My Spring Cleaning Tips

**Collaborative post**

There is something about a little bit of sunshine which makes me want to get the washing on the line, fling open the doors and have a big clean-up and clear out.

In the winter, of course, I still do the housework but I don’t seem to have this urge to empty the cupboards and rearrange them, move the furniture and get a little more organised, I know I am not alone here. It’s these bigger jobs which always get put off again and again until eventually, they begin to feel like a chore, of course in a way all housework is a chore but looking past that you could actually start to enjoy them….even just a little; just think about it, how nice is it to look in a cupboard and know exactly where that wanted item is without a heap of other items falling out or to open a drawer and know where your favourite top is? My cupboards and drawers start off tidy but after a few weeks of grabbing the closest clothing item first thing in the morning or the kids helping to unload the dishwasher, they never stay that way.

Here are my favourite spring cleaning and time-saving tips:

Little and often
Choose one area at a time and concentrate only on that for a bigger clean. Of course, you will still need to do your weekly tasks, however, once a week pick a new zone or area and tattle that but don’t get distracted and add more into the mix until this job is done, otherwise, you will end up with a big mess and get bored halfway through.

Get organised
Take everything you will need for the task in hand with you – If you are sorting the bathroom you know you will need the cleaning products, cloths, hoover, mop, bin bag etc.
If you are having to collect this mid-way through the job you are likely to get distracted and start something else, sort the post, make a cuppa and then it will take you twice as long.
Baskets/Holding area
I have a few baskets dotted around the house.
One is in my front room, another in the kitchen and one on the stairs.
These are to be sorted baskets – if I am tidying a room downstairs and I have something which needs moving upstairs it goes into the basket on the stairs. This will either be emptied at the end of the day, once full or when I go upstairs next. It saves me the time of walking up the stairs to put something in the correct room and means I won’t be distracted away from the task at hand.

Clean behind your radiators
This may not be one of the jobs you do very often, but now you will be thinking of finally turning them off after a winter of use. Dust collects behind them and it can be blown around the home when you have the doors open in the warmer weather, this can aggravate allergies etc. It may also be time to think about replacing them if they are old and don’t warm the house very well or if you are redecorating and want new Feature Radiators to make the room look tidier.
Wait till the kids are out
I have had the problem so many times when sorting through toys and clothes that the kids won’t let go. I will sort out the toys they no longer play with or have outgrown and pile up ready to giveaway, bin or even sell and then as soon as they see them and are reminded of them it becomes a new favourite toy.
Doing it when they are out/at school means I can remove them from the house and they are none the wiser.

Get the kids to help keep their rooms clean
Both Emmy and Harry love to have a treat night on Fridays, they are allowed a magazine after school, they choose tea and we have a family movie campout night…..But they have to at least try to help me during the week a little. They have to try to keep their rooms tidy – obviously Harry needs help with this but Emmy is now a dab hand at making her bed and putting toys away…..well in her room at least!
Turning coat hangers around
When I sort through the wardrobes I hang the hangers around the wrong way, when I wear that item I turn the hanger around again. In 6 months’ time if there are hangers the wrong way still I remove the item from the wardrobe as I’m unlikely to wear it again.
Clean the bathroom quickly each evening
While getting ready for bed I wipe the sink around with a wipe and throw away wipe the loo down and put some bleach down the toilet bowl. This takes less than 3 minutes but means it’s pretty clean and tidy when I get up in the morning, it also makes the bigger weekly clean a lot easier.

Wash up before bed
I know that it can be tiring and we are all shattered at the end of the day, but I do like to make sure I have washed up before heading to bed as there is nothing worse than being faced with it in the morning, and it is far worse when the food has dried on
Bins in all room
This helps to keep the rubbish down, by having waste paper bins in every room the children can even pop their rubbish away quickly which saves a lot of moaning on my part.
Zoflora on the Hoover filter and radiators
By adding a little Zoflora to the filters of the hoover it ensures the house has a fragrant smell whenever I hoover, it also works well on radiators and makes the room smell nice when they are turned on.