Inside: Sick & tired of letting spring cleaning stress you out? Ditch the stress by using this simply spring cleaning checklist to clean your house from top to bottom in less than a day.
How does our house always manage to get so disgusting through the winter?!”
I was disgusted, frustrated, annoyed, and genuinely curious.
How could I let our house get so gross over the winter months? It’s not like I neglected our house or “forgot” to clean…
Yet every time spring comes around, I’m still amazed (disgusted) at how… musky, grimy, and dirty our house has gotten.
Tackle your spring cleaning to get rid of the winter blues and prepare your house for the warmer months with this easy spring cleaning checklist that will give you your life back.
Using a spring cleaning checklist allows you to deep clean every room, nook, and cranny in your house from top to bottom (and left to right…but more on that later) without forgetting anything… all without causing you to become overwhelmed or overworked.
But first…
When to start spring cleaning
There’s no right or wrong answer for when to start spring cleaning your house, but there is a date that is most popular among families and households throughout the country.
The best time to start spring cleaning – or, most popular time to start – is March 26th, because this is the start of the National Cleaning Week.
National Cleaning Week runs from March 26th through April 1st (unfortunately, spring cleaning your house is no April Fools Joke…), which makes this the perfect time to start spring cleaning your house.
If it’s already past April 1st, or it’s before March 26th, and you want to start spring cleaning now – go for it. Ultimately, the best time to start spring cleaning is when you feel ready.
(THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE. YOU CAN READ OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY HERE.)
Download Your Free Printable Spring Cleaning Checklist below ⬇️
Before we dive into cleaning with your brand new spring cleaning checklist (didn’t get it yet? Enter your name & email above to download it for free), let’s go over the essential spring cleaning supplies that will make your life 109383090x easier…
Must Have Spring Cleaning Supplies
- Microfiber Cleaning Cloth these particular microfiber cloths are a spring cleaning necessity – they don’t leave behind any lint and they actually pick up the dirt they wipe over, rather than just pushing it off of the object (and onto your floor).
- Norwex Cleaning Cloths you can either use the microfiber cleaning cloths mentioned above or these Norwex cleaning cloths. Personally, I prefer to use Norwex cloths because they clean without any harmful detergents (just water).
- Cleaning Caddy to keep all your cleaning supplies in one place & easily accessible. This way you won’t waste time running from one room to another looking for the bathroom cleaner.
- Thieves Household Cleaner speaking of cleaner… this cleaner is free of harmful chemicals which makes it a very popular choice among families with kids, or families trying to live healthier.
- Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Magic Eraser this knock-off brand works just fine and is a fraction of the price. Be sure you have at least 2 of these on hand.
- Vacuum you can find our top picks of inexpensive vacuum cleaners under $100 here.
- Blue Dawn Dish Soap this dish soap isn’t just used for dishes… you may be surprised at all the different things it can be used for while spring cleaning your house (we’ll talk about those later… for now, just be sure you have a bottle of this specific kind on hand.)
- Spray Bottle x 2
- Blind Dusters or you can make your own DIY blind dusters by attaching a cleaning cloth to both sides of a set of tongs.
- Garbage Bags
- Lint Roller
- Mop
- Upholstery Cleaner this cleaner has dual uses – upholstery AND carpets. Make sure you get one before starting your spring cleaning.
- Window Squeegee
- Hydrogen Peroxide for disinfecting. Put a mixture of water/hydrogen peroxide into this type of bottle and spray it on surfaces to safely disinfect.
- Bucket to keep your water/cleaner in while dusting and wiping the house.
- Rubber Cleaning Gloves
The best way to spring clean your house
Before getting to the spring cleaning checklist, we have a few things to cover, like:
- In what order should I spring clean the house?
- How do I start spring cleaning?
- How do I make sure I’m not missing anything?
- Is there a right and wrong way to clean a room? (Hint: yes.)
- What do you do for spring cleaning?
- How often should you spring clean your house?
- When to start spring cleaning?
What order should I spring clean my house in?
There is no one way and one way only to spring clean your house, but there are a few factors to take into account while spring cleaning to ensure you get the best clean possible:
You’re going to be using a bucket filled with water and cleaner for every room you clean, and you’ll likely be dumping that dirty water down the tub drain when it needs to be replaced with clean water.
So, naturally, you’ll want to clean the tub last, this way you don’t have to worry about getting dirty water in your clean tub.
Other than cleaning the bathroom last, there’s not much else you need to worry about in regards to cleaning in the right or wrong order.
If you don’t know where to start spring cleaning, you can simply print off the free spring cleaning checklist below and follow along in the order mentioned on the checklist.
How do I start spring cleaning?
The hardest part of cleaning anything is, usually, working up the motivation to get started.
If this is the case for you, use the fail-proof tips mentioned here to get motivated to start cleaning. Once you do all 6 of those things you’ll be eager to clean the rest of your house because it feels so good.
