket
Tall order but try to keep on top of the washing as all the smells start to mingle, especially with wet or damp items. It will cause mould on clothes so wash as soon as you have a full load.
7 Shoe Cupboards
Oh boy, shoes can harbour pongs and when there’s a whole collection together it’s not going to be a sweet symphony. Air the shoe cupboard open the doors and windows and let the outside in. Spraying the inside with dry shampoo can help deodorise too. If you have teenagers who won’t take that pair of trainers off this life hack will serve you well.
8 Plug Holes
Smelly plug holes highlight problems such as blockages, if you can clear these and see if the smell goes after running some boiling water to flush things out. Perhaps use sink and plug hole un blockers, or bleach but there are some natural cleaning solutions too!
9 Shower Rooms
Daily shower spray helps keep the showers looking and smelling fresh. They keep mould and mildew at bay. The most common reason for smells occur as the room stays damp. Ventilation is key, open windows and use extractors to get the moisture out.
So don’t just mask smells, it’s best to deal with them, regularly and then layer in a nice smell. Avoid pungent artificial aerosol sprays they are often too harsh, people think you are covering up a bad smell.
Lovely scents are great to have in the home, there’s much more pleasant ways of bringing scent to the room other than an aerosols. Reed diffusers or scented candles, often subtly and long-lasting fragrance.
Focus on the Problem Areas First
As we’ve said Identify the problem areas in your home that need the most attention and focus on those before anything else. Areas like bathrooms and kitchens can harbour germs and these build up quickly so make sure these are your priority when spring cleaning. You’ll be able to see the most results in these areas if you spend time focusing specifically on them. Most other rooms are a breeze to clean once the big jobs are out of the way.
Everything Has a Place
Tidy everything away to its proper place that way you can get all the surfaces clean. Clutter around the house prevents proper cleaning. Most commonly it’s a lack of storage that causes mess, if everything has a place you can set to cleaning rather than wasting to muck time simply tidying away things. Invest in baskets and storage units, edit down your cupboards and get rid of things that do not serve a purpose for you. If you don’t use it or love it, get rid.
Gather All Your Cleaning Supplies
Before you begin your spring cleaning, make sure to have all the right supplies on hand. Get your mop, broom, rags and various cleaning solutions ready to go. You don’t want to be stopping and starting it just wastes time. If your anything like me that’s the only excuse I need to quit cleaning.
Use Natural Alternatives to Chemical Cleaners
Chemical cleaners may have their place, but it’s often unnecessary to rely on them. Instead, try out natural alternatives like baking soda, vinegar, or lemon and water. Not only are these cleaner they are often cheaper more reliable. It’s less of a chemical smell. Natural is subtle and fresh allowing you to choose the room fragrance you want in scent form to be the star aroma.
Top Down Cleaning
Many of us start by vacuuming, i’d suggest it’s better to start at the top of the room and work down to the floors last. Get rid of the spiders webs, they normally appear around the ceiling and in corners but also tops of doors and windows.
Dusty light fittings, and the light bulbs, replace any that don’t work. It’s not a good idea to wash lights as you could get an electric shock. If you do have to wash glass shades remove them from the fitting to do so. Do not put them back onto the light until they are perfectly dry.
Sponge away marks on the walls. Whilst you do this clean tops of pictures and mirrors.
Clean the Windows and window sills as you go, one room at a time is easier than every window. If funds allow hire a window cleaner to do inside and out.
Clean hard surfaces, not forgetting skirting boards.
Working your way down means you’re not hoovering and then brushing debris onto it again later.
The Boost Your Motivation.
When it comes to scents such as candles and differs – natural again is best. Opt for essential oils. There are mood enhancing candles and diffusers, i’d recommend if house work seems a bit of a buzz kill to you, the ingredients lift your mood. Who knows that may be the boost you need to keep on, keeping on.
Reap The Rewards
If you’re not a fan of housework perhaps aim to treat yourself at the end of the day. A soothing bath can be enhanced with lavender scented candles, a worthy reward for all your hard work and lavender helps you to sleep well. It’s also great to giving yourself positive feelings after you’ve had a success, we all want to do things that make us happy and if housework is associated with a treat who knows you may develop a love of it.
The quick cheats guide to getting your home ready lickety spit.