Talk to me about spring cleaning

[icovetthee]

I live in a rented property and intend to stay here for as long as I can afford to. It really needs a good, deep clean but being naturally quite messy with two DCs under 5 and a dog, its difficult.

So, what do I do? I now have a steam mop as we have laminate, tiles and carpet and the general cleaning stuff.

Monday I'm having the stairs, landing and master bedroom carpets professionally cleaned as a New Years treat considering it is stained to hell from house training the dog and is now smelling (I can't afford to replace it).

What do you do to deep/spring clean?

Start from the top and work your way down i.e. bedrooms first. Leave kitchen and bathroom until last. Take the opportunity to declutter and charity off old clothes.
In a spring clean I would clean skirting boards (do this before the carpet people come in), clean inside cupboards and wardrobes, clean curtains etc...

Declutter then declutter some more. A cluttered house never looks clean. When you have decluttered it will be so easy to keep on top of it all

Will be doing the skirting boards, tidying the bedroom (sorting through clothes, a good dust and organise) and polishing the banister tomorrow before the carpet cleaners come in. That shall herald the beginning of the downstairs.

It seems like so much work :(

one room at a time. I spent 3.5 hours yesterday cleaning 4 bedrooms & a hallway. And I've only been in this new house 4 months! But my kids (10, 8 & 4) are pretty good about keeping their rooms in order but I've had my brother & wife & 2 hurricane kids over for 4 days and OMGEEEEE the mess! Mine play by the rule "you can only play with 1 toy at a time so you have ne nood for all of them to be out"..........they obvioulsy don't.

Bathrooms today & the living room on the 2nd as the decorations are coming down. Bin bags, lots of cleaning products, fresh air and limit the dog to 1 room if you can. IMO nothing filthier than dog hair round the house. Mind lives int he utility & only there.

There's some general tips here Let the Sunshine In. But basically I would do one room at a time as other people suggest. I'd walk around with a cleaning caddy full of everything I needed - polish, Cif, sponges, cloths, drying cloths, loo cleaner, bathroom cleaner, bin bags. I would then start at the top of a room and work my way to the bottom, chucking out clutter as I went. I'd also rearrange the furniture and so on, to make each room work to best effect. It might be worth getting in someone to look after the kids and dog while you do this. A wet/dry vaccuum would also keep the carpets fresh after the big professional clean. More advice here:

Kitchen cleaning and organisation

Bathroom cleaning and organisation

Storage and decluttering

Bringing life to living rooms

Weekly cleaning schedule, to help you keep on top of it

If you have an e-reader, this book might be useful as well, as you would be able to carry the lists and tips around with you as you worked:

Austerity Housekeeping

Cling film the dog to stop shedding?

Sorry, last two links won't work. Try this:

Bringing life to living rooms

Weekly cleaning schedule