Do you enjoy a thoroughly deep-cleaned home but don’t have the time or energy for a proper top-to-bottom “Spring Cleaning”? If so, you’ll love my pre-spring cleaning method. It’s a fantastically simple way to deep clean your home in no time at all!
As a born and raised West Michigander, I have a fondness for all 4 seasons… but often with anxious anticipation for the end of our looooooong, grey, dreary winter.
When the first few hints of Spring finally arrive, you better believe I don’t want to spend one more minute inside — yet, I strongly value a neat, clean, organized, and peaceful home.
As a result, I decided years ago that I would do the vast majority of my deep cleaning (a.k.a. “Spring Cleaning”) in late Winter… instead of actually waiting until Spring.
Of course, this shift is doable in our modern era where we no longer need to clean our homes from top to bottom after a long winter of burning coal or wood in inefficient stoves.
Thankfully, our homes aren’t nearly as dirty, dusty, greasy, or grimey as they were in past centuries (although they might be more cluttered!)😁
NOTE: if you’re interested in a bit of history on the practice of Spring Cleaning, I found some interesting information here.
During the 8 weeks from mid-January through mid-March, I make a point to tackle some of the bigger home maintenance tasks on my mental list — things I often do once or twice a year — allowing extra time outside once Spring eventually arrives here in West Michigan!
Want to join in on the pre-spring cleaning fun?
Here are a few projects I hope to tackle over the next 8 weeks.
1. Dust baseboards, door frames, and windows.
I dust occasionally throughout the year — but certainly not on any type of weekly basis. I usually only think of dusting when I see a visibly dusty area (true story).
Maybe our air filters are extra efficient or maybe I simply have a high tolerance for the appearance of dust, but dusting has never been a priority for me.
I’d much rather devote my time and energy to the bathrooms, kitchens, and floors (and general decluttering.)
However, I give all surfaces a good dusting in the winter — especially the baseboards, door frames, and window frames.
Related Resources:
2. Wash windows.
Yes, I know winter is a strange time to wash windows, but I choose a sunny, above-freezing day and I work quickly.
Honestly, the blast of cold air is refreshing!
All our windows “fold in” on themselves, so they are fairly quick and easy to wipe down, especially since I only use this window cloth and water (no buckets or sprays to wrangle).
I rinse out the cloth after each window and wash it when I’m finished with the entire house.
I then use the same cloth to clean mirrors each week — and to wipe down various windows and doors as necessary all year long.
Related Resources:
- My favorite window cleaning cloths
- DIY Window and Glass Cleaner (if you’d rather use a spray)
3. Wash all pillows and comforters.
I have a love-hate relationship with linens… as in, I love the feeling of freshly washed bedding, but I hate the process of washing it all!
I wash our pillowcases weekly, and the sheets, blankets, and mattress pads monthly.
Then twice a year (in the winter and the summer) I wash the comforters, quilts, bedspreads, and pillows (yes you can wash pillows). It’s a lot of extra laundry in one week, but I’m convinced it has greatly extended the life of our pillows — and we have really nice pillows!
Related Resources:
4. Clean ceiling fans and bathroom vent fans.
In just a few minutes, I can quickly wipe down the blades of each ceiling fan… and then it’s done again for quite a while. They are surprisingly dustier than I expect every time!
The bathroom vent fans aren’t as quick and easy, but I need to clean them at least twice a year, or they get pretty gross looking.
I fully remove all the vent covers and wash them in soapy water in our kitchen sink (use a good degreaser like the blue Dawn).
Then I use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe down the tiny fan blades and the inside of the fan compartment.
This small effort makes a huge difference in the appearance of our vent fans, and I’m certain it also improves the performance.
5. Snake the drains in our sinks, showers, and bathtub.
We didn’t have nearly as many issues with clogged drains before we had children (specifically girls with LONG hair!)
Thankfully, at-home drain snakes are inexpensive so I always keep a few on-hand for emergencies.
However, I also add this task to my pre-spring cleaning checklist — using a cold winter afternoon to thoroughly clean the drains for each bathroom sink, shower, and tub.
It’s not a glamours job, but I’m always glad when it’s finished!
Related Resources:
- My favorite at-home drain snake
- DIY drain cleaner (I do this after snaking the drains)
6. Clean all kitchen appliances.
I try to stay on top of small messes in the kitchen on a daily basis — wiping down the refrigerator and stovetop regularly, scrubbing the sink almost nightly, and keeping the counter as clear as I can.
