Ten tips for the quickest spring clean ever

Spring is in the air. Even though it’s still pretty cold outside, there is the promise of better days ahead. And this sense of change makes many of us want to start refreshing our homes.

But the thought of spring cleaning can be very daunting. Once you start deep cleaning, who knows what you might find?! And also, do you really want to spend all your precious free time cleaning your home?

We hear you! So in this article we share ten tips that will help you get your home ready for spring in the shortest time possible. Our ten tips for the quickest spring clean ever.

Tip 1 : Make a plan

Making a plan is one of the main secrets of getting spring cleaning done quickly. Firstly, you need to decide when you are going to get it done and how much time you are prepared to spend on it. We reckon with a bit of effort you could spring clean your home in a day, particularly if you can get all the family involved.

Once you have decided on your timings, it’s worth taking a bit of time to plan things in more detail in advance. For example, what order to do things in and how long to spend on each task. The danger is that if you don’t have a plan to stick to, you will easily get distracted and spend far too much time on one task but run out of time for the others.

Tip 2 : Start with a declutter

A ruthless declutter is always the first place to start. This can seem a bit daunting when you just want to get on with the cleaning itself. But you will find spring cleaning much easier if there is less stuff lying around, getting in your way.

A good way to kick start your declutter is to walk around your home and try to view it from a stranger’s perspective. What do you see? Is there really a need for everything that is lying around, or could some of it be got rid of without really being missed?

A big declutter doesn’t have to take days of toil and heartache. In fact, sometimes it’s better to be quick. A useful technique is to go through everything and make instant decisions on whether to keep, throw away or pass on. Only put back into storage the stuff you are definitely going to keep. Get rid of the “throw away” items immediately – for example into the bin or off to the tip – or they will end up lying around for ages. And the “pass on” items could be sold online, given to family or friends or taken to a charity shop. 

If there are items that you genuinely don’t know what to do with, don’t waste time agonising over them. Create a “holding area” for these things and move them there. You can review them in a month or so and should be able to make a clearer decision then about whether to keep, throw away or pass on. 

Tip 3 : Clean room by room

Most cleaning experts recommend doing spring cleaning room by room, rather than trying to tackle your whole home at the same time. This can prevent you from getting overwhelmed and disheartened. 

Working room by room can also give you the satisfaction of making quick progress. If you get one room sorted it will look so much better than it did, and also much better than the other rooms in your home. This can spur you on to keep going with the other rooms. 

Working room by room also enables you to take breaks as needed (see next tip) from your spring cleaning without being surrounded by chaos everywhere.

Tip 4 : Make the most of your time

We’ve just mentioned taking breaks, and this is a great idea. You may even want to schedule breaks into your plan in advance. Whilst it can be tempting to keep slogging away at the cleaning once you have started, the risk is that you will suddenly run out of steam and just want to give up. But if you have short, regular breaks, this can really help.

There is a popular business technique called Pomodoro which recommends working flat out for a set time – say 25 minutes – then having a 5-10 minute break to do something else. This can help you to maintain energy and momentum, and get the job done.

You’re also likely to find that you reach natural breaking points during the day, for example giving cleaning products a few minutes to be absorbed, or waiting for wet surfaces or floors to dry. Rather than stand around wasting time, you could either take a mini break at this point or go and do another quick task – such as loading or emptying the washing machine – to make the most of your time.

Tip 5 : Have a checklist for every room

It can be really helpful to have a checklist of tasks to do in each room and tick them off as you go, just to ensure that nothing is missed.

Cleaning experts recommend starting at the top of a room and working downwards. And for each room, a typical checklist – depending on the content and layout of your room – would be:

• Clean ceiling lights and fittings;
• Vacuum ceilings;
• Vacuum curtains/blinds;
• Clean windows;
• Clean radiators and fireplaces;
• Wipe walls and doors;
• Dust surfaces, lamps, ornaments;
• Vacuum furniture and upholstery;
• Clean skirting boards;
• Vacuum and/or mop floors;
• Scrub carpets / wax floors.

Tip 6 : Kitchen extras

As well as your standard checklist, your kitchen will need some extra tasks doing, such as:

• Clear out out of date or unusable food items;
• Clean tops of units and appliances;
• Clean insides and doors of kitchen cabinets;
• Cleaning / descaling of small appliances;
• Oven and hob clean;
• Defrost and deep clean inside fridge and freezer;
• Dust fridge coils.

Your kitchen is the most likely room where you may find issues that have gone unnoticed up till now. For example, perhaps your oven, fridge or freezer is not functioning as efficiently as it should be. Whilst this is annoying, it’s better to know that there is a potential issue – and plan ahead to replace your appliance if needed – than be faced with a sudden breakdown.

Tip 7 : Bathroom extras

Your bathroom will also need some extra attention as well as the standard checklist:

• Vacuum and clean extractor fan;
• Clean tiles and grouting;
• Clean towel rails, particularly between and behind rails;
• Check contents of drawers and cabinets and get rid of out of date items;
• Deep clean bath, shower, basin and toilet;
• Wash bath mats and other bathroom linens.

Tip 8 : Let the room breathe

This is a great old-fashioned tip but just as relevant today. As you clean a room, let it breathe. Open the windows and let in the fresh air. This is so good for freshening up the room itself, as well as furniture, upholstery and linens within the room. Keep the windows open for as long as possible, and the room will feel a hundred times better.

Wherever possible, always try to have a couple of windows open when you are in your home, to keep it fresh and well-aired.

Tip 9 : Know when to stop – and celebrate!

If you made a plan, and have stuck to it, you will know when it is time to stop. And even if things have not gone quite according to plan, and there is still more to do, it’s important to call time on things and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Celebrate what you have done. And if things are not finished, plan a time to do this. But for now, relax and admire what you have done so far.

Tip 10 : Keep it this way

This is probably the most important tip of all. If you want to avoid the annual effort of spring cleaning, the trick is to keep your home at a good level of cleanliness all year round. 

So once your spring cleaning is done, why not aim to spend just a few minutes a day doing one of the tasks on the above checklists, and ensuring that your home always looks and feels just as good as it does just now?

We hope that the above information helps you to tackle your spring cleaning in an organised way, and get everything done without spending more time than you need. 

And, if you do come across potential issues while cleaning, for example a kitchen appliance that’s on its last legs, remember that Loans 2 Go offer a range of personal loans – including emergency loans – that may be able to help.

For more useful lifestyle and financial tips, visit us here again soon at Loans 2 Go.