Spring is the ideal time to finally spruce up our homes with a deep clean after what has felt like the longest winter on record. But if you're wondering how to tackle the task efficiently, our round-up of the best spring cleaning tips is here to help.
Sometimes figuring out the best ways to tackle spring cleaning your home can feel overwhelming – even when armed with the best professional tidying techniques to keep your house clean and tidy.
While it’s often a welcome refresh, spring cleaning can be time-consuming and tiring. So to help you declutter your home and clean accordingly for a new season, we’ve gathered the very best spring cleaning tips from experts including professional organisers.
23 Spring cleaning tips from experts
Spring cleaning is a popular ritual for many households, and for good reason. Cleaning, dusting, scrubbing, and organising every inch of our living spaces is the perfect way to welcome a fresh new season – allowing us a moment to take proper care of our homes and the items in them.
To help you tackle every room of your home, here are a few of the tricks and methods the professionals suggest to help avoid spring cleaning mistakes and make your spring cleaning feel much more manageable.
1. Break the clean into the tasks by rooms
Diving straight into a deep clean without any sort of a plan is a recipe for disaster – that’s why a spring cleaning checklist is essential to ensure you don’t miss any important tasks.
The most vital part of having a checklist is breaking the cleaning down into the requirements for each specific room, be it cleaning the oven and cleaning the coffee machine in the kitchen, then cleaning the TV screen and cleaning your velvet sofas in the living room. Be sure to write them down, too!
It can also be helpful to add these to a schedule. Christin Cieslarski, interior design expert and founder of My Homier Home said, "Focus on one room or area at a time and assign specific tasks to it on each day of the week. This approach reduces the overwhelming feeling that spring cleaning can bring."
2. Photograph clutter before you start
Decluttering – whether you're decluttering a bedroom, or decluttering a bathroom – is a must before embarking on your spring clean, to ensure you're not simply cleaning around unnecessary items.
To help you do so, Elaine Penhaul, interiors expert and director of home staging company Lemon and Lime Interiors, shares that one of her best spring cleaning tips is to photograph your rooms first, for a new perspective on the clutter.
"Photographing your rooms prior to decluttering can alter your perspective on what tasks need to be done, and holds you accountable for the results," she explains. "Because in reality, the eye tends to overlook the clutter that piles up."
Sharing the benefit of this practice, she said, "Plus, it's a great morale boost when you finish a room. You can look back at what you have achieved already, which will motivate you to conquer the next room."
3. Start high and work your way down
One of the biggest dusting mistakes you can make is to start at the bottom of a room and work your way up. Experts advise that cleaning from the top down is essential because dirt and dust will inevitably fall as you clean.
Start with high-up cobwebs, door frames, and the tops of curtains, before moving down to the floor, where any fallen dirt will have accumulated. A spokesperson at the cleaning company Method also told us that to get the benefit, "pair the high-to-low technique with the out-to-in technique – work from the outside walls to the centre of the room."
"By then, all that grit, grime and dust will have collected in the middle of the floor, meaning you can hoover it all up in one fell swoop."
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RRP: £28.99 | A handheld vacuum is much easier to elevate to higher spots to dust, ie above picture rails, across the top of bookcases or along the length of curtains and drapes. Its lightweight, cordless technology provides convenience, including its quick–release bowl designed to save time and mess when emptying.
4. Address high-traffic areas as a priority
A spring clean is a big job, so Emily Barron, cleaning expert at Property Rescue advises that one of her essential spring cleaning tips is to get the trickiest spots out of the way first, in order to avoid spring clean fatigue.
“Hunt out the high-traffic areas that are used the most – these are the areas such as the kitchen, living room, and bathrooms which see a lot of action (particularly if there are a number of people living in your household), and which will, therefore, require the most attention and time."
"Tackling these areas before moving on to anything else will help make the rest feel more manageable," suggests Emily, vital for staying motivated to declutter and clean. And you'll likely welcome the easier job of say, a bedroom when you've tackled the more labor-intensive rooms.
5. Use up leftover lemons for a natural clean
Before you panic buy lots of new cleaning products for your spring clean, it's worth noting that you probably have plenty of natural cleaning solutions in your home already.
Executive housekeeper at The Grand Hotel, York, Lisa Williams, explains that lemons are the multi-functional 'unsung heroes' of cleaning. “The citric acid in lemons is antibacterial and antiseptic, meaning that it can kill bacteria, remove mould and get rid of mildew."
To use lemons to clean, Lisa instructs that you should, "squeeze the juice of two lemons per one litre of hot water. Paired with a good scrubbing tool, this mixture is great for freshening up the oven top, microwave, fridge, floors, and even water faucets."
Incidentally, you can achieve great results when cleaning a microwave with lemons.
6. Clean your mattress with baking soda
Many of us forget to clean our mattresses regularly (guilty!), meaning it’s absolutely essential for your spring cleaning routine. Pam Johnson, head of buying at Bensons for Beds advises that “you should clean your mattress every six months, which means spring is the perfect time to refresh your bed."
Once again, natural cleaning products come in handy with this task, with Pam revealing that cleaning a mattress with baking soda is an ideal solution.
“For a thorough spring clean, wipe away any visible stains after vacuuming, sprinkle over baking soda, and let it rest for a couple of hours," she said. "This will help to extract dirt and absorb any odours. Vacuum the remaining baking soda, flip, and repeat on the other side."
7. Don’t neglect skirting boards
Commonly forgotten, cleaning skirting boards is one of the best spring cleaning tips if you want your home to look sparklingly clean.
Skirting boards can very easily get clogged with dirt and dust, being at the bottom of the room. To clean this off, Lisa suggests: “Using a microfiber cloth with just a bit of warm soapy water will always do the trick."
Lisa explains, "Microfiber is great for lifting hidden dust, whilst also being soft enough not to scratch any paintwork."
8. Clean the outside of windows on a dull day
One brilliant trick for ensuring each room of your home looks its best is to clean the outside of your windows – not just the inside. And spring is the perfect time to do this.
Nigel Bearman, owner, and CEO of Daily Poppins explains, "With the sun shining through the windows, you can see the dirt and cobwebs more clearly in spring. As such, adding window cleaning to your spring cleaning list is essential."
To clean your windows from the outside, all you need is a mix of dish soap and water – simply scrub (gently) the solution onto your windows with a sponge, and rinse off.
However, Nigel claimed that one of his biggest spring cleaning tips is to clean them on a dull day, rather than a sunny day. "Do not clean the outsides of windows in direct sunlight, as the soap in the solution will dry quicker and leave unpleasant soap residue on the glass panels," he said. Who knew?
9. Employ yourself to clean
Our resident decluttering and cleaning expert Millie Hurst tried the new trend of ‘employing yourself to clean' and recommends it for making the job more rewarding.
"I decided to do something different and followed this latest trend, paying myself the going hourly rate in my area (£10.50) for every hour I spent cleaning the house," Millie explains.
"This has been a game-changer for me, and what I like most about this particular cleaning hack is that it recognises maintaining a clean home for what it is: a full-time job. The cash incentive and race against the clock made me much more efficient."
Speaking of the overall effectiveness Millie adds: “I wanted to do my spring cleaning little and often, cleaning more regularly and thoroughly over a few weeks rather than trying to do it all in one go,” says Millie. This method of doing an hour of focused cleaning to tackle the job room by room helped her achieve that goal.
10. Set a timer for smaller, easily-forgotten tasks
To help you address the areas of your home that don’t often get a look in during your spring cleaning, Heather Nixon, sustainability manager at green cleaning company Bio-D, suggests setting a timer.
Give yourself 5-10 minutes to tackle all of those smaller areas during your spring clean, such as light switches, door knobs, or kitchen cabinet handles, and see where you get.