However, I like to give the appliances a good “deep clean” at some point each winter.
I usually try to tackle them all in one week because it never takes me nearly as long as I think, and then everything is relatively clean at the same time (at least for that week!)
Related Resources:
- How to clean the dishwasher
- How to clean the garbage disposal
- How to clean a gas stovetop
- How to quickly clean the inside of the oven
- How to clean a porcelain sink
After I finish the big appliances, I like to touch up our small appliances as well:
- Coffee Maker (run a cycle of vinegar through it and then several cycles of cold water)
- Toaster (clean out the massive amount of crumbs in the bottom)
- Toaster Oven (same as the toaster)
- Hand Mixer and Stand Mixer (wipe it down to remove splatters)
- Immersion Blender (run all attachments through the dishwasher)
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen each week, so clean appliances make my job faster and easier. Plus, regular maintenance extends the life of our appliances (which were a pretty hefty investment).
7. Eat through our pantry and freezer.
Although I love having a well-stocked pantry and freezer, I also get super excited to eat only from the pantry and freezer once or twice a year.
This self-imposed challenge is a fun way to force a little more creativity in the kitchen and it prevents lots of potentially wasted food that gets lost in the back of the pantry and freezer.
Plus, we save a few hundred bucks by not buying groceries for roughly 2 weeks!
If you’ve never tried an eat-from-the-pantry-challenge, I encourage you to try one this winter. The resources below might help.
NOTE: once you’ve eaten through your freezer stash, it’s an ideal time to defrost your freezer.
Related Resources:
- How to do an eat-from-the-pantry challenge
- How to stretch your grocery shopping to every 2 (or 3) weeks
- How to make the most of your freezer space
- How to store bulk foods
8. Go through every closet.
It’s not uncommon to find me randomly working on a small organizing project in the middle of the day — that’s just how my brain is wired.
However, this time of year, I intentionally make a point to sort, organize, and declutter each closet in our home (bedrooms, mudroom, extra storage closet, game closet, etc.)
I don’t force myself to move quickly, but rather work at whatever pace fits that day — depending largely on how many children are home with me!
These closet “deep cleaning” sessions are a good time to take note of what we might need for Spring/Summer (I do the same thing in late Summer to evaluate what we need for Fall/Winter).
Related Resources:
- The 80/20 Rule for your Closets
- 2 Quick Tips to Clear Closet Clutter
- The Questions that Helped me Purge 75% of my Wardrobe
- My favorite hangers
Miscellaneous
I don’t know about you, but I always have a growing mental list of “little things I need/want to do when I have the time”.
Things like:
- change the batteries in all the smoke alarms, clocks, etc.
- replace various light bulbs
- swap out new pictures in certain frames
- call to get the carpets cleaned
- take bags/boxes to the local donation center
- back up computers (I try to do this monthly… but don’t always remember)
I use my “pre-spring cleaning” time to cross off a few of these miscellaneous projects as well.
Simplify Your Pre-Spring Cleaning
Click an image below to read more.
Why I love pre-spring cleaning:
These projects are not time-sensitive — I can work at my own pace, doing a little more each day and each week because I’m ‘stuck’ inside anyway.
Our home is cleaner and more organized without huge amounts of time and stress on my part.
Our things last longer with proper care and regular maintenance — meaning we save more time and money in the long-run and are better stewards of what we’ve been given.
I personally appreciate and value our home more after a thorough deep clean.
I have significantly more free time once the warm weather arrives!
Give it a try…
Look over the next 8 weeks on your calendar and assign one pre-spring cleaning task to each week.
I think you’ll be surprised how quickly the weeks fly by… and how much cleaner your home is without all that much extra effort!
Make sure you let me know if you try it (or if you’ve tried it in the past.)
Terri says
Hi, Andrea!
Thank you for recommending the window cleaning cloths.
I am in love!
Forgive me if you have already done so, but would you share how you clean yours?
Thank you so much!
Andrea says
oh good– I’m glad you like the cloth. It IS amazing!
I literally just use water (get the cloth wet and wring it out really well) and then wipe the windows and mirrors.
I rinse out the cloth regularly and then hang to dry.
I do wash it eventually — but it can go a really long time with just being rinsed out!
