It is that time of year at last! You can open the windows and scrub your house to get stale air, dust and home pollution out. It is also a new season that begins and it means that you have to change your wardrobe and get rid of everything you will never use again!
Give and store
Chiffon dresses, skirts, tank tops, light jackets and sandals will soon replace the warm clothes and boots that take up all the space in your closets.
- Take a few minutes to store your winter clothes and hang clothes that are more suitable for the warm season.
- You should also put your children’s winter clothes in boxes if you think that they will not fit next winter. These boxes should be taken to family counters and second-hand stores.
- Find your bathing suits, sandals, tank tops and shorts. By doing this early in the season, you will probably find clothes that you had forgotten about and you'll save a little money by not buying it twice!
- Stained and ripped clothes can be recycled or donated to stores that specialize in recycling clothes.
While you’re at it, wash and sort your children’s toys and place the ones that will not be used anymore in a separate box. Then, you can throw damaged toys away and give the ones that are still good to charity. Try to find organizations that recycle toys in your area.
A mother told us that she washes most plastic toys in the dishwasher to save time. It is an idea that is worth a try, especially if you have lots of small toys.
Dust and clean
First of all, look in the box where you have put the clothes that you want to throw away and grab t-shirts and other cotton pieces to rip them into cloths. You will need a lot of these for your big clean-up and if you always have fresh ones on hand, you will not have to mix products that could produce toxic gases when combined.
In fact, you should also know that a mixture of ammonia and bleach could be really harmful. Anyway, using bleach and water alone is enough to disinfect everything that needs to be disinfected after months of closed windows and viruses of all sorts!
Also note that it is possible, even desirable, to use eco-friendly products and homemade recipes without sacrificing cleanliness. Vinegar, for example, is great for washing windows.
Now you can get started and clean the house, room by room. Move your couch and refrigerator to catch the dust that you could not reach with your weekly cleaning and clean everything that has been neglected all year. For example, you can:
- Wash windows, inside and out;
- Wash walls and ceilings;
- Soak blinds and window screens;
- Wash curtains;
- Clean the air filter;
- Clean the range hood and check whether the filter should be changed;
- Dust the cabinets;
- Wash shelves and take this opportunity to put everything in the right place;
- Sweep the bottom of your wardrobes;
- Close the vent and unscrew air inlets for cleaning;
- Clean the inside of your washer and dryer;
- Dust chandeliers and lighting fixtures;
- Clean the refrigerator thoroughly;
- Defrost the freezer and wash with soap and water;
- Clean carpets and rugs;
- Wash and polish floors if needed;
- Clean fabric sofas and armchairs.
Open your windows
After all that cleaning and after using so many cleaning products, it is necessary to open the windows to let fresh air in. It is the only way to clear the pollution, knowing that home pollution is much worse, after a long winter, than outdoor pollution.
Indeed, cleaning products, cooking fumes, breathing, dead skin, glues used for crafting, paints and solvents, as well as new materials leak pollutants that remain within our well-insulated homes and we should let fresh air in as often as possible.
Spring-cleaning is a good opportunity to do so since you move a lot of dust around and the warmer weather finally allows it!
