Spring Cleaning: It’s Not Just Deep Cleaning

We’ve got a bunch of things here that you may not have thought of because spring cleaning is more than just heading to a room with a bucket and sponge. For instance, spring cleaning could include repairs. Usually small, but “repairs” seems daunting when you think about it. However, some or most repairs are much easier than you imagine up front and can be easier than cleaning. Whatever you do, don’t skip things because you think it’s just too frustrating. Tackle them all so you feel 100% accomplished and happy about your “new” home. In the play room or patio, you might realize there’s a small patch needed for a wall, or the trim needs a fresh coat of paint. Spackling a gouge in a wall is super easy, and spot-painting is as well. In the bathroom, there could be a leaky toilet that needs a new flush valve. You can find out how of do that yourself on YouTube, or just call a plumber. Check your shower for missing caulk and easily re-caulk it yourself. You might need to patch a hole in a window screen or send them away for repairs.   Make A Plan Of Action Whatever it is you want to tackle this year on the grand scheme for your home, write out a simple plan. This can include a deep clean for the bathroom, a garage that’s readied for a sale, or a decluttered play room. The choice is yours and you’ll be glad you go into the work with an idea of what exactly you want to accomplish. Think big here.   Write A List Of Smaller Actions From the big plan above, choose each area or room and head to it with a pen and paper in hand. Think about each step you’ll need to take to accomplish your goal and write out a detailed list. Nothing is too small, it all adds up, and you’ll be happy to tick off each individual item. Looking at your list of To-Do’s and Have-Done’s is a great way to stay motivated, so keep the chores small, broken down, and actionable. You also may not have realized until you’re in there inspecting your space that something is broken and needs repair or patching.   Decide On A Time Limit Recall what you’ve done in the past and decide if you want to go super fast or take your time. What kind of cleaning routine works for you? Do you want to knock everything out as a weekend warrior, or do you prefer to spread out this list through a chunk of the year? Choose whichever one makes you feel least overwhelmed and more accomplished.   Group Things Together Or Go Room To Room? Again, this one is best chosen by you, for you. For instance, would it make you feel better to have one room or area completely done before moving on to another? Or the alternate is to group together similar activities and perform them in each space. You might begin by decluttering the play room and bedroom and moving those things into the garage for the yard sale, then grouping things in the garage together as you go to await pricing. Or you might want to deep clean the baseboards and wash the walls in each of your spring cleaning project areas, then come back through to do the light fixtures in each area.   Assemble What You’ll Need Before You Start Get together all your lists and buy whatever you need up front, before you start. This works on two levels:
  1. You’ll have everything on hand and won’t have to run to the store in a pinch.
  2. When lacking motivation, you will see your pile of supplies that you’ve purchased and likely push ahead.
  Teamwork Rocks! It might be like herding a bunch of angry squirrels, but every age-eligible human in your home should have a task list too. Break each task down in an actionable and easy list for each person. Give them a time it needs to be done by, and rewards if you have to. Work separately if that helps or have speed cleaning fun with the family where you set a timer and see how much can be done before it goes off. Sometimes it seems easier to just do everything yourself, but every single person living in a home should help.   Or, you know, you could always call us to be your team and we’ll come running. Which brings us to…   Decide When To Call For Help There are some tasks that are too big, too time-consuming, too much of a pain to deal with, too high to reach safely… so call us! Carpet cleaning, deep cleaning, etc, we are on call. Likewise, call a professional window washer for risky glass, a plumber for things you’re not sure you can do alone, or a painter to freshen up a room’s walls and/or trim.   Safety First And Always Thing is, you really need to think about safety. Since you may be doing things you probably don’t regularly do like cleaning gutters or washing chandeliers, you’ll probably be using a long ladder or other equipment in places you’re not used to. Is that chandelier electric? That’s yet another concern. So please take extra precautions by hiring a professional and/or having someone right there with you to spot you on the ladder or get help if you get hurt.   Now is also a great time to perform a whole house safety inspection.
  1. Check all door and window locks and latches.
  2. Check your safety equipment like fire extinguishers. If you don’t have them, buy them. Keep one in the kitchen, the garage, and the second floor of your home. Do they work and are fully charged and not expired? Go to your local fire station for help, they usually have a free program to help residents.
  3. Check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
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