Too many homeowners mistake “spring cleaning” as yet another chore to be done. In reality, it’s just a necessary step to maintaining your investment (i.e., your home).
It’s also vital to your family’s health and safety — and, many times, your sanity, too.
On top of all this, spring cleaning offers a good opportunity to declutter, pare down, and maybe even give back to those in the community who need it.
Are you gearing up for your annual spring cleaning? Use this checklist to guide the way:
Kitchen
In the kitchen, you’ll want to clean both the inside and exterior of all appliances, including your oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave.
You should also:
- Throw out old and expired food
- Clean the fronts and insides of the cabinets and drawers
- Deep clean the sink
- Dust and clean light fixtures
- Use a toothbrush to clean any grout on the counters or backsplash
- Wipe down and disinfect the counters
- Mop the floors
- Wipe down the walls, window sills, and baseboards
- Wash any rugs
- Wash the windows
- Clean the disposal
- Dust and polish the kitchen table and chairs
- Polish the silverware
- Wash the curtains or drapes
- Dust the blinds
- Wash any decorative towels
- Clean out any “junk” drawers
- Wipe down the light switches, doors, and door handles
Bedrooms
The first thing you should do in your bedrooms is go through your drawers and closets. Separate out the clothes you no longer wear, don’t fit into, or no longer like. You can either donate these or sell them later on.
Then, you can:
- Dust the blinds and wipe down the window sills
- Wipe down the walls and baseboards
- Vacuum and steam clean the carpet
- Wash the windows
- Wash your rugs, duvet, curtains, and other linens
- Flip your mattress
- Dust and polish any furniture
- Polish any hardware
- Wipe down the light switches, doors, and door handles
Bathrooms
Tackle the tubs and showers first, paying special attention to any grout that’s visible. You can use a toothbrush to remove any really ingrained dirt or mildew.
Next up, you should:
- Discard any expired makeup, toiletries, or other products
- Clean the fronts and insides of drawers and cabinets
- Wipe down the counters and backsplash
- Clean the sinks, including around the faucet and drain stopper
- Clean the showerhead
- Polish any drawer pulls or hardware
- Wipe down the walls and baseboards
- Sweep and mop the floors
- Dust the ceiling fan
Living area
To start, move all the major furniture away from its curtain placement, and vacuum those areas. You should also remove any cushions and use the handheld part of your vacuum to remove any crumbs or debris from there, too.
You can then move the furniture back, vacuum the remainder of the room, and take a steam cleaner to the visible parts of the carpet. Once the carpet dries, you can:
- Vacuum the upholstered furniture and pillows
- Dust and polish and hard furniture
- Wash the blankets, curtains, and other linens
- Wipe down the window sills and wash the windows
- Wipe down the walls, mantel, and baseboards
- Dust the ceiling fan
- Dust any electronics
- Wipe down the light switches, doors, and door handles
Garage or attic
These areas usually just need a bit of tidying, especially if you’ve recently pulled holiday decorations from there (or put them back, hopefully).
Take some time to organize your shelves and boxes, and make sure nothing is blocking any walkways. You can also sweep, wipe down any doors and door handles, and check any lightbulbs or batteries the room requires (for the garage opener, for example).
Find any repairs along the way?
If you come across any major repairs or upgrades your home needs along the way, get in touch with Premier Nationwide Lending. A cash-out refinance may be able to help you cover those fixes — and may even mean a lower interest rate, too.
Premier Nationwide Lending is an Equal Housing Opportunity lender. Sponsored by NTFN, Inc. 6201 West Plano Parkway, Suite 100, Plano, TX 75093 | NTFN NMLS 75333.
