Common Sense Living

Archive for the ‘Spring Cleaning’ Category

Image by Mistress B via Flickr

Finally, the weather is starting to break, and we can start the phase 2 spring cleaning.

Cleaning the carpets

Brush animals

Vacuum and clean upholstery

Windows and screens

Deep clean floors

Cleaning all winter bedding

Vacuum mattresses

Clean the oven

Start sorting and cleaning spring and summer clothes. Donate or throw away the stuff you know you need to. Why have it taking up room if you’re never going to use it again? Be honest!

Now don’t think you have to do all of this in one weekend. If it’s really muddy, you don’t want to clean the carpets just yet – what’s the point? Pick a task that makes sense to do now and knock it out.

I haven’t done all of my windows yet because I know it’s still going to be cold. I’ve only done the insides, and the screens on the windows I’ve had opened.

The point is to knock out a little at a time so you’re not killing yourself - and so you’re free to go out and play when it finally does get warm.

Did you finish the phase 1 cleaning? Here’s the phase 1 spring cleaning run-down >>>

If you need more help >>>

Image by lcs_lshull via Flickr

While I was outside enjoying a beautiful spring day, I thought about you. I wondered if you were able to be oudoors enjoying a beautiful day too.

You weren’t stuck indoors cleaning, were you?

Now I tried to get you to get your cleaning done so you could be out playing on these beautiful days.

But lets see what we can do to help you out.

You already have your day to day cleaning under control, right? If not, you are way behind the 8 ball. Trying to clean the whole house once a year is a nightmare. Grab a copy of Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak and get yourself on a schedule. Getting the day to day stuff under control is half the battle.

Spring cleaning is the stuff we don’t always get around to. But if you take 1 task a day, you can still get it done pretty easily. Just pick a task from this list each day, and before you know it – everything will be clean and shiny. Won’t that be great?

OK, here’s the list -

Take items off shelves and tables, clean them, clean the shelves and tables. This inlcudes books, cds, dvds, figures, pictures, plants, whatever. Take a few minutes and do one every night if you’re limited on time.

Clean all pictures on the walls.

If you’re really ambitious, you can wash walls and ceilings, but that will take you a few days of hard work. At a minimum, take your upholstery brush on the vacuum cleaner and vacuum all walls and ceilings. You’d be suprised how much dust sticks there. I try to wash down a couple rooms every year at a minimum.

Vacuum behind and under all furniture. Pull over everything that you can and clean behind it.

Vacuum all upholstery, including under cushions. If you’re ambitious, clean the upholstery. If you’re not that amibitious, us an instant spray cleaner to freshen up the upholstery. Make sure to thoroughly vacuum when it’s dry.

At a minimum, dust all plants, both real and silk.

Clean out cabinets and drawers. Remove items and wipe out the cabinets. Do one every night when you do the dishes.

If you have an open area above your cabinets, clean it.

Clean the underside of the range hood. Hopefully this is part of your regular routine too. If not, make it a point after this.

Wash curtains.

Wash light fixtures.

The cabinet exteriors should be part of your regular routine, right?

That’s really it for phase one. It’s too early yet to do some things. And I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. Just tackle those things for now and you’ll be in good shape! You don’t have to kill yourself. You have a few weeks to get this stuff done. Tackling a little at a time will make it a breeze.

I remember the days when I had a plate rail full of collectors plates around the entire formal dining room, and a chandelier, and sconces. Why did we used to put ourselves through all that? Yeah, it was pretty, but man – it was a lot of work!

And we’re all about making life easier here, aren’t we?

Really make your life easier  – if you don’t already own a copy of Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak - get it!

Image by Denis Collette…!!! via Flickr

I am going nuts!

I want to be outdoors.

It’s still cold. Really cold.

I decided instead of climbing the walls, I think maybe I’ll wash a couple.

That’s right, my continuing quest to get the spring cleaning done. Little bit here, little bit there.

Here are some things you can do when you have a few minutes -

Clean a closet

Clean a drawer

Sort some papers

Wipe out a cabinet

Wash a curtain or two

Vacuum behind something

If you just do one little bit everyday, you’ll be so cleaned and organized when the weather does finally break that you’ll have no choice but to enjoy it.

Make the most of the situation. That’s what I’m going to do.

Have a great day!

How to Clean House Fast

It’s the dead of winter. The temp right now is -1C. It’s too cold to be outside, and who wants to be?

If only it were spring.

The next best thing is to get a little spring fever. This is when I start my spring cleaning. When it does finally get warm, I sure don’t want ot be in the house cleaning.

This is a great time to wash figurines and floral arrangements, and take care of your plants – repotting, wiping the leaves.

Put on some Jimmy Buffet and go for it.

Spring will come. Honest.

*If you need help with ways to clean your house fast and keep it clean – click here *

I had to open the windows the other day. Of course, to a clean freak, that means you have to actually clean the windows. But my ‘to-do’ list was pretty full too.

So I just cleaned the windows that I opened that day. Spent about 10 minutes each on 3 windows. A roll of paper towels and some glass cleaner. I cleaned the window before I opened it. I cleaned the storm that was going up. Put the screen down – Wiped the screen. Wiped out the ledge.

The next day it gets warm enough, I’ll do the other 3 in that room.

When I was in the laundry room, I took a big trash bag and filled it with some clothes that had been there for years, not worn and threw them out! Probably 2 minutes of effort – I was in that room anyway.

I washed some of the comforters that we won’t use anymore this year ( I hope!) and put them away. Laundry pretty much does itself. It’s not like it takes a tremendous amount of time or effort – unless you still have small kids. Boy, then it does – all that spot cleaning! I used to keep a jug of laundry soap nearby and put it on spots right way when the clothes went into the hamper. And I made sure to do one load pretty much everyday. Then it didn’t get overwhelming.

That’s my whole approach to housecleaning. Little things in spare minutes here and there.  I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have a whole day to devote to house cleaning. I can come up with a little time here and there.

Try it. Next time you’re going to the laundry room – take a trash bag with you. When you’re heading into a room, make sure to take things that need to be returned to their proper place in that direction. Think about how you can get one little thing done heading in the direction that you’re going anyway.

If you want the whole system laid out for you step by step – Click here to find out how to clean your house fast, and keep it that way!