Spring cleaning is a tradition that reaches across oceans and generations. While it’s celebrated during the Persian New Year as “khooneh tekouni” or “shaking the house,” spring cleaning is done in the Jewish culture before the springtime Passover celebration. In Bulgaria, the end of winter has been celebrated since the 7th century AD by cleaning the house for springtime. Whatever your spring-cleaning traditions are, the experts at OnTime Service are here to help with a room to room checklist for spring cleaning your home!
Use Your Time Wisely
Before we start with the first room on our spring-cleaning tour, we have a tip to share that will help you manage your time. For each room you clean, allot a specific amount of time to spend cleaning. As a result, you will be able to maximize your time in each room, and waste less time trying to organize tasks and supplies needed to complete them. Now, here is our room to room checklist:
Bathrooms: 1 Hour
We recommend starting with your bathrooms, not including the time it will take to wash throw rugs, bath mats, and towels. Here is a list of cleaning tasks for your bathrooms:
Dust and clean lighting fixtures, mirrors, and hanging pictures.
Clean your exhaust fans and dust the corners of your ceiling.
Wipe down walls and cabinets.
Clean window coverings and sills.
Disinfect light switches, door knobs, and counter tops.
Clean shower heads, caddies, glass, door frames, and water strips around the door.
Scrub the shower and tub.
Clean sink, shower, and tub drains.
Scrub the toilet base, under the seat, inside and out.
Polish shower, tub, and sink fixtures.
Clean tile and floor corners and baseboards.
Organize cabinets and drawers, getting rid of expired beauty products.
Wash throw rugs, bath mats, shower curtains, lining, and towels.
Bedrooms: 2-3 Hours
Once you’ve thoroughly cleaned your bathrooms, move on to the bedrooms. Although we’ve allotted 2-3 hours for bedroom cleaning, this may vary depending upon how many bedrooms you have in your home. To make this process easier, enlist the help of family members to clean their own bedrooms using this task list:
Remove all items that don’t belong in the bedroom.
Return everything that does belong to its proper home.
Pick up, fold, and hang any stray clean clothes, putting stray dirty clothes in the hamper.
Dust your ceiling fan, air vents, and ceiling corners and crown moldings.
Wipe down walls and dust edges of pictures and wall hangings.
Dust furniture, mirrors, lamps, and windows.
Clean and disinfect light switches.
Strip and wash your bedding.
Rotate your mattress, flipping it if possible.
Organize closets, dressers, and nightstands.
Clean floor vents, as well as floor corners and baseboards.
Vacuum carpeting, including under the bed and other furniture.
Sweep or mop hard floors.
Kitchen: 2 Hours
Although your kitchen isn’t the largest area of your house, it is the center for most of the messes and germs. To clean these messy germs away like a pro, complete these tasks:
Return items that don’t belong to their proper room, and place stray items that do belong in the kitchen in their rightful home.
Remove items from cabinets and wipe down cabinet shelves. Then organize dishes in the cabinets.
Clean and dust ceiling air vents, corners, fans, and crown moldings.
Wipe down walls and dust edges of wall hangings and pictures.
Clean and disinfect light fixtures and light switches.
Organize storage containers, including your pantry and refrigerator. Throw out expired food and condiments.
Polish, and disinfect cabinet doors, knobs, and handles.
Organize your refrigerator and freezer and vacuum the refrigerator coils.
Clean your stove top, burners, drip pans, and exhaust fans.
Wipe down the inside of your oven, oven hood, and microwave and change the filters.
Clean your sink and polish faucet handles.
Clear and disinfect the garbage disposal, along with all other kitchen appliances.
Clean floor vents and vacuum or mop the floors.
Dining Rooms: 1 Hour
Because many homes have a day-to-day dining room off the kitchen for casual meals and an additional formal dining area for special occasions, we allotted 1 hour of cleaning time. For a thorough spring clean of your dining area, complete the following tasks:
Remove objects that don’t belong and return objects that do belong to their rightful place.
