Spring Cleaning Hacks to Spruce Up Your Home
Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and temperatures are rising, but is your home still stuck with the winter blues? It's time to get rid of all of those old dust bunnies and freshen up your home with some good ol’ spring cleaning. Here are a few cleaning tips to have your house sparkle all year round.
Hack #1: Use Natural Products You Already Have
Before you get to work, make sure you have all of your cleaning products to remove stains, vacuum dirt, shine floors, and so on. There are a ton of natural products you may already have stocked in your kitchen and that can be used as an alternative to harsh cleaners.
Baking soda is an excellent cleaner and deodorizer. Pair it with vinegar to clean and remove clogs.
Borax makes a powerful disinfectant and softens water to increase soap suds. Borax is ideal for cleaning walls and wallpaper without the risk of damage. It also removes stuck-on dirt and grime from floors.
Cornstarch is an excellent alternative to clean & polish sliding windows, fiberglass doors, and other glass surfaces. Use it to work dirt and stains from rugs and carpets.
Lemon contains some of the most powerful naturally occurring acids in food. Use it to cut grease and kill bacteria.
White vinegar cuts through grease and mildew, freshen, lifts certain stains, and clears wax build-ups.
Rubbing alcohol kills 99.9% of bacteria on surfaces.
Hydrogen peroxide can disinfect and function as bleach. The solution grades are ideal for household needs.
Hack #2: Store It, Stash It, Or Donate It
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent this past winter hibernating piling on blankets, sweaters and scarves to keep warm. Now is a good time to store winter apparel, decor, and other items as we get ready for a warmer season. Go through your space and separate your belongings into categories.
Determine the things you will:
Store away
Sell (if you’re participating in a yard sale this spring)
Donate
Throw out
Hack #3: Tackle Tasks One By One
The thought of deep cleaning can be overwhelming however, it doesn't have to be. Instead of attacking your entire house at once all alone. Consider making spring cleaning a household venture. Get the family involved and assign age-appropriate chores so everyone feels included. You can tackle one room, one appliance, or even one closet, at a time or split the tasks up and work together to complete each room faster and more efficiently.
Hack #4: Automate Everything You Can
Some cleaning and maintenance tasks can be set on auto such as vacuuming or your routine dishwasher cleaning. Automate these if you can:
Set your dishwasher, oven and washing machine on self-clean mode
Purchase a robotic vacuum cleaner that will take hours off of weekly cleanings.