It’s that time of year when we all want to wash away the dullness of the winter months and get our homes clean and sparkly for the warmer months ahead. Here are my 12 favorite spring cleaning tricks to give you the motivation to get started!
I’m not necessarily a huge fan of the traditional idea of spring cleaning. I feel like it kind of encourages us to leave things until they’re really bad and overwhelming by telling us that spring is the “right” time to tackle all of these big spring cleaning tasks all at once. Then when we finally get ourselves pumped up to do it, it’s a week long cleaning marathon that leaves us absolutely exhausted, maybe a bit grumpy, and feeling like we don’t want to clean again for a long time. So we don’t. Of course, the clean and tidiness of our house doesn’t last all the way until it’s time for next year’s cleaning, it lasts about two days, then we’re discouraged and annoyed and back with a dirty house. So I like to try and stay on top of things throughout the year as much as possible, so I never feel like I have to do that week long cleaning marathon. That being said, we all love a little spring refresh with the windows open, so I do still like to give things a bit of an extra freshening up at this time of year. I thought I’d share a few of my favorite, most fun and rewarding cleaning tricks and ideas today that help me actually feel more motivated to clean as I do them, and less overwhelmed, frustrated, and annoyed. These are a great place to start if you want to kick your spring cleaning off on the right foot. 🙂
My Favorite Spring Cleaning Tricks to Help Me Get Motivated
8 Things You Can Clean With Baking Soda | I seem to find a new use for baking soda almost every day. This post shares 8 of my favorite, most practical uses.
How to Properly Clean a Glass Light Fixture | I just did this the other day. It’s amazing what a difference it makes even if you thought your lights weren’t “that dirty” before.
How to Clean Range Hood Filters | This is just the most satisfying little task. So easy, but it’s so amazing to watch all the gross stuff that comes out of your filters. You’ll definitely notice that your kitchen smells a little better too after doing this!
How to Clean Wicker Baskets | One of those things that you just never think of, until suddenly one day you notice how much dust your baskets collect and then you can’t unsee it. Ick. No need to throw them all out and get new ones. They can be cleaned easily enough!
How to Refill a Plug-In Air Freshener | These things are the best, aren’t they? A totally “set it and forget it solution”. I have one in the mudroom and I always get compliments on how nice my house smells, even though most of the time I completely forget it’s there because I really only need to change it once a month or so. Did you know that you can also refill these? My post will show you how. 🙂
My Favorite Easy Microwave Cleaning Trick | I enjoy this thoroughly every time I do it. So effortless and the grime just melts off, plus it smells so fresh and natural.
How to Clean Really Tarnished Silver Naturally | This is an all-time reader favorite trick for sure. It’s part science experiment, part cleaning task and it’s actually pretty fascinating to watch the tarnish just fall away from your favorite cherished silver pieces.
How to be One of Those People Who Always Have a Clean Car | The tiniest, simplest habits mean the difference between a dirty, smelly, overflowing mess of a car, and one that’s always fresh, tidy, and ready to give someone a ride without embarrassing its owner. 🙂
Homemade Grout Cleaner | Obviously cleaning your grout by hand with a toothbrush is a bit of project, but it’s also just so satisfying when you watch it actually working! It becomes almost a little addictive.
The Curtains in the Dryer Trick | Such an easy way to refresh your dusty, pet-fur covered curtains. Side note: I don’t even remember those curtains in the picture below. Were they in the bedroom? The living room? I honestly don’t even know. So funny how we forget some things so quickly.
How to Deep Clean Your Home in Six Minutes Per Day | It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a bit of focus and a good, solid plan. This is the key to avoiding the dreaded week long spring cleaning marathon. 🙂
How to Fold Sweaters for Easy and Tidy Stacking | Spring here is definitely still sweater season, but it’s still so refreshing to do a little closet clean-out and get everything tidy and aligned again after a season of pulling out sweaters day after day and sometimes putting them back in not the most pleasing looking piles. This is the trick to folding them so your sweater stacks stay tidy and don’t fall over.
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- The Creek Line House Cleaning Archives
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.