Liane says
Hi Andrea,
I just realized like Calliope I’ve followed you for forever … before Nora!
Here, just yesterday, our Dec 17 mandatory lockdown ended. It’s not much to celebrate though because other than a curfew nothing has changed. Can’t go to the park for a walk, stores are requiring masks and six feet spacing, movies, restaurants and sports are still not happening unless you relish dining outside in 40° weather with 20 mph gusts. So….
Seems like jumping in and really purging is in order. I used to follow flylady but I’ve come to realize that cleaning a room instead of running all over dusting here, there, then going back and vacuuming seems very counterproductive. I downloaded an amazing category list of stuff to evaluate and I sure wish I could remember where I got it because nothing is over looked. I decided each day to focus on three chores – one thing to clean the space of course, then second to organize one space in that room and finally to make sure I maintain the areas I’ve already done. So today I scrubbed the bath fixtures, purged the makeup drawer, and then vacuumed the main traffic areas where the inevitable threads and scraps of paper appear. Not keeping to a insane schedule (like flylady for example) puts me in the driver’s seat. If I get the urge to scrub my bathtub and polish it like today (it’s fiberglass and lost it’s gleam) I’m going to. Just so long as laundry, dishes are done, beds are made and clutter picked up. When I was about 10 I told my mom that a mess was a series of things not put away. She was a tidy householder, everything was neat as a pin, but everything was grimy and the stove was a grease splattered mess. There was wax buildup on the linoleum and the drapes were heavy with dust. But never ever did you see a coat on a chair or shoes kicked off by the sofa! I’m learning still there’s a balance in all this and given I’m essentially trapped in my house I may as well get busy. Before COVID our fall and winter was busy with holidays and sports events – football games and chilly bike rides followed by hot cocoa. The most exciting thing I did today was rake up a pile of birch tree leaves and then stomp on them. Thanks for a blog that brings some happiness and light! I had planned to do some quilting but to my dismay the only fabric shop here is shuttered. So I picked up my iPad to see what you were up to.
Andrea says
HI Liane,
Thanks for your kind words and your LOOOOONG time readership!
Sorry for the delay in my response — your comment got “lost” in my spam folder 🙁
I’m glad you are not on lock-down anymore, BUT I totally feel your pain with everything else you mentioned. We have the same rules of masks and 6 ft. pretty much everywhere — which means I’d much rather just stay home!
Spring will be here soon though — then we can do parks and outside dining!
Karlyn says
Thanks for sharing this! I have used a similar system of “never spring clean again” for many years, and highly recommend it as a fabulous way to stay on top of the more infrequent chores. My only difference from your system is that I spread out the cleaning over a year, with four weeks off each year: two for vacation, and two for Christmas season. Each week I have a few chores placed in the following categories: weekly, every other week, two times a quarter, quarterly, two times a year, and yearly. I can breeze through these, usually in about 1-2 hours each week. I have also built purging all storage areas into this schedule. Great system!
Andrea says
I love how you’ve tweaked the system to work for YOU and YOUR schedule — that’s so important! Thanks for sharing how this same concept looks for you!
Calliope says
I started reading your blog when Nora was a wee baby! And ever since I “spring” clean your way. I am a fairly organised person myself and I always enjoy the process of cleaning my house but oh my lord…the spring cleaning week used to be SUCH a huge mental burdain. Well…I can proudly say I haven’t spring cleaned my house in a decade but it is still spotless and healthy to live in! Thank you Andrea!
I clean a bit differently though, I focus in one room at a time. It may take a whole week to thoroughly clean a guest room but hey! Who cares?? The only room that is always left for spring is the living room where my fireplace lives so I clean it whenever we stop using the fireplace as everything in there will need washing even walls. And of course the most tiring room is still the kitchen so that takes even more time. All in all by May I’m done and ready to hit the beach 🙂
Andrea says
That sounds like a great system! And yes, I’ve enjoyed corresponding with you via email and the comment section for the last several years — thanks so much for your long-time readership!
Alyssa says
This will probably sound weird to you – but I wasn’t born knowing how to clean. Some days I freeze up at the very thought of it because I just don’t know what to do next. So lists like this are life savers for me! I live in FL (and just moved into a new house), so I will save it for August when I’m stuck inside in the air conditioning 😉
Andrea says
no weird at all — I learned A LOT about cleaning in my early twenties (mainly because I’ve always been crazy interested in “how to clean” and “how to organize” a home).
