Easy Spring Cleaning Shortcuts
In today's time-crunched, two-career household, does spring cleaning still have a place? Absolutely! It's a necessary task that can't be overlooked.
No matter how busy you are - or perhaps because your home seems to have a revolving door - the annual purging of year's worth of mildew, grime, dust, and dirt still needs to be done so you can get by with simple surface cleanings the rest of the year.
A thorough cleaning begets a sparkling-clean house and can help your appliances last longer.
But you don't have to spend your entire weekend with broom and sponge in hand to get your home perked up with springtime cheer or primed for holiday entertaining. These easy spring cleaning shortcuts will help you complete it in less time.
Easy Spring Cleaning Shortcuts - Spring Into Cleaning Action
The key to spring cleaning in less time is to break the chores down into manageable loads and tackle them over several weeks or months—unless you like to schedule a weekend sequestered indoors with mops and brooms.
This less-traditional bit-by-bit approach will reward you with the same old-fashioned feeling that keeps the spring ritual alive: pride in your clean, well-maintained home.
Start by focusing on the big pieces and the places that matter most to you: furnishings, appliances, and carpeting. Then, take stock of which cleaning tasks you can forgo.
These easy spring cleaning shortcuts will have your home spring fresh and clean in no time:
Make Doormats Welcoming
Shake them, wash them, swat them with a broom. Give them the most robust deep cleaning routine they can handle. They're your front line against tracked-in dirt, so keep them clean enough to function at peak efficiency.
Spring Cleaning Shortcuts For Carpets And Upholstery
Fabrics that have absorbed a winter's worth of dirt, body oil, and germs will need a deep cleaning to prepare for another year of wear and for your relaxing guests' close inspection.
When shampooing carpets or cleaning upholstery with a rented carpet cleaner, practice first in an inconspicuous area to ensure that you know the machine and that the treatment won't discolor fabrics or cause dyes to run.
Cleaning tips to save time: Move furniture just slightly - not out of the room or against the wall as the old rules dictated - and place the legs of each piece back on top of small waxed paper squares after shampooing.
The waxed paper protects your carpet and keeps the furniture legs from getting wet as the carpet dries. Open the windows to speed up the drying process, which can take a day or more.
If you're not the furniture-shifting and machine-renting type, make it easy on yourself by calling a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner to do the deep cleaning work and take the morning off.
Easy Spring Cleaning Shortcuts For Floors
To protect the floors in your kitchen from another year of wear and tear, wax or apply a sealer following label directions.
The simplest method: Use a combination wash-and-wax floor cleaner
. Don't feel guilty about saving time!Easy spring cleaning shortcuts for floors: No-wax floors don't need a polishing treatment, but an occasional makeover will keep them looking fresher—and adding a protective buffer could help them last longer.
You can use a floor cleaner that cleans, shines, or both. It's best to follow label directions for proper use of each product.
If you have wood floors, move furniture and rugs aside, then apply a wood cleaner and either liquid or paste polish to clean and add a new wax coating.
Wash Walls, Cabinets, Baseboards, and Woodwork
The walls may not look like they need a bath - after all, dust and soot fall to the floor, right? Most of it does, but just enough clings to vertical surfaces to warrant a seasonal or pre-holiday bath.
Use a sponge and hand dishwashing detergent, washing the surface in sections. A sponge mop makes it easier to reach higher spots.
Use two buckets: one for the dishwashing detergent solution and another for wringing out your sponge. Dry the walls and woodwork with a clean cloth.
Vacuum With Intelligence
The old rules mandated that you drag every piece of furniture off the carpet laboriously so the vacuum cleaner could cover every nook and cranny.
The new rules will save you time, and you'll still get the corner-to-corner cleaning done: move oversized items a little to the left or the right. Vacuum the area previously occupied by the furniture and then move it back into place.
Clean Ceiling Fixtures and Lights
Dust and dirt can be removed from ceiling fans and air conditioner vents with a wet cloth and a vacuum with a soft nozzle attachment. A few minutes with a stepladder, an all-purpose cleaner, a sponge, and a polishing cloth will bring new light to your life.
Clean Refrigerator Coils
You should clean the refrigerator's condenser coils, usually found behind the toe grille, with a long-handled brush and a vacuum cleaner with an attachment hose to remove dust and lint. Built-up dust can cause the unit to shut down by overheating.
To remove dust from coils attached to the hard-to-reach back side of the fridge, carefully pull the refrigerator out several feet and vacuum thoroughly; finish by sweeping or vacuuming the floor area you've revealed.
Once you've covered these major hot spots in your home, you'll have cleaning all wrapped up for another year!
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