Spring Cleaning - Lakewood,WA

First thing is always decluttering...out with the old. Good items donate or give away on Freecycle. Then Window treatments and walls, dusting , sweeping and vacuuming. Always work from top to bottem and from left to right. Pick a room each day and by the end of the week things should look better.

I've never done a full spring cleaning untill last year. I was inspired by a blog i had just started following, simple mom. here is the link to the first day of a 10 day process. http://simplemom.net/spring-cleaning-day-one/ Hopefully you can find something that works for you.

~shannah

R.,
My motto is .......and I just made it up........"if I don't see it then it must not be dirty." I say don't break your back cleaning too much. Use that time to take your toddler to the park. My house IS clean, but over the years I have learned to let some things go. Spring usually means the garage to us because the weather is nicer, and it becomes a family event....but if you clean everyday, then I think you are way ahead of the game!

I like to start with the closets. I go through the kids, my husband and my clothes and get rid of stained, torn, outgrown clothes. I then pack up all the sweaters, coats and jeans into containers that go under the beds. (I leave a few pants and jackets out in case the weather gets cool).

Then I move on to the pantry and throw out any expired food. Then I take all the food out the fridge and freezer and clean them, throwing away anything frost bitten or old. Then I go through the medicine cabinet and throw out all the expired medicine.

Next I take down all the curtains, wash them and clean the windows while the curtains are washing. Then I take off all the bedding and turn the mattresses. Next I take all the cushions off the sofa, beat them outside and vacuum the inside of the couch.

Next I wipe down all the doors and moldings. I pull out the fridge and stove and sweep/mop behind them. Then I sweet, mop and vacuum the entire house.

After that I move outside. Pull up any weeds and get it ready for fresh mulch. I get the kids to help me clean out the garage getting rid of old boxes, outgrown toys and other accumulated junk. Once the garage is empty, I spray in down with soapy water and let it dry.

I also make the kids go through all of their toys getting rid of anything that is broken, missing pieces or that they don't play with anymore.

I'm tired even thinking about this, I better get to work :)

I do a whole house clean two times a year (though I didn't do it the first year after my daughter was born adn I doubt I will do it this year, as I just had my son.)

My process goes something like this:

1. write down all the rooms in the house, with all their component parts.
2. each week work on one room
3. once a deep dust/vacuum/drawer clean has been done, then I clean the blinds, putting them all in the tub. I also wash curtains, wash down the walls in the bathroom and kitchen, and wash all light fixtures.

Spring cleaning. What's that? lol I clean thruout the year. Even as a single person I wasn't able to clean the whole house at one time of the year.

My idea of spring cleaning would be to clean things that aren't regularly cleaned. For example, windows, drapes and curtains, shampoo the carpets (only I'd wait until summer so that they'd dry faster), wipe down walls, clean under furniture.

I do exchange the quilt on my bed for a light bedspread in late spring. Which means I wash and put away winter bedding at that time. I make sure winter clothes are clean and push them to the back of the closet and bring out my spring and summer clothes.

I don't know anyone, including in my mother's generation, who did spring cleaning. It's hard enough to keep up with housework when you have little ones or when you're working away from home and especially if you're doing both.

I remember Spring cleaning growing up. What a process! When I was growing up, my mom was a stay at home mom for a while. Dedicated days to spring cleaning made sense.

Once she went to work, spring cleaning was a thing of the past. Don't get me wrong, she still cleaned. It just took longer for the winter drapes to get swapped with the summer drapes. That's something I thankfully don't do. I'll just wash the window treatments & put them back up!

I've felt spring cleaning was too overwhelming. It was this preconceived notion your house was sparkling clean one day. Also, back in the day with dirty coal burning heat, the house REALLY needed that "spring cleaning".

Nowadays, I do spring cleaning throughout the year. I'll pick something that hasn't been done in a while, like wiping the walls. I'll start with one room, do one one day, another another day, etc. For me, it breaks the chore down into manageable timeframes, and still accomplishing my goal. I also know I can't do these occasional chores everyday. Sometimes, I may skip or cut back on a daily chore to allow more times for an occasional chore. It's more striking a balance at what needs to be done.

