5 Spring Cleaning Tips
by Janice Tham
Time to clean up your home. Out with the old. In with the new. Get rid of the dust and clutter for a healthier, fresher environment.
Spring Cleaning need not be a boring chore. It can be fun. Take it as a creative break. As a kid, I loved wearing a pair of soapy wet rags as slippers and sliding around the home, cleaning the floor as I went, to my mom's horror.
Okay, that might not be a good idea. The chances of slipping and getting into really nasty, even life-threatening accidents are high if you try sliding around on rags. Getting paralyzed because of fall just isn't worth it.
There are other things you can do though.
These 5 tips help you get organized, making it easier and more pleasant to clean your home.
1. File and Organize.
Before you even begin, take stock of the mess around you. Are newspapers all over the floor? Are magazines lying around? Do you have sheets of papers as in bills, flyers and letters lying around on tables or other surfaces?
Get the papers organized in a something that is both decorative and functional. Letters and bills can go into decorative letter holders, or into files hidden out of sight. Magazine racks, good-looking ones, that is, are wonderful for keeping your newspapers as well as magazines. The key thing is to train everyone in the household to put things where they belong. Magazines and newspapers go into the rack or else.. come up with a deterrent to motivate them.
Don't you hate it when halfway through cleaning the bedroom, you need something and you have to go all the way to the store room to get it?
Get a pail and put everything you need for your spring cleaning in it. Detergents, soaps, brushes, spare gloves, polish, the works. Then carry that around with you as you go from room to room.
2. Wear Gloves
Protect your hands as you clean your home. Wear gloves to keep the irritating detergents away. Dry cracked skin can be avoided if you remember to wear gloves throughout your cleaning mission. After cleaning the home and taking a shower, slather a good hand cream to protect your hands and at night, put on cotton gloves after you apply hand cream, just before you sleep.
3. Work from top down.
Think of gravity. The dust you brush off higher surfaces will end up on the lower surfaces. Clean the tops of cupboards, the lights and everything high up first, move on to the lower furnishings and when everything else is done, then tackle the floor.
4. Flowers and Fragrance
Once the house is all cleaned up, brighten your home with vases of cut flowers. Reward yourself with long lasting flowers that are in season.
5. Makeover
Give your home a makeover with new bedsheets, curtains, floor mats and towels. The bedding dresses up the bedrooms. Curtains dress up every room. Towels and shower curtains give your bathroom a makeover and floor mats add the finishing touches.
Decorate the home with scented candles that fill the air with delightful fragrance when lit. Turn your home into special haven for your family.
Reward yourself with a gorgeous new home now that you have decluttered, cleaned and organized everything.
©
Janice Tham |
