When spring cleaning comes, we’ve all got a few tricks up our sleeves. Those little things that make the process a bit faster or a bit more organized.
Opening the windows and shaking off the dust from the winter is a time-honored tradition. Especially in cooler climates where winter forces everyone indoors, dust piles up, and things get musty.
We’re sharing some of the best spring cleaning tips and tricks we’ve found. They’ll have you outside enjoying the sun in no time.
Let’s get going!
What Month Should You Start Spring Cleaning?
Spring cleaning isn’t something made up by modern chemical companies to sell more bleach. Instead, it dates back to time immemorial when cleaning rituals pushed folks to spruce up their homes after a long winter.
Persian and Jewish cultures both have religious reasons for yearly deep cleaning. Nowruz (Persian New Year) and the Passover festival require a spotless home and occur at the beginning of spring. For thousands of years, spring cleaning prepared the house and the mind for new things to come.
More practical reasons to do a deep clean in spring brought the practice to Europe and North America. As things warm up, it’s natural to want windows open so the dust from the winter can blow away. In the 19th century, coal furnaces coated everything with soot, and spring cleaning provided the perfect opportunity to clean it up.
But you don’t have to wait until the spring to get the winter mess under control. We think there’s no time like the present.
Build your cleaning playlist and check out our top seven spring cleaning tricks.
7 Secret Spring Cleaning Tricks
Tidying up is an art. Influencers like Marie Kondo and Martha Stewart provide an unreal template for the perfect home.
Our spring cleaning tricks won’t give you a perfect home. But they may help streamline your cleaning process and help with stubborn messes.
#1 Plan Out Your Spring Cleaning and Make a Schedule
Visualize a clean house. Then open your eyes and see the chaos around you. Deep cleaning is a massive task. However, having the right mindset, and a plan, make all the difference.
The American Cleaning Institute provides a blueprint for the perfect plan of attack. First, inventory your cleaning supplies. Figure out what you already have and what you need. Then, make sure you’ve got the essentials before you begin.
Next, break down your cleaning by window blinds and curtains, walls, ceiling fans, and upholstery. If you have a lot of space to cover, break it up into a few days or enlist help.
Give yourself a checklist and rewards when you cross things off the list. We recommend pizza and wine after a long day of cleaning.
#2 Clean Room by Room
Trying to clean the whole house at once is a daunting task. Decide where you want to start and work methodically through the house. We like to start at the back and move forward, so our public spaces get cleaned last.
If you’ve also got a family that can help, encourage kids to take ownership of their spaces. Ensure they know your standards, so they don’t have to clean it twice.
By breaking things down room by room, it’s easy to keep track of where you’ve already been. Then, if it turns out to be too much for one day, you can always pick up where you left off.
#3 Declutter
A cluttered home means a cluttered mind. Maybe you aren’t a hoarder, but it’s a fair bet that you’ve got things you haven’t used in years.
Decluttering during spring cleaning is one of our favorite tricks. Clear off all surfaces that have stuff on them and take stock. If you haven’t used an item in a month, put it where it belongs. Six months and maybe it needs to go into storage. Twelve months or longer, and it may need to go away completely.
Check with your local Goodwill or ReStore and see if your clutter might be another person’s treasure.
#4 Use Vinegar to Disinfect
Harsh cleaning chemicals are a modern invention. Early humans created soap as a cleaning agent around 2800 B.C.E. and it turns out that some pantry staples are also powerful cleaning agents.
Vinegar and a few additives clean nearly everything on our spring cleaning list. The vinegar’s pH is around two or three, so it’s highly acidic. You can use it to strip paint, clean glass, dissolve hard water stains, and disinfect.
Mix vinegar and water at a one-to-one ratio in a spray bottle and go to town.
Pro Tip: Keep your home fresh and clean by discovering Does Vinegar Eliminate Mold?
#5 Steam Clean the Microwave
Microwaves are notoriously nasty. Grabbing a sponge and spray bottle might be your go-to. But we’ve got a spring cleaning trick you’ll love.
All you need for this one is a two-cup liquid measuring vessel. Mix two cups of water and two tablespoons of vinegar in the cup. Microwave on high until the water boils. Then let it sit.
After three minutes, carefully remove the contents, including the turntable, and wipe it down. You’ll be thrilled at how easily tomato soup comes right off.
#6 Use Magic Erasers
Mr. Clean sold us on the power of Magic Erasers back in 2003 when they came out. A simple white sponge that removes almost any stain or greasy mess has to be magic.
Magic Erasers have another mystical quality; they don’t require any cleaning agents.
Manufactured out of melamine resin, the material itself is magic. The surface has millions of tiny air pockets trapped between triangles. When you wet the sponge, the pockets become harder than glass.
They work on almost anything with little to no effort. And the best part? No chemical cleaners are needed.
#7 Wipe Down Walls and Ceilings
Floors and surfaces get all the love in most spring cleaning plans. But don’t forget that dust settles on walls and ceilings too. We prefer a top-down approach. Start with the ceiling fans and get any cobwebs on the walls before moving on.
We like to do floors last so that any dust that falls from higher surfaces gets caught in the final sweep. After a winter cooped up inside, the walls might be messier than you think. Spray these often overlooked surfaces and wipe them down. That’ll take care of most of the dust.
Pro Tip: Make cleaning easy by getting one of these Best Home Mops for your house.
What’s Your Favorite Spring Cleaning Trick?
Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be the worst day of the year. It can be the best if you can change your perspective to appreciate a fresh start. Our spring cleaning tricks take some of the hard work out of the task. Make sure you’ve got a plan and a playlist before you start. Tackle things gradually, and you’ll finish before you know it.
Don’t forget to reward yourself at the end of the day, either. You deserve it!
Discover the Best Free Camping Across the USA
To be honest with you, we hate paying for camping. There are so many free campsites in America (with complete privacy).
You should give it a try!
As a matter of fact, these free campsites are yours. Every time you pay federal taxes, you’re contributing to these lands.
Become a FREE CAMPING INSIDER and join the 100,000 campers who love to score the best site!
We’ll send you the 50 Best Free Campsites in the USA (one per state). Access the list by submitting your email below: