Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring-cleaning is like the annual pampering we indulge ourselves in, with say, a visit to the spa or a nice bubble bath. Your home needs to be pampered too, since it takes care of you. It’s time you took care of it too. Those who know this simple truth understand the importance of spring cleaning – they know that a clean and orderly home will never cause any problems when you have to look for something! A pampered and clean home will reward the people who live in it with order and appreciation in the form of praises that will be showered by one and all. Most of us do know the importance of spring-cleaning, though we are often unaware of how to go about it. Do we need to maintain a checklist? The answer is, yes. It is best to keep a checklist so as to minimize the efforts and the labor. Here are a few tips that you could keep in mind while spring-cleaning.

 

Here are some pointers that you should keep a check of every time you spring clean.

 

The first thing that will demand your attention is the clutter – which consists of whatever you do not use or use very rarely. It always occupies more space, reducing space for what you may need. It could be anything from greeting cards that were sent to you five years ago, toys that you have stepped on and are broken, kitchen items that have become obsolete or furniture items that you may have substituted with other kinds but did not discard the original ones. You will have to get rid of all that and make space for what you need. You could sell it as scrap to the local kabariwallah or give it off to anyone who could use it better.

 

It is highly advisable to keep all your supplies like cleaning solution, sponges, mops, duster, mittens and so on close to you so that you don’t have to look for them or spend time fetching them. Keep them in a place that is easily accessible and make sure you remember the place.

 

The bigger the room, the more taxing the job, the more dirt that you find accumulated, the higher it should be on your priority list. That is one major difference between spring cleaning and attempting a mathematics exam – while you need to work out easier problems first in case of the maths paper, you need to start with the toughest and most taxing job when it comes to spring cleaning! Clean the largest room first, arrange the biggest and most expansive cabinet first, and so on.

 

It is always advisable to work your way from the top of any room to its bottom – from the ceiling to the floor. Start by cleaning the fans and lighting arrangements, then the walls and switchboards, followed by the closets and then, finally clean the floor. This is the most logical way to clean as the dirt and dust from the top will drop on the floor, making it dirtier.

 

Do not ever try to do all the work yourself – delegate work to your spouse, parents or parents-in-law or even children, if they are grown up. Delegate work according to the person’s ability – give your parents and children the job of cleaning out closets to make room for their clothes or request your mother-in-law to rearrange the stuff on the kitchen cabinets.

 

If you keep looking upon cleaning as work or task, you will forever keep complaining about the effort that goes into it. You are sure to feel the need to distract yourself, so put on music that all the members of the family like, so that you take the boredom out of it.