Any decent Spring cleaning guide you find on the Internet will give you valuable tips on how to get your home clean and tidy. What could possibly yet another one teach you?!

Aha!

What you have come to read here is not just another home cleaning blog post! This here is:

Da Ultimate Spring Cleaning Guide for Lazy People!

Wait! Don’t get mad about being called ‘lazy’! If finding quicker, smarter and more resourceful ways to clean your home from top to bottom is ‘lazy’, then “lazy” you are! But then, aren’t we all?!

The point is that it is spring, and after the long winter months of closed windows and accumulated clutter, dust and unpleasant odors, your home now needs to be cleaned, freshened and tidied up. All you need are a few clever cleaning tips for lazy people from our partners at BetterCleans to get the job done in no time and more than all right!

Steps Spring Cleaning Guide

So, here’s your own Ultimate 5-Steps Spring Cleaning Guide:

1. SCHEDULE!

It’s always a good idea to start with setting up a clear Spring Cleaning Schedule. After all, no one is expecting you to do everything in one single day!

You can do it in two different ways:

# By room: Take a ‘tour’ around your home, inspect the state of each room, and make a list of the things that need urgent attention. For example: bedroom – clean the mattress and the pillows; bathroom – towels need to be fluffed back up, clean the water stains from tiles, bathtub etc.; living – all that clutter?! , and the carpet needs to be cleaned… etc. After you are done with the inspection, you can now decide which day to deal with which room.

# By items: Make a list of the items that need clean-and-fresh-up urgent attention dividing them in groups. For example: household appliances (microwave, oven, coffee machine, etc.); textiles (bed linen, curtains/ blinds, towels, etc.); soft items (pillows, mattress, stuffed toys, etc.) Once you have them listed, decide on which day to deal with which of these groups of items.

2. DECLUTTER!

Before you start doing any cleaning and washing, get rid of all the clutter! This is one of the top cleaning hacks for lazy people! It’s the fastest, easiest and most effective way to get your home look clean and tidy in almost no time. After decluttering, you may just be amazed with how clean and tidy your home is! And without even having started the actual cleaning yet! Besides, by decluttering, you’ll have less to clean!

There are a couple of ways to declutter:

  • Get rid of all things that do not belong to the right room. Seriously! What are Granma’s cute little figurines doing on the bookshelf in the children’s room?! What about the pile of old bills, expired coupons, junk mail, etc. gathering dust on the coffee table in the living?!
  • Purge closets, wardrobes, cupboards, kitchen cabinets and pantries, and get rid of all things that have not been used for quite some time or won’t be used any time soon, if ever! Clothes, for example. Your closet/wardrobes must be packed with clothes. While changing winter clothes to spring ones, you can get rid of all items that you know you are not going to use any more. Great opportunity to donate for charity, too!
  • Hide things in drawers, boxes, etc. storage containers. Luckily, the market offers countless varieties of sizes and designs of storage containers, and not expensive, too! All you need is choose the ones that match your interior, and box-in (a.k.a. hide!) all the smaller items that have been uselessly scattered all around.

3. CLEAN!

Time to clean off all the dust, dirt and debris accumulated during the long winter months. All you need is a brush and a vacuum cleaner. It’s not a rocket science, is it?!

  • Brush/ vacuum the high-traffic areas first, but this time a bit longer and more thoroughly than usual.
  • Brush/clean off cobwebs. Look up into the furthest and darkest little corners!
  • Clean pet hair easily using rubber gloves or even rubber flip flops. Rubber ‘magnets’ pet hair instantly, and is so easy to clean under running water!
  • Pass with a lint roller on any surfaces that haven’t been regularly cleaned or are usually difficult to reach, to remove large pieces of dust and debris.
  • Dust the window blinds, as well as the top surface of tall cupboards, using a soft dusting cloth, slightly soaked (not wet!) in some antistatic cleaning product or simply water.
  • Dust furniture, lamp shades and electronic devices, using dry antistatic dusting cloth.
  • Vacuum drapes and upholstered items. Don’t forget to remove the sofa loose seats and back cushions and clean all crumbs and dust accumulated behind and under them. Using a lightweight, maneuverable but powerful handheld vacuum is a great tool for such fiddly vacuuming tasks.
  • Dust the indoor plants, using either a feather duster or simply a soft cloth.
  • Finally, brush/ vacuum all the floors.
  • Don’t’ forget to open the windows wide and let the fresh spring air in, while getting rid of all the dust and dirt!

4. WASH!

Washing things will not just get them clean. It will also freshen them up and will help get rid of any unpleasant stale odors, too. Of course, there are a lot of washing products, but the secret of the spring washing is in using the unbeatable power of hot water, vinegar, and baking soda!

  • Towels. To make them soft and fluffy again and get rid of any possible stains and unpleasant smell, wash them twice in the washing machine but without any detergent or softener. Run them through once with hot water, adding a cup of vinegar. Wash them again in hot water, this time with a half cup of baking soda. Finally, hang them to dry outside, in fresh air.
  • Mattress and duvet covers and pillowcases. In case of stains, first, soak them in cold water with some universal stain remover. Better leave them for a few hours or even overnight. And since they are big pieces, the easiest way is to use the bath-tub. Then, wash them in the washing machine with a mild detergent, in hot water (the hottest allowed by the manufacturer, so make sure to check the label!), and also adding 1 cup of white vinegar. Dry outside under the spring sun and air for having them retain freshness for longer time!
  • Pillows and duvets. The easiest way to make your bed pillows and duvets fluffy, clean and fresh again is to take them out in the sun and fresh air and leave them so for at least an hour. Of course, you can also wash them in the washing machine, using the same formula as for the towels.
  • While you are washing the mattress, duvet and pillows covers, you can also take care of the mattress itself and clean it from stains, unpleasant odors and possible accumulated moisture. Pour some baking soda in a sieve and dust it evenly over the mattress. Leave the soda to act for the day. It will gradually draw dirt and moisture out of the mattress and eliminate odors. Then, vacuum the soda powder off and remake the bed. Voila!
  • Carpets and rugs. Use the same method as for the mattress. Treat stubborn stains locally with stain remover.
  • Window blinds. Fill some hot water in the bathtub and add a mix of some dish soap and a little vinegar. Dip the blinds and leave them for about an hour. Then rinse them thoroughly with clean water and hang them back to dry.
  • Stains in the sink, toilet, shower and bathtub? Dirty grout lines? If getting down to your knees for scrubbing everything with a toothbrush is most unlikely to happen, here’s a useful tip – You can have your bathroom spick-and-span clean overnight …. while you are sleeping! Yes! It’s the lazy way! But it’s so effective! The secret is to soak well everything in white vinegar and just let it act overnight. For the shower/tub/sink heads and mixer taps – wrap around a plastic bag filled with vinegar. Soak with vinegar the toilet bowl rings and the bowl itself. Apply this ‘miracle’ cleaner practically on every part of the bathroom and then … Go to bed. In the morning, just rinse thoroughly and wipe dry. Easy, right?

5. LET OTHERS DO THE JOB!

Or at least some of it! Charming as you are, you can easily persuade your partner into helping with the spring cleaning and tidying, especially when it comes to his/her personal stuff. Children, too, can be of great help! Just make them do their cleaning chores like for example sweep and wipe down appliances, dust furniture, search and brush off cobwebs, etc.

Happy and lazy spring cleaning!

Published in: Smart home | Author: Rossitsa

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