How do I make sure I’m not missing anything?
The best way to be sure you clean every hidden nook, cranny, and area in your home is to follow a checklist. That’s why I created this spring cleaning checklist, so that you could have something to keep you on track.
Using a checklist will help you see what you’ve already cleaned, what’s left to clean, and in what order to clean it.
Instead of running around like a crazy person from one room to the next, forgetting to clean half of your house, using a spring cleaning checklist will keep you on track and help you spring clean your house faster.
Is there a right and wrong way to clean a room?
Absolutely.
The wrong way to clean a room is going in there with no plan and no order.
This causes you to end up missing areas, cleaning other areas twice, and knocking dirt and dust onto freshly cleaned surfaces which creates more work for yourself.
The right way to clean a room is by working top to bottom, left to right. Meaning…
Clean the room starting as high up as you need to clean, then work your way down to the bottom, ALWAYS cleaning floors last.
When you clean a room, you also want to start on the left and work your way over to the right.
This makes sure everything is only getting cleaned once and you aren’t dirtying up places you just cleaned.
What do you do for spring cleaning?
Spring cleaning stresses a lot of people out because it sounds like this big, daunting task. But in reality, it CAN be done very simply and quickly if done effectively.
The key to spring cleaning fast and effectively? You guessed it… using a checklist.
Spring cleaning means to deep clean your house after the winter months. It’s a great way to freshen up your home just in time for spring.
So, if you’re wondering “why do people do spring cleaning?” the answer is simple:
To clean and freshen up a home after becoming dirty and musky in the winter months.
How often should you spring clean your house?
There are two times a year when a thorough house deep cleaning is necessary: Springtime and fall.
Spring cleaning is done annually, but it is virtually the same thing as fall cleaning – so you should deep clean your house twice a year.
When to start spring cleaning?
We talked about this earlier, but I’ll bring it up again in case you missed it:
The most popular time to start spring cleaning is the week of March 26th – April 1st, because this is National Cleaning Week.
Which makes it the perfect time to do your spring cleaning, because many other people will be cleaning their houses now, too!
Related: 6 Steps to Spring Clean Your House Like a Professional
Now that you’re geared up, let’s get started with your spring cleaning checklist by spring cleaning the kitchen…
Spring Clean the Kitchen
Here’s everything you need to do to thoroughly spring clean the kitchen:
- Fill the sink with hot, soapy water this is where you’re going to want to use the blue dawn dish soap we mentioned earlier.
- Clean the stovetop if you can’t remember the last time your stovetop looked like new, use this specific brand of cleaner to get it sparkling again.
- Clean the oven it’s time to deep clean the interior of your oven, quite possibly the most dreaded kitchen cleaning task of all time. If your oven has the self-clean option, follow the instructions and start the self-clean. If it doesn’t have the self-cleaning option, remove the racks and let them soak in the sink while you start wiping out the inside of the oven. If there are substances that are too stuck on to scrub off, sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda inside the oven and spritz white vinegar on top of the baking soda. Let this mixture sit for at least 12 hours, then wipe it out with a damp cloth. I recommend using these cleaning gloves when cleaning the inside of your oven (things can get pretty greasy).
- Clean the inside of the microwave using the angry mama to do the legwork, then all you have to do is wipe the microwave out once it’s done.
- Wipe down the exterior of all kitchen appliances next, wipe down the exterior of your kitchen appliances, including the microwave, oven, fridge, dishwasher, toaster, etc.
- Vacuum fridge coils older fridges have coils on the rear that collect dust and dirt, which can cause your fridge to stop working as efficiently, and sometimes stop working altogether. Newer fridges have panels over the coils which defer dust.
- Clean fridge interior remove food from the fridge and store in a cooler for the time being. Next, remove the shelves and drawers and place them in a sink full of warm, soapy water. Wipe out the fridge with your microfiber rag being sure to get inside all the nooks and crannies. Wash the drawers and shelves and replace in the fridge, then put all the food back inside.
- Wipe top of the fridge & cabinets
- Clean the pantry remove all food from the pantry and wipe down the shelves. Toss any bad or expired food.
- Clean the dishwasher locate the filter in your dishwasher and remove it. Wash the filter with hot water then put it back in place. Fill a dishwasher-safe container with white vinegar and set it, right side up, on the top shelf then turn the dishwasher on a hot cycle. Once it’s finished remove the container and it’s done.
- Wipe exterior of cabinets & handles
- If you have time: remove everything from cabinets & drawers and wipe them out
- Wipe down backsplash tiles
- Clean range hood filter (learn how to do that here)
- Descale coffee maker and kettle by filling both with 1 part water and 1 part white vinegar, turn them both on. Once finished, dump out and fill with plain water and run another cycle.
