Despite your best efforts, you may be painfully aware that what’s basically clean isn’t the same as what’s deep-cleaned. That’s why spring-cleaning is an annual ritual. What should your spring cleaning effort entail? With spring on the way, it’s time to check it out! Does it need to be hard work? Well, up to a point, but you may be surprised at how easy some of these deep-cleaning tips are.
1. Super Clean Carpets? There’s only one Way to Go
It’s hard not to love a clean carpet but your vacuum cleaner can’t cope with ingrained dirt and stains. Time for a deep clean? Your elbow-grease-fuelled effort with dry foam isn’t going to cut it. What you need is industrial equipment and a good steam clean. This is one job where DIY is not a job to tackle yourself. Get a professional to do it for you. Chill out and enjoy clean carpets you’ll be happy to get up close and personal with. Hey, your kids play there – so that’s personal enough!
2. Attend to Light Fittings and Shades
Bugs love light and if there’s even the smallest chink, the inside of your shades will be holding their share of bug corpses. As for the outsides, moths and other bugs will have been leaving their mark too. Amazingly bug-free home? There’s still dust. Get your step-ladder – standing on chairs is just too risky – and fetch those shades down for a good cleaning. The outside of the fitting the shade fits onto should clean up pretty with the help of a damp cloth. Turn the mains off just to be safe!
3. Look Up!
While you have your stepladder out, put it to work. There are curtain rails to clean! But that’s not all – the tops of cupboards could also use a little TLC. It’s not a huge job, but it’s one we don’t get round to all that often. Spring Clean time is here! You know where dust is lurking, and it’s time to bust the dust so that you get that “well you can’t see it, but it’s guaranteed clean” feeling. While you’re at it, remember vent covers, ceiling fans, and anything else that’s out of sight but not necessarily out of mind.
4. Unpack, Move, and Clean
What’s behind your bookshelves? Apart from that, what’s collecting on top of and behind the books themselves? If you have non-built-in shelves or cupboards, spring cleaning means getting underneath and behind them as well as cleaning the packing space itself. There’s no way around this except clearing the packing space, shifting, and cleaning. Use the opportunity to organize storage space and ditch clutter you never use anyway.
5. Let the Sun Shine Through
After a long winter in nearly sealed environments, it’s time to let fresh air and sunshine in! Open some windows and let a fresh blast of air through, and try a little sun cleaning. Mattresses, pillows, upholstered chairs, and anything that’s getting a moldy smell can be cleaned with pure sunlight. Choose a warm, sunny day and leave items in the sun and breeze. It’s not just the fresh air that does them good – the sun actually kills a lot of the microorganisms that cause musty smells. Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways!
Enjoy your Fresh Summer Home
After your deep-cleaning drive, you should have gotten rid of almost every particle of dust and dirt. Your home is looking and smelling as fresh as a spring day, and you’re ready to enjoy the pleasures of summer without those consciencindicing moments when you spot something you ought to have done sometime, but didn’t. Spring clean means deep clean. And if you’re feeling deeply satisfied that’s at least half of the point of the exercise.
