When the weather finally begins to warm up and spring arrives, also comes time for spring cleaning. After the short dark days and so much time inside at home, spring is the perfect time to deep clean, sort, and organize your house. Spring is a time for starting fresh and new life, so let’s learn exactly how to do that for our homes step-by-step today with the ultimate spring cleaning checklist (that comes with two free printables too).
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Why You Need a Spring Cleaning Checklist
You probably have a pretty good routine for cleaning your house. Whether you clean a bit every day, have a dedicated cleaning day each week, hire outside help, or deep clean but less frequently, it doesn’t really matter, once spring rolls around a deep clean is a great idea.
There’s a good chance that while the days were short and dark and the weather was cold you spent a lot of time at home. With your kids at home and your animals inside, no matter how often you clean, there is a lot of accumulation of things and dirt and dust that happened throughout the winter. Really a lot of it has probably built up over the entire past year.
If your kids are young, you often acquire a mess and physical things rapidly. Little kids outgrow clothes and even their interest in toys every few months for the first year or two, which is hard to keep up with unless you are giving it all away to family, friends, or thrift shops all the time.
The whole point of spring cleaning is that it’s time to clean and sort through the things that you really never pay attention to. You know, the cracks and crevices that collect dirt and the things you shove where they can’t be seen in the house somewhere as the year goes on. Because this is far too easy to do month after month, a checklist for cleaning it all out annually is pretty important.
Otherwise, there’s a good chance you won’t even think of a lot of the places in your house that could use some TLC and probably will end up postponing them another year, or at least considering it.
While spring cleaning can be daunting, to say the least, it is also refreshing. Letting go of all that clutter and mess and seeing everything shine for a while is like turning a new leaf. It can brighten your mood, flood you with good hormones, and set you up for a successful year to come.
Two Spring Cleaning Checklists You Need
Spring cleaning is no easy task, so the more prepared the better. That’s why I’m including some free printable checklists along with this pretty detailed post too. It’s really important to set yourself up for success so that you don’t get too overwhelmed and give up half way through your spring cleaning tasks.
There’s nothing more disheartening than beginning a journey that is going to benefit your mental and physical health and not feeling up to completing the task. So I am creating a spring cleaning checklist of supplies you should have ahead of time so that you can more efficiently get all of your spring cleaning done.
If you have a basket of supplies like Magic Erasers and spray bottles you’ll be a lot more likely to get everything completed. It’s a whole lot harder to be efficient with checking off your list if you have to stop midway through purging a room to run to the store for more supplies.
After that, I’ll be sharing a list of spring cleaning tasks to complete broken up by room so you will know what to tackle from inside to outside your house. If you’re house feels like a disaster and you don’t even know to get started organizing it, yet along CLEANING it, first begin with how to clean your house when you feel paralyzed by the mess.
The Ultimate Spring Cleaning Supplies Checklist
You don’t need to have every one of these supplies to successfully spring clean. I’ve broken the list into multiple categories to help you decide more easily what types of things you need to use to clean your house.
The first is for reusable and green cleaning supplies. You’d be amazed at the deep clean, shine, and great smell you can achieve without using any chemicals. The downside to that is sometimes (not always but sometimes) it takes more elbow grease to effectively deep clean without chemicals.
The second category is for disposable and normal chemical cleaners. Honestly, I use a mix of both categories. It’s nice to eliminate chemicals as much as possible but sometimes the chemicals really do just work better. And while it’s nice to use as many reusable items to clean as possible (old t-shirts cut up make great rags) sometimes there’s just too much to clean and you won’t get it all done if you don’t use some paper towels or Swiffer pads.
But you know what? That’s ok! This is an extensive list so that you can either lean on checking off most of the green cleaning list, most of the typical cleaning supplies list, or a mix of the two when you stock up on supplies.
Even if you are sticking with as much green cleaning as possible I will say that you still may want to pick up some oven cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner with bleach also because they are extremely versatile items that can deep clean lots of filthy things. Lots of people I know also swear by The Pink Stuff for the same reason.
The last category on the list is more expensive or optional cleaning items.
- Steam cleaners are a great way to clean cracks and crevices and eliminate lots of additional cleaning chemicals. However, they can be a bit tedious to use.
- A carpet shampooer is a must for a family with carpets with kids and pets. But you can also rent a Rug Doctor at your local store instead of buying one.
- I find having a cleaning caddy that you can fill with all these supplies (or even a big bucket) to carry from place to place helps a lot with cleaning efficiency.
- Sometimes things that take the vigorous scrubbing required when cleaning out of the mix can really help you get more done and a deeper clean with reduced effort. This is where a steam cleaner, drill brush attachments, and a pressure washer can be helpful to invest in. They will cut down on hours of scrubbing needing to be done by you. They may not drastically reduce your cleaning time but will drastically reduce the amount of physical effort required.