- Clean the toaster by removing and dumping out the crumb tray, then wiping down the exterior
- Wipe windowsills & windows this is where you’ll want to use these cloths.
- Wipe down countertops
- Let the water out of the sink and disinfect the sink with hydrogen peroxide.
- Take out the trash & disinfect the trash can (do this in the bathtub so you don’t dirty up your clean countertops and sink).
- Vacuum the floor
- Mop the floor
Spring Clean the Living room / Dining room
- Dust the ceiling fan place a pillowcase over the blades of the fan, one blade at a time, all the way to the base of the fan, then pulling to the end to crop all the dust into the pillowcase.
- Wipe down kitchen table
- Dust window frames
- Dust window sills
- Wipe windows
- Remove and wash curtains
- Dust blinds (use a blind duster)
- Dust picture frames
- Remove knick-knacks and dust shelves
- Dust TV and TV stand
- Disinfect TV remote
- Dust lamps (use a lint roller for the lampshades)
- Remove books and dust bookshelves
- Dust tops of speakers
- Dust baseboards
- Spot wash walls
- Empty and wipe down coffee table
- Vacuum cloth furniture
- Wipe leather furniture
- Polish leather furniture (learn how to polish and condition your furniture without expensive conditioners, here)
- Hang area rugs outside to freshen up
- Wash decorative pillows and blankets
- Steam clean cloth furniture and rugs (with this small steam cleaner)
- Vacuum floor
- Mop floor
Spring Clean the Office
- Remove items from desk and desk drawers
- Remove items from shelves
- Dust top, sides, and back of desk
- Wipe inside drawers
- Dust computer screen
- Wipe down and disinfect keyboard and mouse
- Wipe down office chair
- Dust knick-knacks
- Recycle unneeded papers
- Dust bookshelf
- Spot wash walls
- Dust window frames
- Dust window sills
- Wash windows
- Dust ceiling fan and light fixtures using the pillowcase method to dust the ceiling fan again
- Dust baseboard
- Dust and wipe picture frames
- Take out trash
- Disinfect trash can
- Wipe down the office door
- Replace and organize items on the desk and in the drawers
- Vacuum floors
- Mop floors
Spring Clean the Bedroom
- Strip beds
- Wash bedding
- Flip mattress around for even wear and tear
- Vacuum mattress
- Dust bed frame
- Wipe down furniture
- Wash pillows (follow special washing instructions)
- Put new bedding on bed
- Empty and dust night table and dresser
- Dust ceiling fan and light fixtures
- Dust window frames
- Dust window sills
- Wash windows
- Dust and wipe picture frames
- Dust baseboards
- Take out garbage
- Disinfect garbage can
- Wipe door and door hinges
- Spot wash walls
- Vacuum and mop behind/beneath furniture
- Clean out closet and get rid of unused clothes
- Dust blinds
- Clean curtains
- Vacuum floor
- Mop floor
Spring clean odds & ends
- Wipe down all light switches
- Wipe down all door handles and door hinges
- Spot wash all walls
- Dust all baseboard (use a baseboard duster to save your back – and be sure to do this BEFORE vacuuming the floors)
- Vacuum out air vents
- Take out any other garbages and disinfect garbage cans
- Test smoke alarms
- Vacuum rest of floors
- Mop rest of floors
Spring Clean the Bathrooms
- Remove everything from bathtub, countertops, cupboards, drawers, and shelves
- Spray tub/shower with cleaner
- Place toilet bowl cleaner inside toilet
- Spray toilet with cleaner (this household cleaner is awesome)
- Spray mirror, countertop, and sink with cleaner
- Remove and wash shower curtain
- Remove and wash all linens
- Shake out floor mat
- Remove and wash fan vent cover
- Vacuum out the fan while the cover is removed
- Dust light fixtures
- Spot wash walls
- Dust window frames and window sills
- Wash windows
- Dust baseboards
- Wipe door
- Wipe out cabinets, drawers, and shelves
- Wipe cabinet and drawer doors and handles
- Take out garbage
- Wash and disinfect garbage can
- Scrub tub and shower to remove soap scum
- Wash shower walls, faucet, and door
- Wipe down countertop
- Wipe down sink and faucet
- Wipe and shine mirror (use this cloth to eliminate mirror streaks)
- Wipe toilet
- Clean toilet bowl
- Replace items back into the shower/tub, cupboards, drawers, countertop, and shelves
- Replace shower curtain
- Replace clean linens
- Vacuum floor
- Mop floor
There you have it – your complete spring cleaning list to help you easily spring clean your home this year!
GRAB YOUR FREE PRINTABLE SIMPLE SPRING CLEANING LIST HERE ⬇️
Related:
29 Genius Spring Cleaning Hacks You Need to Know
21 House Cleaning Tips You’ve Never Heard Of
How to Clean Every Room in Your House
