Spring Cleaning Basics
Before you start the spring clean, the items and equipment you need to clean should be in your cleaning caddy and ready to go. (If you don't have a split caddy cleaner, it will make a bucket or plastic toator with a handle.) If you are going to go green with cleaning products, there are many websites that can give you great ideas to make your own cleaning products, using everyday items such as lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda. If you do not have the time or desire to play in a kitchen chemist, then there are some very good green cleaning products in stores and supermarkets:
Mrs. Meyers
Trader joe
method
Landscaping Cleaning (Deidre Imus)
Seventh generation
You really don't need a lot of cleaning products to do a thorough spring cleaning - just the right accessories for the job. A client who was leaving the house asked if our cleaning company wanted all the cleaning supplies that he had packed from under his bathroom and kitchen sink and garage - three large plastic bins! The following items should be in your chip caddy (and can also be used for your regular maintenance):
Microfiber towels - small and large - for dusting
Paper towels (Marcal or Seventh Generation Lint) Floor Cleaner (Spray) Bona Kemi
Window cleaner
Universal spray
Old toothbrush and unused soft bristle brush
Latex gloves
Magic Eraser
A spongy kneepad, the type used for gardening, saves your knees when you clean items such as the corners of floors and baseboards. The bucket is useful for saving trips to the tap for warm water to wash microfibers and mopeds. And, of course, for your floors you will need a vacuum and a mop, preferably a mop, using terry linings.
Spring is cleaner, more detailed and more laborious than regular cleaning. Make a written, ordered list of what needs to be done, and what. Recruit family members and give everyone a handy or two. A five-year-old can take small rugs outside to shake outside, and can wipe the kitchen table and chairs; a nine-year-old can vacuum, clean droppers and plates with warm soapy water; a twelve-year-old can heat the floors and wipe windowsills and baseboards.
Choose a room where you can start your spring cleaning (there are good areas to start in the kitchen or bathroom). Work from top to bottom - this means that first wipe the ceiling fans (after turning off their power supply!) And the last wet wash floors. Work from left to right, clean when you walk, and keep cleaning equipment close by so you don’t take the time to go back and forth to get supplies. Permissive weather, open the windows and leave the house when you clean. Put on music with a lively rhythm, such as dance music or flamenco, to help you promote you. Take the phone off the hook and don't go to family photos or the moment during cleaning - focus on your Spring Cleaning project.
Use old white cotton soaked socks on your hands to wipe clean baseboards, louvers, air intakes and louvers. Use (unused!) Brush to remove dust from small empty objects, crevices on wooden furniture and lamp shades. Mr. Clean Eraser is great for removing fingers from doorframes, grease from kitchen areas, including fume hoods, bleaching on the fridge handles, soap pumps from bathtubs and showers. The furniture had to have pads under their feet so that the furniture could be moved and cleaned around and under it.
Remove all items on the top of the cabinets, dining room, shelving and wipe with moistened microfiber. Wipe the tops of all windows and doors where dust often accumulates. Wipe the inside of the cabinets and cabinet doors with moistened microfiber towels, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Meat blocking food surfaces - tabletops and cutting blocks - can be sanded, wiped with a cloth and wiped with mineral oil for the food industry (this should be done once a year). Clean the inside of your refrigerator using warm, soapy water, then dry all surfaces before eating. Clean the inside of the garbage cans with dishwashing detergent and warm water and a sponge (when you do this, throw a sheet of fabric softener below to fight odors) If you have not done so already, this is the right time to replace the batteries in your home smoke detectors.
If spring cleaning is not allowed in your schedule at the same time, run the cleaning in the room for several days or on weekends or hire a reputable cleaning company to work with you or to complete the entire project. When your spring cleaning is complete, you and your family will be pleased to enjoy a home that looks and smells organized, fresh and clean. And with a little daily lubrication of the elbow and control of the mess, you can keep it that way all year round.
