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Spring has arrived and as a lot of us are spending more time at home, this is the perfect time to tackle the annual deep spring clean! As always, the change of the seasons brings the perfect time to give your home the deep clean it needs. It’s time to put away all of your winter essentials and other items that have accumulated over the cold months, and start fresh, ready for the new season. Stay tuned as we take you through each room and the items that you don’t want to miss during your spring clean.

Kitchen

Seeing as this kitchen is the heart of the home, we’d figure this would be a good place to start. We suggest starting with giving the oven a good clean and emptying out your fridge. This way if you need to completely empty your fridge or things get a bit messy, you won’t need to go back and clean something you had already finished with. This is also a good time to get rid of some of the condiments that are hiding in the back and clean the shelves and walls while there’s less in the way.  Don’t forget to clean out the microwave, disinfect your garbage can and recycling bin, and run a wash cycle through your dishwasher. If you’re up to it, clean the filter and cartridges in your dishwasher as well. Once you’re done, finish off by running a cycle with vinegar or baking soda and your dishes will really shine.

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Bathrooms

While your bathroom is probably the most frequently cleaned room in the house, we’re keeping it towards the top of the list as it can always use a good cleaning. Disinfect everything from the shower to the sinks, the toilet bowl and faucets. It’s not a bad idea to wipe down the walls while you’re at it, and disinfect the cabinet door and drawer pulls. Don’t forget to wash the floors and be sure to get behind the toilet as bacteria can easily be left behind.

Main Living Areas

Your main living areas can include your family room, great room, dining spaces or your den, and while they tend to stay pretty tidy, they also tend to not get a disinfecting clean often, and could always benefit from one. Wash your floors and walls, scrub your baseboards and give all of your surfaces a good dusting and wipe down with a disinfectant. Be sure to move furniture from their original places to get behind them as dirt and dust tend to accumulate there.

Bedrooms

It’s always nice to end each day in a clean bedroom where you can relax and unwind. It’s also so much better when it’s spotless and you know all of your surfaces are clean. Wash all of your bedding, vacuum the carpets and wipe down the windows and baseboards. If you want to take it a step further and really get into the deep spring clean, hire a company to come clean your carpets or rent a carpet cleaning machine. These do a better job at getting into the fibers of your carpet than a vacuum to get rid of the debris that may reside there. Once they’re dry, a nice touch is to finish off with a carpet deodorizer. Just sprinkle some on your carpet, leave it alone for a while and vacuum it up after. It’ll repel smells from lingering and leaves a lovely scent behind that lasts for days.

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Laundry Room

The laundry room may be one of the most neglected spaces when it comes to cleaning, yet one that is used on a very regular basis. Depending on the style of laundry machine you have, the way to clean it may differ slightly. If you have one with a detergent dispenser be sure to rinse it out and wipe it with a cloth. No matter which style of machine you have, mold and bacteria can grow in the nooks and crannies inside the drum. Give the drum a good wipe down with some warm water and the cleaner of your choice, and finish off by adding two cups of white vinegar into the drum and running a full wash cycle. This will get rid of any lingering bacteria inside, making sure your clothes are as clean as possible.

Other Cleaning Tasks

No matter what room in the house you’re focusing on, there are some general tasks that apply to every space.

  • Disinfect handles and doorknobs
  • Clean and dust baseboards and casing
  • Wipe down the walls
  • Dust ceiling fan blades or light fixtures where dust can accumulate
  • Wash the floors (be careful when choosing a cleaning agent and be sure they’re safe to use on the flooring material you have)
  • Clean your furniture
  • Touch up paint on the walls: over time your paint will get bumped and scratched or fade in the sun. Freshen it up with a new coat or touch up where needed.
  • Clean your windows and wash your curtains
  • Clean your air vents
  • Change you furnace filter

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Declutter

While you’re tackling the spring cleaning of your home, this is also a good time to reduce the amount of clutter that may have accumulated over the last few months (or years!). Put things back in their place and take the time to sort through items that you may not have use for anymore. Make separate piles somewhere out of the way for items that are still useful, just not for your household, or items that should be thrown away. There are many donation centres that are more than willing to take your items, and they could go a long way to helping a family in need. Once you’re done, your space will feel more open and spacious, giving you a clean slate to start the new season.

Yard

Now that the house has been taken care of, we can focus on your outdoor space. Pick a nice day to go outside and rake up the fallen leaves and give your lawn a bit of an aeration. Aerating your lawn creates small holes in the grass and soil, allowing water and nutrients to penetrate the roots. Be careful though, many pollinating insects continue to hibernate into the beginning of spring. It’s best to wait until temperatures are consistently above 10 degrees Celsius. This will reduce the risk of “cleaning up” this year’s bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators.

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We’re excited to welcome spring back and with these tips, we hope you can make your spring clean an enjoyable activity, rather than a daunting one!