I’ve never been big into “spring cleaning” as I prefer to do the bulk of my deep cleaning during the winter months — and I also try to keep up with basic cleaning and purging all year long.
However, I will admit that the onset of the Spring season does give me a renewed energy to spruce up my home, declutter our closets, and give a bit more attention to certain areas I may have neglected to clean regularly throughout the winter months.
Below are 5 specific areas I personally am not the most diligent at cleaning — but I tackled them all last week (so I should be good for another year… right!)
1. Tops of door and window frames
I would say that I’m very average height (5’7″) but that’s plenty short enough to easily overlook the dust on the tops of all our door and window frames… and I most definitely overlook this dust for as long as I possibly can.
However, I got out my microfiber cloth last week and wiped them all down. It didn’t take long, but I’m glad I don’t take the time to do it every week.
I haven’t washed our windows yet… I’ll probably wait until the weather is a bit warmer first.
2. Ceiling fan blades and light fixtures
We only have one ceiling fan left in our house (in Nora and Simon’s bedroom) and I know the blades get terribly dusty over the winter. So before we start using it again this spring and summer, I wanted to wipe it down with a damp cloth and remove ALL the dust.
I also wiped down several of our other light fixtures and was surprised how dusty and dirty they were. Yikes!
3. Chair legs
Oh my word, I’m always shocked by how disgustingly gross our chair legs get — particularly our dining room chair legs (and high chair legs). It’s like my kids literally smeared food on the chair legs, let the food get dry and crusty, and then leave it there for months and months.
I don’t even know how it got as bad as it did, but I’m glad I took the time to clean it for once. I guess if I never noticed it after all this time, others probably didn’t notice it either (at least that’s what I’m telling myself).
4. Backs of appliances
When was the last time you pulled out your stove or refrigerator to clean behind them? Honestly, it’s been a REALLY REALLY long time since we cleaned behind ours — so long, in fact, that I was a little nervous of what we might find.
I just pulled the appliances out a few inches and use the hose attachment on our vacuum to suck out any dust and dirt back there. I’m sure I could have done a much better job by fully pulling them all the way out and wiping things down with a cloth, but vacuuming was good enough for me this time.
5. Kitchen hardware.
Wow, our kitchen cabinet knobs and drawer pulls were so much nastier than I realized — especially the trash cabinet, the dishwasher pull, and the cabinets above the stove.
As I was wiping the hardware down, I also did a quick once-over of the cabinet door and drawer fronts. I’m thankful fingerprints don’t show up on white cabinets otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to wait so long before washing them!
I’m sure there are more places I need to clean… but I’ll get to them eventually. For now, I’m happy to have hit a few of these often-missed areas in my home!
Some fun (FREEBIE) cleaning products!
For those of you who will be doing a little extra cleaning over the next few weeks, I want to tell you about a fabulous FREE set of cleaning products you can score from Grove.co from now through March 19…
New Customer Freebies (with your first $20 purchase):
- Mrs. Meyer’s Spring Seasonal Hand Soap (peony or lilac)
- Mrs. Meyer’s Spring Seasonal Dish Soap (peony or lilac)
- Grove Collaborative Glass Spray Bottle
- Grove Collaborative Walnut Scrubber Sponges
- Free shipping & 60-day VIP trial
Click here to set up an account and claim your free gifts.
All existing Grove Customers will receive:
The new Peony and Lilac scents are AMAZING (some of my favorite flower scents) and so “springy”. They will give your home just a little extra touch of “spring” this year!
I’ve been using Grove for just about 3 years now — ever since they first launched as ePantry back in 2014.
I’ve saved myself so much time, energy, and stress by having regular shipments of our “staples” (diapers, wipes, hand soap, dish soap, toothpaste, etc.) delivered to our doorstep on a monthly basis — all with free shipping and freebie gifts throughout the year, thanks to my VIP membership!
Also, their Grove cotton kitchen towels are one of my most favorite things! They brighten up our kitchen and are SO thick and absorbent.
I’m thrilled to be able to offer such a great group of freebie products right as Spring is approaching! If you’ve never tried Grove, now is definitely a great time to get started.
What are a few areas of your home that could use a little extra TLC?
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The freebie offer ends at 9:00 pm EST, 3/19/2017. This post is sponsored by Grove.co — all opinions are 100% my own. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!
Lori McEvoy says
Hi Andrea! I’m off work today, in the midst of the crazy snow we are getting in the Midwest- up to 14 inches!!!!!! I read your fav things post today, love them all, and had a couple questions? Are you still using grove products? What about 3 citrus cream? Also, with all the diapers you’ve used over the years, can you say you preferred one brand over another? Also, cost wise, cheaper to bulk order or subscribe and save? I know you may not have time to answer this, but whenever you can, I would appreciate it! LOVE all your posts and always go back and refer to and re-read your info and tips! Honestly can say, I truly love getting your posts and you’re the only blog i consistently refer back to and learn new ideas! Please don’t ever stop!!!!!!! Lol
Andrea says
Thanks for your kind words Lori! Glad some of my tips have helped you over the years!
To answer your questions:
– yes, still using Grove for things like dish soap and hand soap refils
– yes, still LOVING the 3 citrus eye cream (going on 12 years now)
– for diapers, I’d say Costco’s Kirkland brand is probably the best value (and a great diaper) however I did like Huggies for my newborns, and the Seventh Generation are apparently much better for the environment (I liked those the best of the “natural” brands I tried).
Hope that helps!
I’ll be shoveling snow all afternoon b/c we already have almost 4 inches (if only it would have started last night, we would have gotten a snow day!)
