A guide to Spring Cleaning for busy Mums

It’s that time of year where the sun starts to shine through your child fingerprinted windows, catches the cobwebs and makes the dust glisten in the sun. Maybe that’s why it’s called a Spring Clean.

I don’t know about you but with two very messy boys and a 6 month old who needs constant attention, cleaning can be hard to fit in and it feels like I’m constantly trying to keep on top of it. I decided something had to change and the Mother in Law coming to stay was the kick up the bum that I needed. I managed to deep clean my house over 3 days with the baby and whilst James was working away. I wrote down a plan and stuck to it and now I have a weekly plan to keep on top of it all. If you don’t have a baby and have some time to yourself you will probably get it done much quicker.

Here is my Spring cleaning plan, to brighten up your house and reduce allergens. I’ve broken it down in to steps;

1. De-clutter each room. The less that is on the sides and out in the open, the easier it is to dust and the cleaner it is. (If you manage this without weeping in the middle of a pile of crap kids random stuff, then you are already doing better than me)
2. Put away winter clothes and big coats into storage bags and put them in the loft or storage.
3. Use a big feather duster to gather up all the cobwebs using ladders to reach the ones you put off getting.
4. Dust and clean light fittings.
5. Clean the inside of the windows with a water spray and a cloth.

Then I made a plan for each room which included;

1. Dust surfaces and wipe down any sticky bits.
2. Steam floors and clean/steam carpets if you have any. Bang rugs and air them outside.
3. Pull all furniture out and hoover.
4. Hoover curtains and blinds.
5. Wipe down all woodwork like skirting boards, doors and clean doorhandles.

Extra for the lounge

1. Clean the sofa, wash or steam the covers if you can.

Extra for the bedrooms

1. Wash all bedding on at least 60c.
2. If you can wash your duvet and pillows then do it, if not an airing would do it some good.
3. Hoover your bed.

Doing all of the above will reduce the risk of having dust mites. Time4Sleep carried out some research and found that 57% of us are severely at risk of dust mites due to differing hygiene habits. You can find a link to the time4sleep findings here.

Extra for the bathrooms

1. Clean toilets.
2. Clean bath and shower.
3. Steam the floors and walls.
4. Wash all bath mats and towels and 60c and put any spare away so they can’t gather dust.

Extra for the Kitchen

1. Clean inside kitchen cupboards and drawers by pulling everything out and throwing away out of date items. Then wipe them down.
2. Pull everything out of the fridge and clean inside.
3. Clean the oven and trays.
4. Wipe down surfaces by moving everything. Clean all appliances too.
5. Clean the inside of the microwave. Half a lemon in a bowl of water for a minute will loosed grease.
6. Put the dishwasher on a clean cycle.
7. Put the washing machine on a clean cycle or an empty 60c. Clean out trays and filter.

Once you have done all of this pour a glass of wine and put your feet up!

Alternatively, like I thought of doing numerous times over the 3 days, get a company in to do it for you.

Now that it is all done, no one is ever allowed to make mess again! I have also made a weekly rota of things to do. Less on days where I am busier. I will do another post on this and how I plan it.

Do you do a Spring clean?

Disclaimer: I was sent a box of cleaning products to help me with my cleaning. All tips are my own.