“The act of setting a timer keeps you focused and more efficient, as you’re working against the clock”, Heather said. “And once you’ve finished, you can look around and see the progress you’ve made. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in such a short space of time!”
11. Apply the ‘lower third’ rule for a speedier declutter
Struggling to throw things away as you declutter? One trick that may help is the ‘lower third rule’. Fantastic Services' cleaning supervisor Lily Cameron explains that, in any given space, "we tend to use the same items repeatedly, but the lower third of any stack of clothing or sheets, towels or linen is usually the least used."
If that rings true to you, she advises instantly getting out the lower third of the stack of items, and assessing very quickly whether you really need them.
Often, she says, they are prime for throwing out/recycling/donating. "Usually, you never use them and won’t miss them once they’re gone," Lily said. Consider the many useful ways to use old towels in the garden.
12. Dust ceiling fans, spotlights and and lamp shades
Typically, a build-up of dust occurs in the winter months, given how little we open windows and doors to air our space out. And things like ceiling fans and lampshades are the ideal place for dust to collect, given how little they are actually touched or moved during this time.
As such, your spring cleaning day is the time to finally dust off these items. The easiest way to get rid of dust in these areas is with a dry microfiber cloth. This particularly applies to ceiling fans, which will likely begin to get used a lot more come the warmer summer months.
13. Address widespread limescale build-up with vinegar
It’s not often we get around to descaling our appliances (such as descaling a shower head), meaning that a dedicated spring clean is, again, the ideal time to do so; particularly if you live in an area with hard water.
Explaining why it's so important, Nigel tells woman&home, “Descaling electricals not only keeps them running more efficiently, therefore saving you money, but it also keeps the water used within them hygienic and safe to use."
Wondering about the best method for descaling things like your kettle and washing machine? Most experts advise cleaning with vinegar. "To descale, create a mixture that is 50% water and 50% white vinegar," Nigel said. "Run this solution through the object by either boiling the kettle or putting the washing machine on a short spin.
"Before using the item again, run clean water through the item in the same way."
14. Steam clean big pieces of furniture
It’s not just your appliances or smaller fixtures that need a spruce up during your spring clean – take the opportunity to deep clean the largest pieces of furniture in your home too, such as couches, armchairs, ottomans, and even bed frames and don't forget to clean headboards.
While hoovers and damp cloths are a good idea daily, using one of the best steam cleaners for your upholstery cleaning is a brilliant choice, as it will suck up all of the dirt, dust, crumbs, and sweat that tend to seep into all the nooks and crannies of these larger items.
15. Try the hanger trick for decluttering wardrobes
When it comes to spring cleaning, your wardrobe can be one of the most overwhelming areas, full of tough decisions about what to get rid of – especially small closets with lots of clothes.
But one simple hack for decluttering your clothes is to employ the hanger trick, from Charlotte Reddington-Smith and Gemma Lilly, who make up the organizing duo, Style Sisters.
They suggested the following: "A great way to figure out what you're wearing and what you're not, is to turn all the hangers in one direction and when you wear an item, hang the hanger back the opposite way. This way, in six months' time you'll visually be able to see what you have or haven't worn. This can save time and stress on the next spring cleaning detox, and we'd recommend doing it once to twice a year."
16. Don't be afraid of multi-use products
While natural products – such as lemons, baking soda, and vinegar – are a brilliant choice for spring cleaning your home, Christin explained that to shave time off of the process, multi-purpose products are just as good.
"I recommend using multi-purpose cleaning products that can handle various surfaces and tasks. This saves time, and reduces the number of cleaning products you need to purchase and store."
Lots of the biggest cleaning brands will have products that can be used across surfaces, whether cleaning your kitchen or cleaning a bathroom. But if you’re feeling wary, be sure to test each one out on a small surface first and opt for a natural remedy – we highly recommend Eco-friendly Delphis Eco Multi-Purpose 700ml multi-surface cleaner, £4.50 at Amazon.