I watched a lot of Martha Stewart, read a lot of Real Simple magazine, and even checked out books on the topic (that was back before blogs!)
Keep making your lists (or using mine) and just do a little each day. Enjoy the sunshine!
Natalia says
You should see me making a long list of “Remember to do…” items, as I scrolled down this post.
You brought up so many maintenance ideas that I want to remember to do before spring!! I try to stay on top of things year-round, but there are items I don’t think to do unless it’s an emergency (like cleaning the drains!!). So easy, yet overlooked…
Besides, I love checking things off a list 😉
Andrea says
you and me both! — checking things off my list is one of my MOST favorite things 🙂
Ashley says
I definitely get what you mean about the long winters! Our Wyoming winter has been pretty mild so far, I’m actually hoping for more snow! I can’t recall if you’ve discussed how you handle chores/jobs in your house, but I’ve started giving more of the “little things I see that need cleaning” jobs to my kids and paying them a small commission. They love earning money, I love not having to crawl around the house wiping baseboards! I actually made a spreadsheet with all the jobs they can do with a value attached to it (most are $0.05 to $0.25) so it doesn’t cost me hardly anything, they learn the value of work and money. Win-win!
Andrea says
that’s awesome — you can’t get much better than $0.05 to $0.25 per chore! Good for you!
julie says
I can totally relate to having to wipe down the legs of chairs and tables once you have kids! Any time i have to clean up a mess on the floor i take a quick look at the table and chair legs — i’m always shocked at how dirty they get! When does this stuff happen?
Andrea says
Sometimes I just look the other way because I don’t have the time or desire to wipe down all the legs. I just pretend it’s not there!
Also, we have dark green and black chairs so it’s harder to see 🙂
Trisha G says
Oh my gosh, Andrea, I am SO glad you confessed that you pretend that those messes aren’t there! I do that all the time with our chair legs but every time my eye catches one, I cringe a little bit and think how rotten of a housekeeper I am for not getting to them more than once a year (okay, or longer). But I would so much rather spend that time taking my kids to the park or the library or reading a good book than scrubbing on those darn chair legs! So, I’m glad we have thag in common because it makes me feel better about myself. 😉 Thanks!
Organize 365 says
Oh I am SO glad to see you took the 2nd captain chair out of the minivan. I have done this the entire time I have had a minivan (14 years!) and it is AWESOME!!
It is SO nice to be able to climb in the back with the kids and get them settled – especially in the rain. Even with teenagers I have left the seat out. SO many of my friends did the same thing once they saw my van.
I was afraid to mention it since it is kind of an out of the box idea. 🙂
Lisa
Andrea says
yeah, I always knew this was how I would set things up with 3 kids. Also, we have the stow-‘n-go seats, so they just fold right up into the floor — no need to take anything out! That was one of my main requirements when shopping for minivans!
Mommymommy says
We did this configuration with three kids, too! I loved it! You can also pile lots and lots of bags of groceries in there if the trunk is full, though I suppose you’d wish you hadn’t if there was an accident.
I’m sad it doesn’t work with four kids now. It’s so crowded–my husband reaches over the back seat from the trunk to buckle the kids in the back seat. I’m getting too pregnant to get back there now!
Michelle says
I’m working on a similar list too right now. Also, I noticed that a lot of your projects would be very easy with my favorite new tool. Honestly, I love this thing! My husband bought us a dyson stick vacuum. I wasn’t sure how much I would like it and was nervous about spending the money… It is the only vacuum for me now. I use it as a handheld for the car with the floor attachment. I use it with a small soft brush for the wood blinds and tops of doors. The soft floor attachment for vinyl floors. The brush for the carpet. The small attachment for the couches and chairs, the soft brush with the stick for the skylights and cobwebs in the ceilings.
The only drawback is the battery life. And then I realized I don’t want to vacuum for more than 15 minutes at a time ever. I did a sloppy job with the old one for that reason and wound up with a sore neck and back. This one is light weight. So I do one section of the house or blinds or the car a day. And then I put the thing away, hanging on the wall nice and neat. Perfect for cleaning up after kids and covering large areas in a short amount of time.
