The Secret to Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning, a dreaded job you can’t get around. Between cleaning, sorting, and tidying up, there’s a lot of work! Your future self will thank you when you come home from your summer weekend trips and find a clean, organized house. And your future self will thank you if you decide to move and don’t have to pack as much clutter. Even if your movers’ moving trucks have lots of storage space. So, an annual spring clean is exactly what you need to keep your home organized, clean, and free of unnecessary junk.

Just like packing a house where you tackle one room at a time for a few weeks, the first thing you need to accept is there’s no way you’re going to spring clean your whole house in one day. It’s just not possible if you want to do a good job. The best way to go about it is to pick one area of your home to clean every weekend for a few weeks in the spring, or every night of the week for one week. Either way, pick out your days and stick to it. Your future self will thank you!

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Part One: Let’s start with the kitchen.

This is a big job, so it's best to get it out of the way. First, you’re going to clean your fridge:

1. Go through every shelf and drawer and throw out any expired or unwanted food. Found some food of unknown origin? Better just toss it.
2. Put the rest of your food in a cooler or on the counter.
3. If possible, take out the shelves and/or drawers and wash them in the sink. Pro tip: Don’t run cold glass shelves under hot water (they could crack!). Instead, let them come to room temperature first.
4. Wash the inside of your fridge with a sponge or cloth and hot soapy water. Don’t forget the doors! And while you’re at it, wipe down the outside of the fridge too.
5. Wipe everything down with clean water to rinse and then dry with a clean towel.
6. Return shelves, drawers and food.
7. Feel free to reorganize your fridge if you want. Colour-coordinated shelves? #FridgeGoals

Now that your fridge is sparkling clean and ready to be filled for summer BBQs, let’s tackle the rest of the kitchen.

Next, clean out your cupboards and drawers.

1. Take out all your dishes, cutlery, food, and other kitchen items.
2. See if there’s anything you don’t want or need anymore and consider donating to your local second hand store or throw out what’s unusable. For food, check your expiry dates.

3. Wipe down all shelves and drawers with soapy water and then again with clean water to rinse.
4. Dry with a clean towel and put everything back.

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Next up is your stove. If you have a glass-top stove, try these steps for a perfect clean surface:

1. Make sure the glass top is cool.
2. Spray the surface with white vinegar and then generously sprinkle baking soda over it.
3. Soak a towel in hot water, wring it out, and place it over the surface. Leave it to sit for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the towel and wipe away the residue with a microfiber cloth.
5. Spray more vinegar and use a fresh microfiber cloth to polish away any streaks.

If you have coal burners, try the following:

1. Give the burners a gentle tug and they should pop out.
2. Clean them with basic soap and water. Feel free to use a bit of baking soda for stubborn stains.
3. Next clean the inside of the burners, the dials, and the surface of the stove.

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Time to tackle the oven. A cleaning once every three months is generally recommended.

1. Remove the racks and place them in the sink. Sprinkle with baking soda and spray with vinegar until foaming occurs. Let them sit.
2. Grab a bowl and mix ½ cup of baking soda with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until you have a spreadable paste.
3. Using rubber gloves, spread the paste all over the inside of your oven. If you have an electric oven, don’t put the paste on the heating elements and if you have a gas oven, not where the gas comes through. Allow to sit for 10 - 12 hours, or overnight.
4. When ready, put on your rubber gloves again and wipe down the inside of your oven with a damp cloth. If some baking soda or grime doesn’t come off, spray some more vinegar and try again. Do the same with your racks, and put them back in.

Don’t forget about your smaller appliances.

To clean your coffee maker, try these steps:

1. Fill the reservoir with equal parts water and vinegar and run through a brewing cycle.
2. Follow with 2 or 3 cycles with fresh water until the vinegar smell is gone.
3. Unplug it and wipe down the sides with soapy water.

