Spring Cleaning

If where you live is at all similar to where I live, spring has started to bat it's eyelashes at us, but it is still definitely wet and cold and generally miserable outside. The true benefits of spring have yet to show their faces, and so I've been stuck inside most days while the pouring rain outside helps flowers start to bloom. However, this time at the beginning of spring is the perfect time to start spring cleaning.

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I'm no expert, so I like to consult someone who is. When I moved into my first apartment in college, my mom bought me the Martha Stewart Homekeeping Handbook. It is honestly a lifesaver sometimes, and a just a great reference at other times. It will teach you how to unclog a garbage disposal,  how to clean a shower head,  or how to get candle wax out of carpeting (all things that have come in extremely handy in various apartments!) But it's also a great reference when it comes to daily maintenance around the house, or seasonal big cleans.

When it comes to spring cleaning, I like to go room by room, so that I can make sure that I'm as thorough as possible, cleaning from ceiling to floor boards. I have a general kind of checklist (from the Handbook and just from years of chores and practical experience) that I go through room by room. This checklist includes:

Dusting

Wiping

Sweeping

Vacuuming 

Mopping

I do each of these in each room, in that order. I tend to just cover general places, like the coffee table gets cleaned with Pledge once a week, and the floors and carpets get vacuumed and then mopped once a week. Things like countertops get cleaned pretty much everyday, and bathrooms move over into the once a week category. This sounds much more precise than it is, I don't freak out if I miss a week! But I'm also kind of a neat freak, so I can't go very long with dirt on the floor and a dirty toilet bowl.
When it comes to a more thorough spring cleaning, though, I add the following:

Waxing/Polishing wood/stone surfaces - wood floors need occasional polishing, as does stone around a fire place.  This is also a great time to clean out your fire place if you have one, since you probably won't use it all summer! 

Having rugs dry-cleaned - they've probably been trampled on all winter with muddy boots and shoes, plus it's just good for the longevity of a rug to have it cleaned regularly. 

Wiping down walls (usually with TSP) and then dusting corners/baseboards.

Cleaning the insides and outsides of windows, and having window treatments dry-cleaned.

Until next time, 

xo 

T