It’s that time of year when many households’ thoughts turn to spring cleaning, and if you’re planning to give your house the onceover from top to bottom, a bit of simple preparation can help make it less of a mammoth task.
Here are just a few ways to get the best results from your spring cleaning in 2018 by combining the latest innovations in cleaning products and microfibre cloths with good old-fashioned remedies and elbow grease.
Spray your way into spring
You can save money and cut down on packaging waste by buying bulk-sized bottles of cleaning fluids and then transferring just as much as you need into a spray bottle – you may even want to add some water if you don’t need the detergent at full strength.
This is a good way to have several spray bottles of the same cleaning agent, if you’ve got some help on hand with your spring cleaning, and a bigger bulk bottle will naturally go further too.
Just be sure to clean your spray bottles out well if changing cleaning product, as you don’t want the new fluid mixing with any chemical residues from the one before.
A cloth for all reasons
Dusting, wiping and polishing accounts for the lion’s share of basic spring cleaning, so make sure you have cloths suitable for the job – plenty of yellow dusters or even better, a stack of microfibre cloths.
These are highly absorbent and pick up dust well too, and you can usually get a pack of several in your local pound shop, so there’s no reason to use the one same cloth for everything.
Disposable cloths are good if you need to wipe up dirt or grime and throw it straight in the bin – and actually kitchen roll can sometimes be a good inexpensive option for this.
Know when bleach is best
Good old household bleach is sometimes the best contender for the job – obviously only on colourfast surfaces such as kitchen and bathroom tiles, bathtubs, sinks and so on.
If your bath or shower seal is showing signs of mildew or mould, try applying neat bleach directly to it and leaving it for a few hours or overnight – the bleach will penetrate and usually eliminate the vast majority of discoloration.
Take care if using bleach in a spray bottle, as you should avoid inhaling the vapours, and consider wearing rubber or latex gloves when handling neat bleach, as it can be bad for the skin.
Think big
Your everyday cleaning routine might involve working around furniture in situ, and for your spring cleaning you might rightfully feel proud of actually shifting the sofa or TV stand and cleaning under and behind it for once.
But why not think bigger – if a piece of furniture is looking tired, damaged around the edges or just refuses to come clean, maybe it’s time to consider a replacement?
Spring cleaning is the perfect time to hire a skip and throw out the old bits and bobs of mismatched furniture that let down the look of your home, and replace them with fresh, fashionable items that give you the functionality, storage space or aesthetic that you need.