Spring Cleaning Supplies Checklist: Click Here to Download
The Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist
When spring cleaning your house, it is best to go room by room, task by task, or some organized blend of the two. Oftentimes I find doing one room at a time to be the best way to tackle the job. But for certain things like cleaning windows, it’s actually easier to switch approach that up and do the entire task at once.
Which room in your house you start with when spring cleaning doesn’t matter. Perhaps you want to get the easy tasks or rooms out of the way first. Or maybe you want to get the most difficult jobs out of the way before anything else.
I find that doing the tasks that make the biggest visual difference first is the best. Then you can immediately see the effects of your hard work which in turn inspires you to keep going.
I think it’s a good idea to check out this post about 7 places you’re probably forgetting to clean in your house before you begin. It will give you a new way of looking at the tasks on this list so you don’t forget anything.
For instance, below I’ll be suggesting you clean your fridge inside and out… but are you going to notice the rubber seal around the edge of the fridge too? Because those can get really nasty and we don’t even notice!
This list has lots of details about how to tackle many of these spring cleaning tasks. Then a the bottom you will also find a free printable spring cleaning checklist that you can print out and bring with you from room to room. Checking things off can be fun and help you feel more accomplished as well.
Whole House Spring Cleaning Jobs
- Wash window tracks. You can use a spray and paper towel or rag or a steam cleaner.
- Dust or spray and wipe the blinds.
- Remove and wash the curtains.
- NEXT wash windows inside and out. (Or else dirty tracks or dusty blinds can splash up onto your clean windows afterward!)
- Clean the walls. Use a wet rag or a melamine sponge.
- Clean the ceiling. Wipe as needed and clear spider webs from corners.
- Remove and clean light fixtures. Or just dust if needed.
- Dust the whole house. Do a proper dusting by removing all of the items from the shelves and dusting them each as well as where they were sitting. Also dust picture frames.
- Polish the furniture. Ideally, use furniture wax because it’s more thorough and does a better job than furniture polish. However, if you must, polish can be used to save time.
- Clean the upholstery. Depending on what your couches and chairs are made from, follow the cleaning instructions for that type of material.
- Clean your baseboards. This can be done with a spray and sponge or towel. You can also use a melamine sponge or a steam cleaner and towel.
- Clean the carpets. Throw rugs and bath mats can usually go into the clothes washer. Use a carpet cleaner for anything bigger.
- Sweep and mop the floors. Always clean each room from top to bottom. Do tables, counters, and dust before ending with cleaning the floors.
Spring Cleaning the Bedrooms
Take each bedroom one at a time. The larger your family is the more daunting this task can be. It is a good idea to involve the kids in spring cleaning and decluttering their own rooms. It will probably be very tough for them to learn to declutter at first. Kids have trouble parting with their favorite old worn-out jeans with holes and old toys they don’t even use anymore. While teaching them decluttering takes patience, it can help you make sure they don’t grow up to be hoarders.
- Declutter clothes. Sort through the clothes and make three piles: keep, donate, and trash. If you haven’t worn it in over 2 years consider donating it.
- Declutter knick-knacks and toys. Decide if you want to keep any decor items you have in each bedroom. Sort through toys in the same manner you did clothes. This may be tough, be strong!
- Sort through the closet. Empty the closet, seriously. Sort through what you actually need and what ended up in there because you just wanted it out of sight.
- Wash the bedding.
- Toss the pillows in the dryer. Putting pillows in the dryer on high heat for 15 minutes will remove dust and dander and kill dust mites.
- Clean stuffed animals. Some stuffed animals can go through the washer in hot water, some will just need to go into the dryer on high heat for 15 minutes to kill dust mites. Be aware though, that high heat in the dryer can melt some fabrics and fibers so don’t do this if the animal has hair (fur should be fine but be careful if it’s long fur).
- Clean the mattress. Use a vacuum attachment to clean both sides of the mattress. If odors need to be removed, sprinkle with baking soda and vacuum away in 12-24 hours.
Spring Cleaning the Bathrooms
- Clean the cabinets. Spray, scrub, and wipe inside and outside.
- Sort through the cabinets. Since they are empty to clean, now throw out old and expired products or things you simply didn’t like using. Organize things back into the cabinets nicely. Pick up some additional organizer bins and shelves if needed.
- Clean and sort inside the medicine cabinet. This is easiest to do when you sort through all the clutter in there.
- Clean vents and fans.
- Wash the shower curtain. This can be done in the washing machine or dishwasher. Learn over 100 things you can wash in the dishwasher to simplify your spring cleaning!
- Wash all bathroom organizers. Makeup organizers, drawer organizers, and more should also be run through the dishwasher for ease of cleaning.
- Clean and reseal the grout. If you have grout this is an important step to make your cleaning less daunting over the next year.
- Clean the shower. Scrubbing bubbles foaming shower cleaner really cuts down on the scrubbing required.