Andrea says
I have looked at those Dyson stick vacuums, but knew I’d be disappointed if it didn’t have a good battery life. You’d think for something THAT expensive, they would figure out how to get a better battery that actually holds a charge!
I have tried SO many different dust buster, stick vacuums, and other cordless vacuums and have always been disappointed with how the battery goes “bad” over time.
I’m glad it works well for you though — I suppose you’re right in that I rarely ever vacuum for more than 15 minutes in one setting.
Kaitlin @ The Mom on Purpose says
I love this list! I’m also a “late winter cleaner” instead of a spring cleaner! I try to tackle my deep(er) cleaning tasks before the nice weather hits so we can start outside projects, which are so much more fun!
My house seems to be the same way with random places getting dirtier with little sticky hands! A new place I discovered the other day was the little lip that goes around the base of our kitchen table. Apparently my 4 year old has been wiping his hands on it rather than his napkin! I don’t even want to know how long some of that gunk had been there! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Always love your posts!
Karen says
I remember discovering that one of mine was stowing unwanted food in the tracks that make the table extendable. The dog was very interested in the underside of the table…
Andrea says
yes, the cracks of our table our grose!
Andrea says
yes, that area of the table is ALWAYS grose. I usually only take the time to really wipe it well if people are coming over for dinner 🙂
Amy says
I do a lot of the same being in Northern IL. I use this inside time to go room by room even if it takes a few weeks.
I hope your love your new van. I got mine last March and we do the same configuration with leaving the seat down behind the driver. It makes it so much easier to get in and out.
Andrea says
Thanks Amy! We took our first drive in the new van today (now that we have the license plate and insurance). There were a few things I couldn’t figure out — but mostly I love it! And yes, “stowing” that other bucket seat is amazing! We feel like we have SO much extra room!
Sandra says
I read somewhere that the “dry clean only” label on bedding is meant to protect your machine. Apparently the weight of the bedding when wet can be too much for some top-loading machines to handle, particularly the older ones. Not sure if that applies to front-loaders as well. I don’t remember where I read it, but seeing as I have a top-loader, I always follow that advice just to be safe.
Andrea says
Hmmmm, interesting concept Sandra! I can totally see how this would be the case — at least for the heavy comforters and pillows. I don’t think it could explain the dryclean only clothes that I regularly wash in my own washing machine though 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Bonnie'sMama says
The idea of spring cleaning came about back in the days when people’s houses weren’t nearly as tight, and they used wood and coal stoves for heat and lamps and candles to light their houses. They also used straw for carpet padding. This made a lot of smoke and dust which accumulated all winter long, not to mention all the insects that came in with the firewood. So when spring came, people really needed to wash smoke and dust off of everything, and beat rugs and furniture to get dust out, and put new straw under the carpet.
Now, we’re able to vacuum our hypo-allergenic carpets all year long. We have filters on our furnaces to eliminate much of the dust. We have electric lights, which don’t create smoke. Our houses are built much more tightly with tight windows, and we have lots of paved roads, so there’s far less dust getting in our houses anyway.
So it’s really not necessary to do this massive overhaul of the whole house and drag all the rugs and furniture out into the yard. After a typical weekly cleaning, our houses are probably cleaner than at the end of an old-fashioned spring cleaning.
There, isn’t that nice to know? You don’t have to feel guilty if you don’t do a Proper Spring Cleaning. Even knowing that, though, it does still feel good to tackle some of the corners and get them ready for spring.
Andrea says
Yes Bonnie, I did know this — and I frequently think about how grossly dirty the insides of those houses must have been by the time spring came! Also, their clothing… so sweaty and dirty and smoky, and the only way they could clean it was by scrubbing it on a washboard in luke-warm grungy water. Then hang it to dry and put it right back on again. YUCK!
There is lots of nostalgia about life “back then” but I’ll take our modern conveniences any day!
Christine @ The (mostly) Simple Life says
Thanks for the reminder! Once the weather get nice (I’m in West Michigan too), I want to be out working on our yard. One year I tried to do a HUGE spring cleaning list in one week for the whole house and it was sooo exhausting! Doing extra cleaning here and there works better for me too, though it was nice to have the whole house clean at once.
Andrea says
yeah, I don’t do any big huge cleaning projects anymore… it’s just pointless with 3 little kids around and I always end up frustrated 🙂 So I do small little projects spread out over time and eventually everything gets clean!