We know you’ve probably heard this 1,000 times this season but… if you didn’t get the memo, spring is (still) in the air and there’s still time to freshen up.
Now, that doesn’t mean buying expensive products and additional storage units for your ever-growing collection of shoes, cushions and stationery. It means clearing the problem areas of your home and practising some fast put-away methods, which will give you your weekends back.
Purchase an additional laundry basket and make a day and time every week where you clear the clutter from desk tops, bench tops, entrance ways and bedrooms. Think: Anything that isn’t in the right room, goes into the basket.
Once you’ve gone through the whole house, make sure those items are put back in their rightful spots straight away. It’s a great job for the kids to do for a bit of pocket money.
If you haven’t worn that expensive dress in 12 months, toss it. And if you don’t love that pair of shoes, find them a new home.
I throw as I go throughout the year to avoid having to do major clean-outs. I have a basket in my car boot for op shop deliveries and it’s constantly being used. Given it’s now warming up, pack away heavier winter items into vacuum-packed bags to save space and time getting dressed in the morning, too.
Save yourself the time and energy with this one. If you have timber boards, consider mopping your floors once a month and spot cleaning the rest of the time. It can actually damage your floors to mop too regularly. Who would have thought? Tip: Ensure your indoor planters are sitting on plates to avoid permanent water stains.
Forget expensive room sprays and chemical disinfectants for surfaces; natural solutions work wonders and make your house smell super fresh. Pop a few drops of concentrated eucalyptus oil in an old spray bottle filled with water and use this to clean surfaces, cook tops and bathrooms. Just be sure to keep it out of reach of little hands.
When does your oven NOT need a deep clean? Never, right. To give it a solid clean, first remove any loose pieces then spray the burnt-on food with ammonia. Once you’ve wiped that clean, sprinkle over baking soda and a few drops of white vinegar and watch it bubble. The grime should wipe off easily with a sponge. Baking soda and a water mixture also double up to clean grout in bathroom tiles, too.
Discover more spring cleaning hacks for how to clean drains, ovens and windows…
It might sound self-explanatory, but many of us have defaulted to drying our clothes in a dryer instead of hanging them outdoors. This very small shift can decrease your electricity bill and lessens the likelihood of a shrinking wardrobe. Try to be enviro-friendly and hang your washing on the line whenever you can. Use coat hangers for coats, shirts and tees as this will limit the amount of ironing and help to eliminate peg marks. Bonus.
A couple of times a year, vacuum (yes vacuum) your mattress with the crevice tool. You can also turn your mattress to make sure it holds its shape; simply shift your feet end to your head end every couple of months.
How’s this for a neat and affordable trick to clean chopping boards? Cut a lemon in half, run it over the surface of the chopping board and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you need some more serious scrubbing power, try rubbing coarse salt on the board first then run the lemon over the top. Lemon juice is also highly effective as a spray for surfaces, too.
Invest in a good-quality microfibre cloth rather than endless stacks of supermarket-style cloths as they wear out really quickly. Microfibre converts will say they can clean everything, excluding toilets, without the need for powerful chemical cleaners. All you need to do is add water. Tip: Colour code the cloths for different rooms in the house.
This story originally appeared on REA
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