Pat says
I had to laugh at some of the things on your list. My mother made us pull out the stove on a regular basis. I don’t remember how often but several times a year, at least. The fridge too. As for cabinet handles, appliance fronts, door frames and window sills, they all got wiped off every evening after dinner. I washed the dishes, my sister and I cleared the table and she dried and put away. My poor brother took out the trash, every single evening.
Meghan says
The chair legs are crazy; I have to use one of those yellow scrubber things to get them clean. Disgusting but true story – we lived in our last house for 5 years, and I never cleaned the ceiling fan. I just told my husband to never turn it on or dust would go flying everywhere. I have no idea why I neglected this for so long! That was when I didn’t have a dog or children and cleaned my entire house (sans ceiling fan) once a week. I was basically cleaning clean surfaces. Lol. I now lament how much time I wasted!
Andrea says
haha — oh well, you don’t live there anymore 🙂
and yes, I’ve been there before too — cleaning clean surfaces just to say you did it that week!
Alicia says
I RARELY clean any of these areas, except maybe with the exception of the top of our ceiling fans, once it gets warmer out!
lyss says
I read once that one should only dust as high as their tallest friend. Ha ha. I admit I’m pretty lax about all those things, as well. Things like the toilets need constant cleaning. Other things like ceiling fans, not so much. I tend to clean those when I notice the dust accumulating!
Speaking of ceiling fans, why don’t you have them? Aside from the kitchen and bathrooms, to me they are a must in every room! But maybe that’s because we live in Tx where it’s hot? Are they not common up north? I’m always amazed when I watch home renovation shows and they always seem to ditch the ceiling fans for chandeliers. Even on Fixer Upper she does that…and they’re in Tx! I know chandeliers are pretty, but when the house is 80+ degrees, fans are a lifesaver!
Andrea says
haha — unfortunately for me, we have some VERY tall friends and relatives (upwards of 6’5″) however, it apparently hasn’t bothered me all that much. I figure all the tall ones are guys and if I don’t care, they certainly don’t!
As for the ceiling fans — I’m just not a “fan” (pun intended!)
We have one in the kid’s bedroom for air circulation in the summer, otherwise we just use our AC when it’s hot out. Michigan is VERY humid, so ceiling fans really do nothing to help with the humidity — which is why we prefer AC over fans.
Demi says
Iyss- I think ceiling fans are a more southern thing. I’ve lived in Boston, Texas, and Oklahoma and never saw them up north but see them used in the south extensively. My father taught me how to flip the switch to push the heat down in the winter and pull the cold up in the summer to help with the energy bills. I noticed a difference once I started doing it especially in the summer with the AC.
As for cleaning the fans- my trick is to use the extension pole on the vacuum and a broom to hold the blades in place. I vacuum the crud that accumulates on the edges since the tops don’t really collect with the fans are always moving in the house. We have 4 dogs so this is the only thing on the list I actually do on a regular basis
lyss says
Well, we do have AC, but in the summer it’s common for our house to stay over 80….with the AC running. And, yes, it’s always humid. Air moving makes it seem at least a little cooler. (Old house with old windows problem!) But at least we have it, even if it doesn’t cool the greatest. I grew up with no AC. I remember plenty of 100 degree days and it would be in the 90s inside. We had multiple fans in every room. Back then, we had fans even in the kitchen and bathrooms!
It sounds like you can do without if your AC will actually get down where you want it, and/or you live where summers are mild. We have neither, so we like our fans. 🙂
Meghan says
Some people have them in Ohio, but I personally don’t like air blowing on me. We don’t have any in our home. AC all the way 🙂
Christine from The (mostly) Simple Life says
We just bought a new house, so we’ve been cleaning things pretty thoroughly. I can’t stand feeling like someone else’s germs are here!
I found an amazing Groupon deal to have our ducts cleaned, so that’s happening next week. It’s pretty shocking how nasty ducts can get and my husband has super bad allergies, so it helps that too.
When we had it done at our last house, they pulled out toys that the previous kids had shoved down the vents! I’m sure it was making our furnace run less efficiently!
Andrea says
yay for the new house! congrats! and yes, cleaning the new house is a must (especially the vents!) Happy spring cleaning!
Jo says
I’ve also been on a bit of a cleaning spree lately! I cleaned the glass on our gas fireplace and even opened it up to clean the inside glass as well (pinterest tutorial) – what a huge difference! I’ve also been dusting and then using pine sole on the grooves in all of our nice wooden oak doors; the dust really built up and dried out the wood. Cleaned out the dust in our bathrooms fans – I could see it caked on, and with spring on the move, it gave me the energy to finally take care of it! I am definitely going to tackle the backs of our kitchen appliances now, you’ve inspired me 🙂
Andrea says
Yes, I need to dust the grooves and indentations on our doors. I was just looking at the dust accumulating yesterday. That can be another project to add to my list 🙂
Micki Carter says
I take off the lid/top of the toilet water tank. clean out tank and under lids. I pay my Tall grandson to clean over the door tops. Pay my grand daughter to wipe my baseboards. Helps me & them.
Andrea says
wow — good job cleaning the INSIDE of the toilet tank. I don’t think I’ve ever done that! Although in my defence, we replaced all our toilets so they are all relatively new and don’t have other people’s grossness on them 🙂
Annette Silveira says
Should it make me this happy that you have so many gross, disgusting places in your house (that I am immediately putting on my list to clean this week)?
Andrea says
haha — sure, you can feel happy about that 🙂
happy cleaning!