Easy Spring Cleaning

  in Blog

It can seem overwhelming to think of cleaning the whole house. The good news is, you don’t have to! At least not all at once. ‘Clean as you go‘ is a concept for cleaning your prep area as you are cooking in the kitchen so you don’t have a huge mess to clean up at the end of the meal. Clean as you go is helpful for house cleaning too. Tackle one or two jobs on one day, another job on another day, and so on. Before you know it, your house is refreshed for summer. What should you tackle and how should you do it? Check out our humble spring cleaning advice.

Cleaning products

  • Cleaning and disinfecting under normal circumstances doesn’t require harsh chemicals. Plain, plant-based soap breaks down germs and bacteria, whether on your hands or on surfaces. Naturally occurring substances in plants can kill bacteria and stop mold. No need to resort to harsh cleaning supplies.
  • Make your own cheap all-purpose cleaner. Just mix together 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap, and a few drops of lemon, lavender, or peppermint essential oil in a spray bottle.
  • For washing windows, use water and vinegar. It’s cheap and effective. Just mix 1 part water with 1 part white vinegar.
  • Skip the paper towels. Paper towels are wasteful and everyone has alternatives at home. Dig through your linen closet and pull out old towels that you can cut up to use for rags for cleaning.
  • Baking soda is great for scrubbing and deodorizing. Use it to scrub down your kitchen and bathroom.
Full Circle cleaning products, available at Oryana, are made sustainably. The company is ‘plastic neutral’ meaning that for every ounce of plastic they use, they work with Plastic Bank® to recover and recycle the same amount of plastic that would otherwise enter our oceans.

What to clean

This list is not complete (you can find a complete spring cleaning list HERE.) but these are some cleaning projects you might have neglected for a long time that will really brighten up your house.

  • Clean the shelves and drawers in your fridge. (If you have the wherewithal, clean your freezer too.)
  • Scrub the kitchen sink until it looks like it’s new.
  • Clean the inside of your microwave.
  • Take everything off your countertop and thoroughly wash/wipe it down.
  • Clean light fixtures i.e. take them down and wash them.
  • Vacuum underneath all the couch and chair cushions.
  • Get the ladder out and wipe down your ceiling fan.
  • Windows: unless you feel very energetic and have lots of time, clean a few at a time using vinegar and water, both inside and out. Over one or two weeks’ time they will all be clean. So nice for summer.
  • Scrub every square inch of your toilet inside and out. Use a pumice stone (available at drug stores) to clean the black or rusty water marks under the rim (wet it first.) Clean the bottom by the screws and the floor in back that always gets missed during normal cleaning.
  • Wipe all the baseboards and other low areas.
  • Dust the lamp shades.
  • Vacuum out air vents and registers.

Happy Spring Cleaning!