INDOOR SPRING CLEANING

The sun is out and the weather is starting to warm up in St. Louis!  This is the best time of year to open those windows and freshen up your house.  Our team knows this is the busiest time of year with home maintenance, as it’s also the peak time of year to buy or sell a house, and we’ve compiled a list of spring cleaning to-do’s to make sure you’ve got everything covered.  It sometimes feels like Spring Cleaning can be a big under-taking, so aside from regular cleaning tasks, the below items are the “above & beyond” tasks that can be easily tackled and we’ve even sorted them by room for you!

Main Areas

• Dust crown molding, ceiling corners & ceiling fans
• Switch ceiling fans so they spin clockwise
• Wipe down baseboards
• Dust/wash light fixtures & lamps
• Wash walls and doors – touch up the paint where scuff marks have been left
• Vacuum or wash curtains / Wash window blinds
• Wipe down and vacuum furniture – be sure to clean under the base and cushions
• Condition leather furniture
• Shampoo carpet or schedule a professional carpet cleaning
• Clean air vents
• Replace light bulbs
• Change furnace filter
• Replace batteries in smoke & carbon monoxide detectors
• Clean and disinfect remote controls
• Clean your keys
• Clean feeding dishes for your pets

Kitchen/Dining

• Remove anything from the kitchen that doesn’t belong – this means above the refrigerator & that pesky junk drawer!
• Clean and disinfect trash can
• Replace refrigerator water filter
• Vacuum refrigerator coils
• Clean the hood vent and change filter if needed
• Clean and disinfect the garbage disposal
• Sanitize cutting boards and sharpen knives
• Check the freshness of your herbs and spices
• Clean under the sink and eliminate unnecessary items
• Deep clean your cabinet doors
• Clean tile and touch up paint on walls
• Deep clean floors & wipe down cabinet baseboards
• Wash table linens and table chair cushions
• Disinfect table and wipe down chairs – including legs and underneath

Bathrooms

• Clean air vents and exhaust fans
• Clean and disinfect light switches, light fixtures and wash globes
• Clean/wash shower curtain and liner
• Hand scrub floors, paying special attention to grout lines and corners
• Wash trash can inside & out
• Wipe down cabinets, towel racks and toilet paper holder
• Tighten toilet seat hinges
• Clean shower head
• Re-seal tile and grout
• Unclog drains
• Throw away beauty products not used in the last year

Laundry/Utility Room

• Clean dryer vent
• Clean inside of washing machine
• Empty washing machine drain pump
• Dust behind and underneath washer & dryer
• Wash walls
• Re-seal tile grout
• Install organizers

Bedrooms

• Remove items that don’t belong in the bedroom and put them in their correct location
• Dust ceiling, corners, fans, crown moldings and baseboards
• Wipe down window sills
• Vacuum lamp shades
• Clean light fixtures
• Organize your closet
• Switch seasonal clothing and donate unneeded items
• Clean, flip & rotate your mattress
• Clean under your bed and behind your headboard

Kid Stuff

• Sort and categorize toys – clean & disinfect toys and bins before putting away
• Wipe down gaming systems
• Wash stuffed animals
• Clean, organize and donate clothing that is outgrown

Office

• Spring clean your paperwork! – Clean out your files and shred unneeded documents
• Update home inventory documents
• Review insurance policies
• Check credit report
• Wipe down and disinfect computer, keyboard and mouse