… And How To Make Spring Cleaning Easier

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

If you consider large home projects like spring cleaning overly cumbersome and struggle with where to start, this is the most logical, step by step plan of action to get you started.

And the best part?

You can start from ground zero, you may not even know where to begin when everything from the top to the floors is dirty.

In short, if you want to finally have a sparkly fresh deep (i.e. deep enough) cleaned house this spring, then this guide is for you.

Let’s roll up our metaphorical sleeves and get started:

This post may contain affiliate links.

1. A PLAN:

If you take up a larger-than-routine project like this one, you need a plan so, at the very least, you don’t waste time and energy. For that, I suggest you first determine your own personal style of working and the ways in which you tackle tasks better.

Then you commit to it in writing, which will serve to keep you on track, focused without losing your spirit or momentum and also to help you see all the things you have to do in one place.

I  went through this ultimate cleaning guide before I made my own plan which I share below. Honestly, I knew nothing and this guide gave me a very clear method and cleaning recipes. It included super useful and pretty printables which make cleaning fun as you track progress and tick off stuff. My favorites were the chore cards.

Okay, here’s how you can work:

• You will create a schedule according to how much time and energy you can logically and easily spare.
• And then you will create the list of tasks you need to and can accomplish in that schedule.

Now, let’s dig into each:

A Spring Cleaning Schedule That Suits YOUR Needs

There are many ways moms spring clean depending on their specific circumstances.

Ask yourself questions like:

• can you afford to go all in for a day with three kids?
• do you have the energy to thoroughly clean one room per day and wind up the whole project in a week?

I will give you a few options to see how most other moms do it:

1. One day cleaning spree
2. any weekend
3. a one-week plan
4. a 30-day cleaning schedule

I chose the last one because baby #2 is due next week as I type this, and I have been severely low on energy. Plus I cannot ignore my kid and leave him busy with independent activities etc for very hours in a day.

But on the other hand, I did not just want to rush through it but wanted to do as many of the pending cleaning tasks as possible. (I knew I won’t be redoing it anytime soon this year so I might as well just tackle all in this round.)

So while I would love to avoid stretching work to an entire month, and instead go deep for a shorter period of time; I actually used discipline to stick to a longer plan. I broke my spring cleaning tasks into bite-sized manageable daily work spread out over a month.

In your mind’s eye, really see how the schedule you choose would go. See yourself doing that work so you can identify any challenges you think will arise and then plan accordingly.

Spring Cleaning Checklist Printable

Here is a list of the tasks I accomplished for you ready to print out for handy use. Just put a big fat cross over each task as you work through this list.

It may be less for some of you; and too much for others. But I say just start with this, start somewhere.  See how much you can do, if you succeed at crossing off everything in this list, add more chores in the empty spaces I left for you.

On the other hand, if you are unable to complete everything in this list, rest assured that even half of them ticked off means a much cleaner house than where we were before.

Promise!

I have also included an empty cleaning schedule page so you can insert whichever tasks from the list you pick for your cleaning days.

2. THE FUEL:

This is a given, once you get started, somewhere you will begin to get tired or lose interest. Especially if your schedule is stretched over a month.

While shorter cleaning schedules like one day or one weekend may be easier to stay motivated in, they do not allow for covering more tasks on the list, which was, in fact, my primary goal because like I mentioned, I wasn’t going to come back to this project any time soon this year.

How To Develop Spring Cleaning Motivation

• Tell your friends or family to visit you soon. Tell yourself to finish the cleaning project before that due date so everyone can see and appreciate your clean and decluttered house. For me, my biggest motivation was our new baby. I really wanted to have a clean and organized house once my baby came. Also, so I would feel better recovering from everything birth related when the entire house would be squeaky clean. Attach a heartwarming event at the end of your spring cleaning goals as I did.
• If you can’t or don’t want to arrange a gathering after a tiring spring cleaning session, ask your family or friends to hold you accountable or even better if they start their spring cleaning at the same time too. It can be a fun session. You can all post images of your daily accomplishments in a closed facebook group or Pinterest board.
• I don’t listen to music* so I say listen to a motivational podcast on goal crushing.
• Take a tour of real life or an online squeaky clean house. My favorites online are Abby and Tasha’s houses. They are so clean you instantly feel motivated to create a beautiful space around you too.
• Track your daily progress in writing. In a few days, you wouldn’t want to break the chain of accomplishments you have worked so hard to make.
• Make conscious, deliberate efforts to take cleaning as a fun thing. It will only be as enjoyable or forehead-wrinkles-inducing as you make it.
• Put sticky notes with powerful reminders everywhere as you move around the house.

*Side Note: I came across such a funny quote that cracked me up and I’m sorry if for some reason you don’t find it hilarious but I thought I’d share with you too: The first rule of house cleaning while listening to music – the toilet brush is never the microphone.  ?

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

My Favorite Spring Cleaning Quotes, Reminders & Affirmations

You can put them on sticky notes and paste across the entire house so you stay motivated as you work through your list of chores.

• The best way to get something done is to begin.
• A clean home is a happy home.
• You never know what you have until… you clean a room! (esp. put this one in the toy room and your closet.)
• Cleaning is therapy.
• When everything is clean, I will feel light and de-stressed.
• A place for everything, and everything in its place. ~ Mrs. Beeton
• I’m happy to clean!
• Lower the bar. Done is better than perfect.
• A tidy room is a tidy mind.
• The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life. Marie Kondo
• Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you see the world. ~ Bernard Shaw
• Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a dreaded list of chores. It can be a rewarding experience that helps provide some structure and organization in your life. ~ Peter Walsh

3. AND SUPPLIES:

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

When you start cleaning, you will need tools to reach farther, scrub harder, squeak louder and what not. We will not get fancy though and use what we already have.

