Spring Clean in a Weekend

Spring Clean in a Weekend

Spring-cleaning is a job that few people enjoy, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and you don’t have to do it alone. Working together, your family can get it done in a weekend. Consider these suggestions to help pace yourself.

Get ready

• List what you need to do and buy the needed cleaning supplies and equipment.
• Arrange for a charity organization to pick up discarded items you want to give away or take them yourself.

Get set

• Assign cleaning tasks to family members according to age and ability.
• Stock plastic buckets or totes with cleaning supplies. Have trash bags handy.
• Attach an extension cord to your vacuum cleaner so you can move quickly through rooms.
• Spray the oven with oven cleaner Friday night. Put the drip pans from your stove and the ventilating fan/hood filter in a sink full of hot soapy water. Let them soak overnight.

Go

• Get up early Saturday morning and have family members strip bed linens (including mattress pads) and remove curtains that need washing.
• Vacuum cobwebs from ceilings and corners, light fixtures, ceiling-fan blades, shutters, or blinds, door and window moldings, lampshades, pictures, windowsills, and baseboards.
• Dust and polish wood furniture and shelves.
• Clean mirrors and glass furniture tops.
• Flip mattresses and put clean linens on beds.
• Sweep floors and vacuum rugs or carpets.
• Defrost freezer if necessary. Wipe off refrigerator shelves.
• Clean inside microwave.
• Finish cleaning oven and stovetop. Replace drip pans.
• Vacuum, mop, and wax floor.
• Remove shower-curtain liners. Wash for five minutes with a bath towel on delicate cycle; hang on a line or shower rod to drip-dry.
• Spray shower, tub, and toilet with cleaner. (Be sure to open a window or turn on exhaust fan first.) Let solutions soak in, then wipe off and rinse clean.

Then, when the day is done, order up a great dinner or take the family out to celebrate a job well done.

Family management expert Kathy Peel is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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