With spring comes more time outdoors, better weather….and spring cleaning. Love it or hate it, most of us find it catches up with us sooner or later! Certain jobs, such as cleaning windows, are best done on a sunny day. Others are easy to ignore in winter, and become more prominent in the spring. Whether your approach is to do a little each day or blitz the whole house in 24 hours, here are five jobs that really help to make a difference.
1. Clean out the fridge
Keeping the fridge clean and organised is not only important from a hygiene point of view, it will also help your appliance work better. Take everything out, and put it in a cool place. Anything fragile such as raw meat should be placed on an iceblock in the sink to keep it cool. Everything else should be fine for an hour or so.
Clean the inside surfaces with water with a dash of washing up liquid added, and dry them with kitchen roll. Remove any drawers or internal shelves and wash them with warm water and soap. Dry thoroughly before putting them back. Before you restock, take the opportunity to throw away anything that’s been open too long or that’s looking past it’s best.
The warmest zones in the fridge are the top shelf and door, so these should be used for more robust items such as condiments. The lower you go, the colder it gets so raw meat belongs on the lowest shelf. Keep the same types of food grouped together (i.e. all the cheese in the same place) so that you can see at a glance what you have. This will help prevent food being forgotten and wasted.
2. Reorganise kitchen cabinets
Now you’re in the zone, repeat the process with the kitchen cabinets. This is a great opportunity to throw out those tubs of dried herbs dated 2002, and those mystery, label-less tins. To help you get organised, you can buy special kitchen organiser shelves which fit inside the cabinet and help you see what you’ve got.
3. Clean the carpets
With the weather as it has been, even if you’re really careful about taking shoes off in the hallway it’s almost impossible that your carpets will have escaped unscathed. If you have small children or pets, there’s no chance at all! Steam cleaning your carpets can make a huge difference. Even if they’re not very dirty, cleaning freshens the carpet pile and leaves floors looking less tired. You can either hire equipment and cleaning liquids and do it yourself, or have carpets professionally cleaned.
4. Vacuum upholstery
In the winter, most of us spend as much time as we can curled up on the sofa! By the spring, upholstery might need a little TLC – particularly if there’s pet hair around as well. Start by taking all the seat cushions off the sofa and chairs – who knows what you might find down there as a bonus! Vacuum under the cushions and across the back of the furniture. For the cushions themselves, some cushion covers can be machine washed, others dry cleaned so check labels carefully. Otherwise, a quick vacuum and spot clean with a damp cloth might be all that’s required.
5. Wipe down doors and frames
This is another job that’s really satisfying! Make a solution of a few drops of washing up liquid and warm water in a spray bottle. Spray onto the paint work around door handles and wipe with a damp cloth. Removing marks from sticky fingers and grubby paws will leave the area looking fresh and smart.
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