But even the best tools will not suffice if you don’t have a few handy cleaning tricks up your sleeves.

This section will help you with both.

Which Spring Cleaning Tools & Supplies To Start With

I kept this list of cleaning supplies simple. You can go as fancy as you like and might want to visit the store to grab cleaners and tools you like but I just used the basic items I already had with me. And trust me I don’t hoard a separate tool for everysinglething.

Here’s a list of the items you can start with:

• Bucket
• Cleaning Mop
• Broom
• Soap/ Dishwashing Liquid
• Scrubbing Brush
• Sponge
• Cottonwool
• Large bags
• Cotton Cloth (or microfibre cloth)
• Rubber Gloves
• Wand Duster (or just use a clean cotton cloth again!)
• Garbage Bags
• Spray Bottle
• White Vinegar (almost as good as an all-purpose cleaner)
• Baking Soda (as a mild or non-abrasive cleaner, deodorizer and what not)

My Best Spring Cleaning Tips And Tricks To Save Time And Energy

Here are my personal tips for spring cleaning and organizing your house.

• Declutter first before you move to the cleaning part.
• You will need a certain degree of ruthlessness for decluttering in order to clear your house of unnecessary items. I constantly keep checking if I’m being overly emotional about hoarding items I haven’t used in a year. Those are usually ones someone else might benefit from right away. Give them away.
• Buying a set of large bags, for decluttering, for trash you will collect during every decluttering and cleaning session, for storing items etc will come in very handy.
• Start cleaning from the top to bottom. Don’t do silly things like cleaning the walls and later thinking about the fans. It will double your work at the very least.
• Start from the far end and move toward the door.
• Use this tip only if you are like me, pick similar tasks for each room each day. Cover all fans in one day. All walls the next day and so on. I find it easy not to have to repeat the same tasks again and again. So, for example, if I didn’t clean all fans in the house on one day, I would have to drag the ladder inside, make someone get on it and do the work every single day. The taking in and out of the ladder alone would bother me so much and what a waste of time and energy. (according to me, anyway) If you like to cover all the tasks for a room before you move on to the next one, it’s a personal preference.
• It would be smart to clean fan blades by covering them with a damp pillow cover and swiping outward if you want to prevent the dust and balls of fuzz falling over your entire furniture below. Repeat till clean.
• If you don’t have it in your plan to paint a wall, or there are only a few scribbles, spots etc that don’t require painting, here is what I did, I took a piece of cottonwool, the one we use for scrubbing greasy pans. I scrubbed the marker lines (drawn by my son) very gently with the cottonwool until a thin layer of the paint dusted off, removing the marker lines with it. Be careful not to scrub so hard that the bricks come out. Just scrub off the thinnest film of paint possible which has the mark on it.
• Dust surfaces with a damp cloth and the best damp are the one spritzed with a bottle of spray instead of pouring a large amount of water on it directly from the faucet or a utensil. The sprayed cloth is wet enough to capture the dust instead of just shifting it from one corner of the table to another with your sweep. Neither is it too watery to leave sweeping marks on the surface. Add a drop of something sweet smelling if you like in the spray bottle if you like.
• If you have kids around, something WILL break during cleaning. Floors, you can sweep them easily, but the worst part is if something breaks on the carpet. I have a simple trick for picking up even the tiniest pieces. Use dough. Depending on the area and how far the pieces have gone as the glass fell, I take dough and roll or dab it over the carpet till all the pieces have stuck with the dough.
• Improvise. If you don’t have a long broom to reach the top corners for removing spider webs or for cleaning the walls, use a viper or any long stick. Tie a towel or cloth to it and use as you would.
• To make your rooms look overall brighter, don’t forget to also clean your light bulbs which accumulate dust over time and leave a dull gloomy effect.
• My best tip: put all your reasoning aside for a few days, use as much help as you can. If you are recruiting family, this can be so much more fun. My son has participated very well especially when we were organizing his room and had to pass through a tall mountain of toys heaped in the middle for decluttering and sorting.

What Does Spring Cleaning Mean To You?

As I type this paragraph, we finally completed our final few tasks last night and let me tell you, clean home to me, just like to so many others IS therapy.

While it may not be easy, it CAN be made easier:

Just have a plan that you can easily follow, know your todos and begin chipping away at it. Make daunting tasks easier by breaking them into smaller bite-sized pieces that don’t drain you and leave you unmotivated to continue the next day onward. If you know yourself, you will take specific measures to stay motivated so you don’t lose interest midway through spring cleaning.

Remember, if you are like me, you will not enjoy cleaning when you first start, but as you build momentum, each clean section of your home will actually help you feel lighter and happier. So much of my anxiety has gone now that my work is complete. I feel ready to welcome our baby into a clean fresh house this Friday. It was not very easy, especially during my last month of pregnancy, but the feelings of a new start, are well worth my efforts. So if I can do this, you can too.

Learn More

I learned most of the things from this guide and it comes with super cute printable bonuses worth more than $50 from my favorite shop.

I have more than half of the guides by this lady because they’re truly awesome guides and I never have to look more.

Want to remember this? Post this Spring Cleaning Plan Of Action Post to your favorite Pinterest board!