As I mentioned last month, I no longer have a super strict cleaning routine — and it’s fabulous. It took a little while to get used to “no routine,” but over-all I’m much happier and less stressed… and our house is still clean ENOUGH!
However, I’ll be the first to admit that while our house is clean enough, there are still lots of little places that I know haven’t been cleaned in a long time. They are silly things like the tops of picture frames, light switches, the floor behind the toilet, the molding on top of our doors and windows, etc. etc. etc.
These are places no one else notices, but I know the dust and dirt is there.
I’ve restrained myself from any unnecessary cleaning for months, but since I’m Type A and I actually enjoy cleaning, it was only a matter of time before I did a good deep-cleaning… and what better time than in the spring!
I specifically waited until spring break because Dave is home for the whole week and I can quickly plow through all the cleaning… without interruptions! My main objectives are to do a “once-over” clean of the entire house, purge our closets, and catch up on the “extra” laundry (pillows, comforters, winter gear, rugs, etc.)
Obviously, I won’t spend the entire week cleaning — my plan is to do a couple loads of laundry every morning and then send Dave outside with Nora for about an hour every afternoon. It’s amazing how much I can get done in one glorious hour in the middle of the day, all while they enjoy some father-daughter bonding. Win win!
So since I’ll be doing lots of cleaning over the next few days, I figure this would be a great time to share some of my favorite cleaning posts from my archives.
If you’re sticking around for spring break and have the opportunity to do a little spring cleaning, hopefully this post will motivate and inspire you to get to work. If you’re away on vacation — I hope you enjoy the sun!
Happy Spring Break and Spring Cleaning!
Getting Started:
Before you get knee-deep in dirt and dust, here are a few posts you might want to read…
- 10 tips to speed up your weekly cleaning
- 10 steps to a clean home
- A laundry list (pun intended) of my favorite cleaning products — many of which are homemade
- 101 uses for vinegar
- How I clean our cleaning tools
- The secret to a clean home
- Our “non-routine” cleaning routine
LAUNDRY:
I have a love-hate relationship with laundry. I honestly don’t mind doing the laundry — but I have yet to come up with the perfect system for our laundry needs. I’m currently doing about 2-3 loads of laundry a week (more on weeks when I wash bedding). I don’t sort any of the colored items so I usually do one load of whites and then 1-2 loads of colors per week. I usually wash the sheets once a month.
During our spring break, I’m hoping to wash all our winter gear (optimistic, I know), rugs, sheets, blankets, comforters, and probably even the pillows.
Here’s a list of my favorite laundry posts (you can also scroll through them all here)
- 10 tips to simplify your laundry routine
- 5 MORE tips to simplify your laundry routine
- My thoughts on washing whites
- What do you do with “half dirty” clothes?
- How I wash dry-clean only items
- 10 ideas to remove static cling
- Soapnunts — natural laundry soap
KITCHEN:
I can’t stand a dirty kitchen, so I do try to clean the kitchen every day — not obsessively, just enough so I feel good about eating and preparing food in a clean space. Dave often helps to wipe down the counters and table after dinner, wash the dishes, clean out the dishwasher, and keep the kitchen relatively decluttered, so I’m thankful for that.
And I will say that ever since we finished our kitchen renovation, it has been LOTS more fun to keep our kitchen clean 🙂
During Spring Break, I’m hoping to spend a few extra minutes in the kitchen wiping down the cabinet fronts, scrubbing the floor, and cleaning out the fridge/freezer.
Here are some of my favorite kitchen cleaning posts.
- How to clean a gas stovetop
- Tips to care for and clean a porcelain sink
- Garbage disposal maintenance and care
- A-Z uses for your dishwasher — yes, you really can clean all these things in your dishwasher
- DIY granite counter top cleaner
BATHROOM:
I used to clean all our bathrooms from top to bottom every week, but since Dave and I really only use one of our bathrooms and since I’m the only one home all day, I’ve scaled back a lot. Now I only clean the main floor bathrooms every 2 weeks and just keep them de-cluttered the rest of the time. I clean the showers every month or so, and I clean the toilets whenever company comes over 🙂
Over our Spring Break, I’m hoping to thoroughly clean the floors, the baseboards… and behind the toilets!
Here are some of my favorite bathroom cleaning posts.
- How I clean our showers in 10 minutes a month
- My homemade shower cleaner
- How I cleaned our chrome shower fixtures with lemons!
- My bathroom cleaning bucket
- How to clear a clogged drain
OTHER:
There are so many other posts I have about cleaning — so here are a few more tips, tricks, and ideas!
- Homemade window and glass cleaner
- How to clean and sanitize sponges
- Why we get our carpets cleaned every year
- How I keep our white couch WHITE
- 10 odd spots to keep in mind when cleaning your home
- How to quickly polish your silver
OK, so I think that’s enough for now!
Elizabeth Post says
Just cleaned our sunroom today!! Waiting and wishing for spring to makes it way to Grand Rapids. I am a lot like you in the sense that I have scaled back on my cleaning too. I’m a little OCD in that department. My friends always ask me how I can have 3 kids and keep my house so clean. There are many reasons (a lot of which I find in your blog), but one of the biggest is that I do a lot of maintaining!! I save my super deep cleaning for the change in seasons, mainly winter to spring and summer to fall.
Luba says
Well, I have started to de-clutter and organize, but I need to get going on the cleaning part. I try to keep up on my every day cleaning, but spring cleaning will need to take bigger priority very soon. The warmer weather encourages me to open up windows and air out the house!
Natalia says
I love all the links to previous posts. it helped me remember some of the wonderful tips and read some older ones that I did see until just now.
We had gorgeous weather last week-end so, yes! I took advantage of that and washed all 16 windows (inside and out, plus screens!), laundered all bedding, linnens and window coverings (moved furniture around so I can wipe the floors), cleaned the furniture, bathrooms and everything else I could get to in one day 🙂
I am so sore all over, but so glad I did it!!!
However, I did my best to NOT get distracted by re-organizing the closet or cleaning inside of drawers and cabinets. I wanted to, but I just had to leave that for another day. The kitchen will need another day of detail cleaning. So far, I only wiped down the exterior of the cabinets & moped the floors and called it good.
Thanks for asking 🙂