Spring cleaning is a tradition that allows us to freshen up our homes and get a head start on the upcoming seasons. Plus, cleaning is proven to relieve stress and have a positive effect on our mental health too. And let’s be honest, what better feeling is there than having a freshly cleaned home?
Below is a checklist to help you plan your spring-cleaning long weekend. So, put on your rubber gloves, play your favourite upbeat music and let’s get started..
Friday 15th April
Store your winter wardrobe and prepare your warmer weather clothes
As the weather starts to pick up, now is the perfect time to store your winter wardrobe and take your summery clothes out of hibernation. As you’ll probably have a few laundry loads to get through, it might be a nice idea to throw a Colour Catcher in with each wash. These laundry sheets catch excess clothes dyes and allow you to wash mixed white and colour loads together while saving time, energy and water by reducing the number of cycles.
Rotate your mattress and give your bedding some love
Memory foam, latex and newer spring mattresses should be rotated once or twice a year (and older spring mattresses closer to five times) to reduce the wear and tear that comes with sleeping in the same position. Regularly rotated mattresses can, in fact, outlast non-rotated ones by over a year!
This is also the perfect opportunity to wash all your bedding, especially the items which sometimes receive a little less love, like under sheets and mattress protectors. Consider reviving your faded bedding with Dylon Dyes machine pods to reinvigorate the colour and make it look brand new.
Dust… dust everywhere!
You’ve hopefully kept up with dusting over the winter months, but as the glorious spring sunshine starts shining through our windows, all the dusty places you’ve missed in the darker months will be revealed. Windowsills, light fixtures, power outlets, keyboards and games controllers can get particularly dusty and grimy, so have a hunt for all those nooks and crannies that you may have skipped over before.
With so much dusting to be done, you might like to try saving a few pennies by using a natural home remedy. 1 cup of water, ¼ cup white vinegar, 2 tsp olive oil and 10-15 drops of essential oil mixed together and poured into an old, cleaned-out spray bottle will work wonders!
Saturday 16th April
Clean and defrost the fridge and freezer
It’s important to keep your fridge clean and germ-free to avoid any risks of food poisoning, and spring-cleaning will be essential for keeping food fresh and your fridge free from bad odours. Remove all the food, take out the trays and clean them separately, then clean the inside of the fridge thoroughly with a warm cloth soaked in disinfectant. Return trays to the fridge and make sure all surfaces are dry and free from soap residue before replacing the food.
This is the perfect time to defrost your freezer too! It’s as simple as turning it off and leaving the door open, putting down towels to soak up all the melted ice. The only difficult bit of prep is figuring out where to keep your frozen food during the process, which can take several hours depending on how iced up your freezer is.
Give some TLC to your small appliances
Did you know that Brits spend a huge amount of money replacing broken appliances, which can often be salvaged by descaling them? These hard, chalky deposits of calcium often impact our kettles and pipes as they’re in constant contact with hard, tap water.
There are several cheap and easy ways to remove limescale and extend the lives of appliances. Oust Descaler can be used in your kettle, iron, showerhead, coffee machine, washing machine, dishwasher, pipes and more! This quick fix will save you money in the long run by avoiding the need to replace small appliances regularly.
Clean patio/garden furniture in preparation for spending more time outside
With all this time sprucing up the indoors, now would be a great time to get outdoors and give your garden some attention. The weather hasn’t been too kind and we may not have spent as much time tending to our gardens as we should have. If your outdoor space has become a little disorderly, start by freshening up the patios, decking and furniture.
British heritage brand Jeyes Fluid has been cleaning our outdoor areas for over 140 years and just recently updated its classic tin packaging to a more sustainable and recyclable plastic container. Try it on your paths, patios greenhouses, driveways, drains, plant pots and pet housing – it even fights limescale and rust.
Sunday 17th April
Toilet time
Our toilets no longer need to be an area of embarrassment when we have houseguests. There are many products now with wonderful scents that can make our bathroom aroma rival that of any five-star hotel. Bring a little luxury to your toilet by adding a Bloo Brilliant Gel rim block to the toilet. It will clean the bowl with every flush, prevent new grime from sticking, and has fragrances inspired by Dior’s Dolce Vita and Chloe’s Eau de Parfum.
For today’s spring clean, you’ll still want to get in there with some good toilet bleach, a sturdy brush and a good helping of elbow grease. Put on some tunes for positive vibes and make sure to keep the room ventilated while using strong solvents like bleach.
Tackle the bath and shower
While you’re in the bathroom, use the leftover elbow grease to give the bath and shower a good scrub. Keep the playlist going and turn your attention to any black mould that may have spread thanks to those long, hot showers over the winter months. There are plenty of good de-moulding sprays that can help you. Otherwise opt for a home remedy by mixing a quarter teaspoon of baking soda with two cups of water. Then, use a spray bottle to spread it over the unsightly mould. Let it soak for a while and then use a thick cloth to remove it.
After de-moulding, cleaning the rest of the bath or shower will be a breeze. There are load of great bathroom disinfectants on the market.
Monday 18th April
And finally, the most important task…
Take a step back, look at your beautiful, clean home and take in the fresh fragrances. Make yourself a nice warm cuppa, put your feet up and congratulate yourself on a job well done. You deserve it.
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