17. Make sure every item has a home
When you’re coming to the end of your spring clean, future you will thank current you if you give every item you own a home – be it a space in a cupboard, a drawer, or under your bed.
When everything in your home has its place, it means your items won’t easily become pieces of clutter on an open surface. Lily tells woman&home, “Once you start designating spots for specific items, it will become easier to put things back where they belong." One of those spring cleaning tips that you'll be thankful for every day as it becomes a daily habit to keep your house clean and tidy.
18. Future-proof key areas
One of the best tips for making spring cleaning that much easier in the future is to ensure you put helpful systems in place to maintain areas that can be tricky to clean if left for too long.
For example, Gene Fitzgerald, home water treatment expert at BOS, advises doing simple things daily, such as drying your shower screen door, to avoid dealing with a limescale build-up to come your spring clean.
"One thing that can end up being time-consuming during a spring clean is trying to scrub away limescale build-up, especially on shower doors. So my biggest hack for a flawless bathroom is to dry down your shower door after every use. This can be done with a simple shower squeegee or just a towel."
Gene adds, “Remembering to remove mineral deposits before they have a chance to accumulate and harden will save time and effort in the long run." This tip will make cleaning glass shower doors feel effortless.
19. Scrub grout and tiles
It might be an area that you wipe over weekly but don't deep clean enough, therefore spring provides the ideal time to concentrate on cleaning grout properly.
Steer clear of using harsh chemicals such as bleach and kitchen cleaning sprays as they can be detrimental to the appearance of the grout, causing it to crumble from the joints – especially coloured grout, as it can cause the finish to fade over time.
Having tested all of the products to clean grout suggested by tile and cleaning experts we found that a simple combination of baking soda and white vinegar worked best. A mix of five tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda mixed with water forms a perfect cleaning paste. Apply the paste and let it sit for about 30 minutes before rinsing away the residue.
20. Refresh your shower curtain
It feels like a good time to clean shower curtains to help them stay fresh ahead of the hotter summer months when you might shower more often.
Unfortunately, bathrooms provide the perfect warm, damp environment for mould and mildew to thrive, which can build up over time on your shower curtain. to clean yours simply take it off the rings and remove it from the curtain rod. Check the care label because most shower curtains can be popped in the machine on a cold wash, but hand washing usually does a better job of getting rid of any stains.
21. Scent your bin with this trick
Spring cleaning tips aren't always pretty – but this hack for creating your very own bin air fresheners will pay dividends in keeping any unpleasant smells at bay.
Zoflora's senior brand manager Michelle Chadwick suggests, "A quick hack is to grab a lovely smelling disinfectant and some self-adhesive furniture pads."
"Simply tip the bottle of disinfectant upside down onto the pad, so that it absorbs the liquid, and stick the pad onto the inside of the bin. Now, every time you open the bin, you will be greeted with a beautiful fragrance." An effective way to make your house smell good on a budget.
22. Embrace labels in a big way
A classic decluttering tip that will greatly aid your spring clean, Lily advises making use of labels wherever possible once everything is cleaned and organized - be it in the kitchen, your wardrobe, organised pantry, or your linen closet.
"It's much easier to find what you need when each basket and bin is labeled - and it’s also the answer to maintaining everything so it stays neat and tidy in the long run," she said.
23. Finish cleaning with a cosy final touch
Finally, spring cleaning needn’t be all about the *actual* cleaning. "When decluttering and cleaning, it’s important to maintain the homely feel with added personal touches – you don’t want your house to feel cold and devoid of character," Elaine said.
So when you’ve finished, take steps towards making your home extra cosy and comfortable – and relish in your spring cleaning success.
To achieve this, why not treat yourself to a fresh bouquet of flowers or a new scented candle? Elaine told us, “These can be tremendous mood enhancers, adding colour and positive energy. They'll also add a personal charm and fragrance into your revitalized space."
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