Hope this helps.

you need some spark to give you energy for cleaning and keeping up with your toddler...

if you go to www.marthastewart.com there is a spring cleaning check list. I like to use it because it just gives me something to go after. you might have to add things or take things away but it's a good basic list. Also if you can have your baby go visit with someone it makes it go sooo much smoother and faster. We send out babies to their grandparents for the weekend and spend two whole days going from top to bottom, inside and out.

Make a list of the items that you clean regularly and then a list of items that you clean occasionally and then a list of items that you never seem to clean. I would add 1 item from the occasional list and the never list to your regular cleaning time each day or week until you have completed it. That way it isn't too overwhelming unless you can get darling husband to mind the child away from the home one Saturday and you knock things out.

I would also recommend switching over to green products to clean your house. They help the environment, but they also help your health and the health of your family. You no longer have to be worried about your child getting into anything poisonous either. They say that the air we breath in our own homes is more polluted than the air outside. If you want to know a good brand of green products just email me.

Here are a couple of links that might help:

http://organizedhome.com/seasonal-spin/five-tips-spring-c...
http://organizedhome.com/clean-house/clean-sweep-case-aga...

I have never spring cleaned. I never could get into cleaning that much. I prefer to just do a little at a time. I haven't had to worry about drapes for a while, but when we move, I plan on putting up some, and I'm just going to schedule to clean them once or twice a year and do it. But not do that on the same day I clean under the beds or wash the windows. By spreading out the jobs over a few days or weeks, it doesn't seem like so much work and doesn't disrupt my schedule.

I also have a 3 year old, and I would say get him or her involved with you. My daughter loves to "dust" with a feather duster while I do a more thorough job with a damp cloth. She dusts everything--even upholstery! Or I give her a dustpan and whisk broom and let her sweep with me (I mean to get a play broom for her soon). Or a toy mop while I mop. She is also capable of rinsing dishes (not the big ones or the breakable ones!). And when she's "working" with me, she's happier and not getting into trouble--and I can get my work done.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

First of all... it's hard to keep a house clean when you live with any child... or husband for that matter!!!
Turn on some music, open the windows, and.... take it one step at a time! Set a goal for yourself for the day... or if you don't have multiple days or are way easily distracted like me, set a little smaller goal for each hour.
I know my problem is going through things and stopping to look at all the things I shoved in a drawer or a cupboard and forgot about 6 months ago... limit the amount of time you have to do this. Or, have a friend or relative help... for some reason, I get a lot more done when someone is around, even if they are just sitting at my counter talking to me while I clean out the kitchen drawers... I think it's because it keeps me from stopping and reading little notes, making phone calls to "tie up that lose end" in the middle of cleaning (make a pile of those types of tasks and do them at the end of your day).

I recommend going to Flylady.com and following her advice. It has helped me!

dedicate your efforts to one room at a time. We are in escrow on a new house and we are also training for a marathon. I have given myself 1 room per weekend to tackle. That way I dont feel overwelmed with everything going on. I usually get more than that done, but knowing I ONLY have to do one at a time makes it seem not so overwelming.

The secret is to do one area at a time. It might be just the linen closet today. Tomorrow it'll be the bedroom or a corner of the bedroom. In the process I put the things no longer wanted in a big plastic sack. When the sack is full I go through it and retrieve those things I don't want to part with. Then I go directly to Good Will or Value Village. I don't keep the unwanted stuff until I am done with the spring cleaning. In the food storage area I see what has a pull date or hasn't been eaten for a year bye, bye. I look at every jar and ever can and every box I take them out and wash the shelf and when it is dry I put everything back that is still good on the shelf.
Bit by bit is better than an exhausting two or three day marathon.

I do a Spring cleaning and X-mas cleaning. I would do it room by room, start with the closets and from tops down to the floors. Good luck!

Cannot belive it is spring already! Start one room at a time- Then you feel like you are accomplishing something. I have three ages 6,3,2. I too have one room done then they trash it! At least it is clean! I use all natural products that work great- expecially sol-u-mel. Removes stains- including blood. My son always hurts himself.
They products work great and save me money, but what I really love is they are free of toxic chemicals which most store products have! I would love to share information on toxic chemicals in store products with anyone interested.

M.
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Protect our families and save money!

My kids are older so last weekend I had them taking care of their rooms and their areas. For another post, how in the world can you keep them to clean up after themselves?
I'm working on the other areas. I started detoxing my house last year and use only biodegradable products. Finding out about what was in some of the products I used was an eye opener.