To clean your toaster, follow this:

1. Unplug your toaster.
2. Gently pull out its tray and throw out crumbs. Place it in the sink with hot water and dish soap to soak.
3. Use a clean paintbrush or pastry brush to gently brush out crumbs from the inside of the toaster.
4. Wipe down the sides with soapy water.
5. Wash the crumb tray and dry completely before putting back into the toaster.

Lastly, wipe down your counters and table and your kitchen is clean!

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Part Two: Let’s clean the bathroom.

If you’re the type of homeowner who likes to clean their house on a regular basis, spring cleaning your bathroom won’t be that bad. But there’s still several things you can do to stay on top of grime.

For those who haven’t mastered the different types of bathroom cleaners out there, it’s a safe bet to get an all-in-one bathroom cleaner and a toilet cleaner. Also, make sure you have paper towels or cloths and a toilet brush.

1. Remove your bath mat and towels and throw them in the laundry.
2. Empty your trash can and clean the inside and outside of it.
3. To clean your toilet, spray all outer surfaces, including the seat cover, seat back, set, and the top and sides of the toilet tank. Pour toilet cleaner around the inside of the toilet bowl and scrub with the toilet brush.
4. Spray your mirror with glass cleaner and wipe it down until you get all the streaks and specks of toothpaste.
5. Use your all-in-one cleaner to spray the inside and edges of your sink. Don’t forget the taps and faucet.
6. Spray your countertops, making sure to remove your toiletries first. While you’re at it, empty your shelves and drawers and clean them too. This is a good time to throw out things you don’t need and reorganize.
7. Spray and wipe down all the walls of your shower, as well as the inside and outside of the bathtub if you have one. If you have any glass doors or walls, you’ll want a shower squeegee to avoid streaks.
8. Finally, sweep your floor to get rid of dust, dirt and hair. Then use a mop with soapy water. Make you get behind the toilet!
9. Once the floors are dry, put back your bath mat and put out fresh towels.

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Part Three: Time to clean the bedroom.

1. Take all your dirty clothes, bedsheets, pillow cases and blankets and put them in the wash.
2. Go through your closet and put any clothes you don’t want or that don’t fit in a bag to donate. This might require trying things on to see if you even like how they look anymore. Also try to think back to the last time you wore each item. If you can’t remember, then you probably don’t need it.
3. Pick up anything you have laying around or stuffed under your bed and give your floors a good sweep or vacuum.
4. Declutter all your hard surfaces. That means your dresser, side tables, bookshelves, vanity and desk. Don’t forget drawers! You probably have handfuls of old receipts, dried up pens, and old hair ties that are ready to be thrown out. Yes, your makeup too. I know you have a handful of samples you’ve collected over the years because you tell yourself you’ll use them but always stick to your favourites. Get. Rid. Of. Them. Or have fun using all of them while you take a cleaning break and jam out to your cleaning playlist. Make spring cleaning fun!
5. Back to business. Once you’ve decluttered so much you want to quit it’s time to dust off and wipe down all your hard surfaces then put back all your things.
6. Once your laundry is done, put your clothes away and re-make your bed. Marie Kondo who?

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Part Four: Last but not least, the living room.

You’re on the home stretch now! You can do it!

1. Take all your knick knacks, books and clutter (consider decluttering if you still have energy), and start by dusting off all your hard surfaces. That means your bookshelves, coffee tables, entertainment units, lamps, tv, even ceiling fans. If you have leather couches, dust them off too.
2. Gently vacuum all fabrics such as couches, armchairs, footstools, lampshades, drapes. Use a hand vacuum if you have one!
3. Vacuum or sweep the floor. Make sure to get under your furniture (you may need to call in reinforcements to do the heavy lifting).
4. Put back all your clutter, fluff your decorative pillows, pour yourself a drink and put on your fav Netflix show. You deserve it!

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Just like that you’re a spring cleaning expert! Your friends and family will be so jealous the next time they visit your home and you’ll be happy whenever moving day rolls around.

If you want to take the next step in freshening up your home, buy some new furniture from your favourite new or used furniture store and let our movers at MoveMate handle your furniture delivery!