Are These Tasks on Your Spring Cleaning Checklist?

It’s time to open those windows, shake out the rugs, and breathe new life into your home. Spring is here!

What’s more satisfying than relaxing in a freshly cleaned home? We’ve put together a list of tasks and hacks to make your spring cleaning fast, easy, and thorough! Plus, we’re offering some tips on keeping your home nice and clean throughout the year with three weekly— not daily— chores.

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Get your home cleaned for spring in no time by prioritizing the items in the checklist below. Select your top 2-3 in each room and get to work. You’ll be done before you know it!

Alternately, you can choose to dive in and mark off each item on the list. Keep track of your progress to keep that motivation going as you work!

General Tasks

  • Wipe walls, ceilings and mouldings
  • Dust high-to-reach light fixtures & ceiling fans
  • Wipe baseboards
  • Clean doors and door knobs
  • Wash windows and wipe blinds
  • Clean upholstered furnishings and wipe down furniture
  • Vacuum or wash carpet and rugs
  • Clean all flooring
  • Clean air vents
  • Dust books and bookshelves
  • Declutter high traffic areas
  • Change your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries
  • Schedule fireplace and chimney sweeping
  • Trim and spruce up house plants

Kitchen

  • Empty your refrigerator and toss out any expired or leftover food
  • Clean refrigerator surfaces inside and out
  • Defrost and wipe down freezer
  • Empty your pantry and toss any expired goods
  • Clean your small appliances like coffeemaker, toaster, microwave, etc.
  • Scrub and degrease stovetop and oven
  • Clean microwave
  • Wipe down cabinets inside and out
  • Reorganize dishes, and pots and pans
  • Sanitize sink
  • Clean dishwasher food trap
  • Clean your garbage disposal

Bedrooms

  • Change and wash linens
  • Rotate your mattress and shake out pillows
  • Declutter and organize drawers and closets
  • Dust and wipe furniture
  • Organize any books or loose papers
  • Packup winter clothes and gear
  • Donate old clothes and shoes

Bathrooms

  • Clean tub and shower
  • Clean showerhead
  • Scrub tile grout
  • Clean toilet and scrub surrounding area
  • Clean sinks
  • Wipe down cabinets and hardware
  • Replace shower curtain liner or scrube glass doors
  • Wipe mirror and clean vanity
  • Discard any expired personal products, makeup, medications (drop-off at an appropriate site)
  • Clean makeup brushes

Family areas (living room, playroom)

  • Remove and shakeout couch or chair pillows; vacuum crevasses
  • Dust and polish furniture
  • Wash blankets
  • Dust electronics
  • Dust and wipe down decor
  • Sanitize remote controls
  • Sanitize toys and wash stuffed animals
  • Declutter and donate miscellaneous items
  • Organize books and loose papers

Laundry room

  • Clean dryer vent and lint trap
  • Clean washing machine
  • Wipe walls and baseboards
  • Clean behind the washer and dryer
  • Organize laundry supplies
  • Clean your iron
  • Clean lint brush

Office

  • Declutter and organize paperwork
  • Organize books
  • Dust shelves and desk surface
  • Clean your computer, keyboard and mouse
  • Organize filing cabinet and important documents

Garage

  • Store winter tools and gear
  • Declutter your garage, donate unneeded items
  • Sweep and hose out the garage floor
  • Clean your garage door

Outside

  • Power wash siding
  • Clean gutters
  • Wipe away the cobwebs
  • Trim trees and shrubs
  • Wash windows
  • Clean garden beds, add mulch
  • Wash outdoor furniture
  • Sweep your outside walkways and entries
  • Review exterior for any needed repairs

Spring Cleaning Hacks

Make a plan! - Create a checklist before you dive in and break it by room. Make sure to add those items that get cleaned only a few times a year like baseboards, doors, light fixtures, and blinds. Don’t have time to tackle it all in one day? Create a schedule and clean one room a week.

Make sure you have the right tools - Gathering your tools in one place will make your cleaning smooth and easy. Useful tools to keep on hand: magic erasers, old toothbrushes to clean detailed nobs and tight spaces, microfiber dusting cloths for quick and easy dusting. As you are collecting your tools, make sure to disinfect or replace old scrubs and brushes.

Declutter key spaces - Clear off your surface areas like counters where junk mail tends to accumulate. As you spring clean, check each room for items you rarely or no longer use. Sort them into piles for trash, recycling, or donation.

Donating unused or unwanted household items is the perfect way to clear the clutter from your home while helping someone else at the same time. Here in Indianapolis, Goodwill Indy, DonateStuff.com, PickUpMyDonation.com, and St Vincent DePaul Indianapolis will pick up donations for you.

Clean one room at a time - Seeing one room clean will motivate you to do more. Don’t get overwhelmed and take it a little bit at a time.

Work top to bottom - Start near the ceilings with corners and fans, and work your way down. Cleaning loosens up dirt and dust you may not have noticed. Vacuuming and sweeping will catch the dust and debris that has fallen. Vacuum with a HEPA filter to catch allergens.

Maintain your home with 3 weekly chores

#1. Vacuuming

Don’t let the dust and dirt build-up, especially in your high traffic areas. For areas that are frequently used or walked through, take a few minutes to vacuum daily. Other areas can be addressed as little as once a week. Vacuum both carpets and rugs.

#2. Dusting

Work from top to bottom. Weekly dusting will reduce dust build-up in those hard-to-reach places and make future spring cleaning even faster. Quick tip: keep your vacuum attachments nearby. This will make addressing those high light light fixtures even easier to tackle.

#3. Spot cleaning

Breaking up your spot cleaning tasks throughout the week will make going through your high traffic areas even faster. A few minutes of wiping and straightening here and there adds up. Quick tip: Keep cleaning products and tools in one place for when you have a few minutes to spare. Grab a cleaning cloth and go!

High traffic, spot cleaning areas to tackle:

  • Wipe down countertops
  • Shake out entry, hallway and kitchen mats or rugs
  • Clean bathrooms
  • Wipe down kitchen appliances
  • Change linens and towels
  • Straighten books and magazines
  • Clean out leftovers from the fridge
  • Gather trash throughout the house

Don’t have time for a deep clean? Let us help you reap the benefits of a spring clean home!

We can tackle your cleaning so you can enjoy the beautiful weather and all our city has to offer.

If you’ve finished your spring cleaning, let Housekeeping Made Easy help you maintain your hard work. We can keep your home looking “spring clean beautiful” all year long. Fill out our form to get a quote.