Easy Spring Cleaning Tips

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming—and your cluttered closets are calling. That means it’s time to roll up your sleeves and whip your home into shape! Use this handy list of creative cleaning hacks to banish those dust bunnies without spending a fortune on organizers and cleaning solutions. Plus, you’ll be doing your part to help keep the planet green by skipping over those toxic cleansers this year. Let’s get started!

Schedule smart
Create a physical list of every part of your home you plan on attacking. Next, divide the chores according to the amount of time you estimate it will take to clean them. Make smaller sub-lists of 3-hour jobs, 1-hour jobs and 15-minute jobs. Post your lists in a place you’ll often see. This way, when you have spare time, you can find the right big or small job to tackle at a glance.

DIY cleansers

• Use a lemon for cleaning stainless steel sinks and faucets.
  Slice a lemon in half, and rub the fruit against hard water stains and rust spots in your kitchen and bathroom. You can also sprinkle on some baking soda for the really stubborn marks. The stains should now easily lift.

• Steam-clean your microwave.
  Fill a microwave-safe bowl with 1-2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, plus a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Nuke it for five minutes and then wipe those stains right off!

• Use coffee filters for your monitors and screens.
  Let the gentle fibers in coffee filters leave your screens squeaky-clean!

• Clean your shower heads with white vinegar.
  Fill a sandwich bag with white vinegar and use a rubber band to secure it around your showerhead. Let it soak overnight and the water stains or calcium buildup should wash right off.

Tips and tricks

• Use a lint roller to dust.
  Run a lint roller over your light fixtures and shelves. It’ll pick up those dust mites and leave you with clean surfaces in minutes!

• Use your dishwasher for more than dishes.
  Load up your dishwasher with plastic toys, hair brushes, pet dishes, refrigerator shelves, tweezers and drawer knobs. When the cycle is through, clean your dishwasher by placing a cup of white vinegar on the top shelf and running it through its hottest cycle.

• Use a window squeegee to scrape pet hair off your carpet.
  The rubber edge of the squeegee is perfect for gripping and removing pet hair from your rugs and carpet.

• Use a hair dryer to get rid of water rings.
  Blast a hair dryer over the water rings until they disappear. You can also rub some olive oil over the area to return the wood to its original shine.

Let’s get organized!

• Create a space for clutter.
  Create a place for every bit of clutter that passes through your door. You can pick up organizers and storage bins at the dollar store.
• Use Velcro to keep drawer organizers in place. 
  Fasten strips of Velcro to the bottom of your organizers to keep them in place.

Your Turn: What’s your favorite spring cleaning hack? Share it with us in the comments!