Dust ceiling air vents, fans, corners, and crown moldings.
Wipe down walls and dust edges of pictures and wall hangings.
Clean light fixtures and disinfect light switches.
Clean the inside and outside of windows, including window sills.
De-clutter hutches and shelves.
Dust and polish wood furniture, including cabinets.
Wipe down and disinfect dining tables and chairs.
Wash table linens and chair cushions.
Vacuum rugs and clean floor baseboards and vents.
Sweep or mop hard floors before replacing rugs.
Family/Living Rooms: 3 Hours
Considering the amount of time spent in your family rooms, you can expect to spend a good chunk of time on spring cleaning these spaces. Like dining areas, many homes have more than one family room, so we have allotted 3 hours. However, if you are a one living room household, you may not need the full 3 hours. To whip these well-loved spaces into shape, complete the following tasks:
Return objects that don’t belong to their proper room and put any rogue items that do belong in their rightful home.
Dust the vents, fans, corners, and crown moldings in your ceiling.
Wipe down walls and dust the edges of mirrors, pictures, and wall hangings.
Dust furniture, window sills, lamps, and electronics.
Clean windows, inside and out, vacuum curtains, and dust shades and shutters.
Dust TV screens.
Clean light fixtures and disinfect light switches and doorknobs.
Vacuum between seat cushions and wash cushions, pillow covers, and throw blankets.
Treat any leather furniture.
Toss out old magazines or newspapers.
Vacuum rugs and carpeted areas.
Clean floor corners, baseboards, and vents.
Sweep or mop hard floors.
Laundry Room: 30-45 Minutes
Next on your spring-cleaning checklist is your laundry room. Because this is a smaller area of your house, you should be able to perform an adequate cleaning within 30-45 minutes. Here are some tasks to complete:
Put away stray clothing.
Dust the ceiling and dryer vents.
Clean ventilation fans.
Wipe down walls and dust shelving.
Organize shelving and sort and discard unnecessary cleaning products.
Clear out the dryer lint trap screen, allowing it to air dry.
Clean out the dryer duct with a cleaning kit.
Clean the drain pump and filter of your front load washer.
Disinfect light switches and doorknobs.
Wipe down cabinets and polish cabinet knobs and handles.
Clean around and under the washer and dryer unit.
Clean floor corners and baseboards.
Vacuum, sweep, or mop the floors.
Foyer: 30 Minutes
As one of the smallest areas on our cleaning list, the foyer should ideally take hardly any time to clean. However, you should take into consideration how much traffic this area sees on a day-to-day basis and make sure you include enough time for a thorough clean. For a spring-fresh foyer in 30 minutes or less, complete these tasks:
Clean your ceiling air vents and dust corners and crown moldings.
Wipe down walls and doors, cleaning door glass.
Clean light fixtures and disinfect light switches.
Clean mirrors and windows.
Dust edges of wall hangings.
Dust and polish furniture and tables.
Clean or replace your entry mat, both indoor and outdoor.
Clean the corners of your floors and baseboards.
Vacuum, sweep, or mop the floors.
Stairs: 20 Minutes
Last but not least, you should give your stairwell a good once-over. It should not take more than 20 minutes to complete the following cleaning tasks:
Wipe down walls and dust edges of wall hangings.
Clean and disinfect handrails.
Dust light fixtures and disinfect light switches.
Vacuum carpeted stairs and sweep or mop hard floor surfaces.
Remove scuff marks and touch up paint as needed.
Show Your HVAC System Some Springtime TLC
Now that you have followed this room to room checklist for spring cleaning your home, it’s time to turn your attention to your HVAC system. The pros at OnTime Service know that a truly spring-fresh home starts with a clean and spring-ready HVAC system. Get your HVAC system and home ready for spring by calling us today at 251-272-3595 or filling out a service request form on our website!