- Clean the mirrors.
- Clean the counters.
- Clean the sink.
- Clean the toilet outside and inside.
- Clean the trashcan inside and out. Toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush work surprisingly well for this.
- Replace the caulk if needed.
Spring Cleaning the Kitchen
- Clean inside cabinets. Empty each cabinet, sort through items you no longer want or use, and wipe down the shelves and inside doors. Do one at a time in order to avoid overwhelm.
- Degrease the walls. While cleaning the walls is listed in the initial “whole house chores”, kitchen walls (especially near the stove) collect an entirely different level of dirt, grease, and grime.
- Wash or replace the range hood and filter.
- Clean each drawer. Wash every drawer organizer (you can use the dishwasher), wipe down the drawers, and toss out old things that have accumulated. Even tackle and organize the junk drawer!
- Clean the outside of cupboards. If your cupboards are real wood, polish them with furniture wax as well.
- Wash the trash cans inside and out.
- Deep clean the stove. Unless you have more patience than I’ve ever known, use oven-cleaning spray. Clean the knobs, the burners, drip pans, inside the stovetop, in the oven, and the cooking racks.
- Deep clean the fridge/freezer. Empty the freezer, clean the shelves, and sort through the items. Do the same in the refrigerator.
- Clean the dishwasher. Wipe down the inside, clean the cracks around the door when opened, and run a hot water wash cycle with a cup of vinegar poured into the base of the dishwasher.
- Clean the microwave. Microwave a mug of water with a slice of lemon for two minutes, then wipe down the inside of the microwave.
- Clean all small appliances like the toaster, coffee pot, air fryer, etc. inside and out.
- Wipe down counters.
- Thoroughly clean the sink. Be sure to tackle every crack and crevice.
- Replace caulk as needed.
- Sort through the pantry. Donate, throw out, or eat up expired food. Rotate older cans to the front if you have a very full pantry. Donate anything your family doesn’t like or want. Wipe down the pantry shelves. Add in organizers as needed.
Spring Cleaning the Closets
- Empty each closet first.
- Sort out trash, misplaced items, and items to donate.
- Wipe down the shelves.
- Vacuum or sweep the floors.
- Replace all items that belong there.
Spring Cleaning the Office
- Begin with the desktop. Empty the desktop and then clean it. Place only what you actually want back on top. Only items you need regularly should be visible to increase productivity.
- Dust your computer, keyboard, printer, and accessories.
- Clean all desk and drawer organizers. You can use the dishwasher for these if needed.
- Clean and sort each desk drawer. Empty each drawer one at a time. Sort the items, clean what needs to be wiped down, and replace only what you want in that drawer.
- Clean each shelf. Empty all shelves, sort the items, clean what needs it, and replace only what you want there.
- Declutter papers. Sort through all your papers that you haven’t yet whether they be on the desk, on shelves, etc. Throw out what you don’t need and file the rest.
- Organize your cables. I don’t know how it happens, but wires and cables somehow turn into a tangled mess over time. Untangle and reorganize them.
- Sort writing utensils. Test pens and highlighters and toss dead ones. Sharpen pencils and throw out those you don’t have the lead for (or buy more lead).
- Declutter your virtual world. If you have the time and patience consider organizing inside your computer as well. Remove icons you don’t need on your desktop, delete old files and organize those you want to keep, delete needed emails and organize those you do need. Sort your digital photos if you can manage that too. Though these tasks can be a lot, they can vastly help to free up your mental load.
Spring Cleaning Outside
- Clean out the garage. Sort through shelves, work benches, or any other garage storage. Donate or throw away items you don’t want, things that are broken, paint that’s dried out, etc. Dust away spider webs. Dust shelves. Sweep out the garage to finish.
- Clean window screens. Remove window screens to give them the best cleaning.
- Clean out rain gutters. Remove dirt, debris, and leaves.
- Clean sidewalks and decks. Sweep, rinse, scrub, or pressure wash as needed.
- Clean outdoor furniture. A pressure washer can be a big help here.
- Clean your grill. Oven cleaner is pretty much a must here.
- Clean the siding. Pressure wash or scrub siding as needed. Touch up paint as needed as well.
- Begin spring yard work. Rake sticks and leaves, begin weeding, prune bushes and trees as needed, take out dead plants, prep the vegetable garden, and reseed the lawn as needed.
Click here to download your free Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist.
You’ve Done It! You Completed Your Spring Cleaning Checklist!
That’s it! I know that was a lot. Hopefully, you recruited some family and maybe even friends to help tackle the job. I’ll help you clean your house if you help me clean mine? You should feel proud and accomplished and refreshed, and probably a bit exhausted too.
Keep in mind these 6 daily habits to keep a more tidy home so that all your hard work lasts even longer. Now lay out in the sunshine, take a bubble bath, or have a glass of wine, whatever you fancy, you deserve it!