How to do a spring clean when you hate cleaning

[NewyearNewyear2024]

I’ve googled spring cleaning and it looks like hard work! Eg cleaning the walls, cleaning the shower head, using a toothbrush in corners, things I would never bother doing or even think of.

I would like to have a proper declutter and clean up though. I’m not going to blitz the whole house as that’s a lot of time and effort. It would be better for me to do little and often.

Any one else doing a spring clean? Any tips?!

Pretend you're moving house and get rid of things you cba to 'pack'. Clean the actual room as well as the floor and furniture. It helps me to imagine what the room could look like and then take out everything that doesn't match that vision.

One drawer, one cupboard, one room at a time. Get rid of anything you don’t use/wear and anything that is broken. Once you’ve got rid of stuff then you can deep clean and organise. Get the soft brush attachment on your vacuum and hoover walls, ceilings, cornices and skirtings. Wash down all woodwork with hot soapy water and then use microfibre cloths to dust and polish. Hoover the floor then mop.
Whack on the music and get started. Once you get one room done you’ll be so pleased you’ll want to do more.
Also the more you declutter the easier it is to clean and if you do a little each day you won’t really ever need to spring clean
i clean everyday and get up early so I can do a few bits before work and make sure you tidy up each night before bed eg plump up cushions, stack dishwasher, bleach toilets etc

Listen to a podcast or audio book, it takes your mind off the relentless task of any housework I find.

Declutter 10 items from each room!

One room at a time. It's quite therapeutic once started.

I've washed down the sitting room walls, painted walls & skirtings. Taken down the curtains for cleaning (so full of dust), taken down and washed the light fittings, cleaned the carpet. Cleaned the windows & frames thoroughly. hoovered the rest of the furniture.

Sitting room is now sparkly, fresh and lighter somehow. Now I'm going out in the sunshine. I'll do my bedroom next weekend.

Which room do you plan on starting in? For eg, kitchen. Tidy up anything that isn't meant to stay on worktops/shelves. Wipe them down but not for a deep clean. Empty pan cupboards etc, use the worktops to organise what needs to be athe forefront of the cupboard and what is only used occasionally to go to the back. Use a degreaser/washing up liquid and hot water and clean inside that cupboard. Maybe swish a duster around in there first as there's likely to be cobwebs in the upper corners. Put pans back/put away anything for the bin.

Quick wipe over worktops again. Empty spice/packet/tin cupboard. Clean within, hoover any crumbs/bits and sort through anything O.O.D, what's used daily Vs what's used occasionally. Wipe over the bottoms of jars etc when putting back in/wipe sauces if any drips on the neck etc.

Take all plates/mugs etc out of cupboard. Dust and clean inside there. Check over for anything you're not using/needing anymore. Put back in.

Under sink cupboard. If it's cluttered, size it down. Have three versions of cream cleanser? Give one away. At most only keep one extra of something. Have three bottles of the dregs of washing up liquid? That's safe to put into one bottle. Use up any dregs of fabric conditioner before using the new one. Throw out anything that's just taking up space. Are you using all the space wisely? I have a crate of cleaning things that only get used on occasion but keep washing powder/disinfectant etc handy in the other side of the cupboard.

When all cupboards are cleaned/organised (work top to bottom), clean the oven/hob. Then kitchen window/light fittings/light switches/plug sockets.
Then cupboard doors/handles/worktops.

You'll likely have ran out of mojo but either then, clean and organise the fridge. Wash the glass shelves carefully. Clean inside the walls using washing up liquid and lukewarm water. Nothing too scent heavy. Then I'd wipe down the sink and get the tap sparkling etc.

Finish off giving the floor a scrub. I prefer on hands and knees using a hand brush scrubber thing, followed by an old tea towel to take up the dirty mix, followed by another old towel to wipe over with clean water, doing it in sections. I do this quarterly to get the deep ingrained stuff cleaned/stains removed, that the mop doesn't catch.

Get a telescopic duster and floof it over the ceiling and walls. Use a scrub daddy style cleaner/magic eraser to remove marks on the wall.

Wow that kitchen clean is thorough! That would take me some time!

I might start with the living room as that is the least cluttered as I try to keep it tidy ish each day although it could do with a good clean eg under the settee, mirrors, picture frames etc.

The cluttered areas are the kitchen and two bedrooms.

I tend to use the house cleaning part of the Holiday Grand Plan during the year - do 1 room a week (14 weeks, includes attic, garage and garden, and kitchen is split between actual kitchen and "pantry" so food cupboards separate to prep/cooking space), taking the week to do it in small steps per day.

Only pull out as much as you can finish at once - so do 1 drawer and finish that before starting the next.

Take breaks, have a drink on hand to keep swigging (water, juice, tea). Play a good audiobook/podcast/music with a beat to suit your pace of work.

Have a 4 box method - trash, wrong place, donate, return. So empty a drawer, rubbish in the trash box, things in good condition you won't use anymore into donate, things belonging elsewhere in "wrong place" (to put in right place when done), and return is things to go back in the drawer when it's cleaned. Everything from the drawer goes into one of those (in some cases, you may need a "mend" box - but only things you know you will mend and not things that you could when you have time in 15 years...).

And work in small blocks of time - 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes. If you say to yourself "I have 15 minutes" rather than all afternoon stretching in front of you, you can get a lot done by focussing on 1 or 2 key things, and do another couple of things tomorrow.

Work on a room for a week, make it better, then move on to a different room. If you finish one faster than expected, take a few extra blocks of time back in areas you didn't finish or agreed of time in rooms you know will take a lot of work - but keep moving through the house to see improvements generally.

Donate goes out into boot of car, to drop off when passing a charity shop, not a different corner to fester.

I use the HGP as a template but in all my years of doing it, I have never completely finished it (I have only rarely "completely" finished any individual rooms, and those have only been 2 specific rooms a few times that are easier. But I know that I try to do some things to make a difference all around the house in rotation and it is always cleaner (and a bit less cluttered) when I am done.

If you do it one room at a time. Divide the room into the things that need doing.
eg. Room 1:

1. chest of drawers sorting,
2. skirting boards cleaned,
3. windows washed,
4. top of sideboard etc

Then decide what it's reasonable to do each day and do 2-3 things a day.

Make a list and you can follow the same routine every year.

If you are superhuman, then every year, by the end of January, you will have a beautifully clean and tidy house that you can be proud of.

If however you are normal, you'll find that by the end of January you have the chest of drawers sorted and the skirting board cleaned in the first room every year.

I'm 77, I've never washed a wall in my life

My number 1 tip for Spring cleaning is....

wait till Spring.

I'm only part joking. In actual Spring there'll be more hours of daylight so if you're stuck into something you'll be able to see properly to finish it off. There's a reason it's called Spring cleaning and that's because it was always traditionally done once the dirt and dust was more visible in strong daylight.

And if you're like me, daylight just gives you more motivation to keep being active. I find in the depths of winter once it's all cosy and dark and twinkly in my house that I lose my impetus a bit and start thinking about when I can get into my pyjamas. Plus, our local tip closes at 5pm in winter whereas it's open quite late in summer so much easier to do evening sorting after work, a bit of gardening etc.

Yes, try and choose a bright dry day so you can see the grubby bits easier. Open your windows everywhere with doors open . I find cleaning windows inside and outside really makes a big difference.