Spring Cleaning Your Home - From Lampshade to Carpet

We all love to walk into a home that looks and smells fresh and clean. There is a great deal of evidence that a clean living environment improves both physical and mental health, but many of us only skim the surface and don’t clean the things that really matter. An annual deep clean can give us the motivation to do the chores we forget or put off. It doesn’t even have to be spring.

Declutter

A first, logical step is to get rid of things you no longer need. Having less stuff in the house will make it far easier to clean the things you have left. The trick is to be thorough and brutal. Take everything out of your cupboards and wardrobes and make piles of things to keep, throw away, recycle, donate or sell. You can make a surprising amount of money selling stuff you don’t need at car boot sales or online, and taking things to charity shops lets you help others as well as yourself.
Once you’ve got rid of everything, it can be useful to take as much of the furniture out as you can, too. The fewer things in the way, the better.

Start at the top

Spring cleaning means cleaning everything in the house. A good way to go about it is to start at the top of the house and work your way down, as well as starting at the top of each room. Get rid of the cobwebs you’ve been meaning to have a go at for months, dust the tops of cupboards and take down the lampshades. Wash windows and scrub skirting boards. It is important to clean floors and carpets last, otherwise you will end up with dust falling and spoiling your hard work.

Carpets, curtains and upholstery

Carpets and soft furnishings are especially important. They are often one of the last things people think about, yet are known to trap germs, odours and allergens. Smokers and people with pets or young children are especially advised to give these things a deep clean at least once a year. Duvets, pillows, curtains and cushion covers can often be washed or dry-cleaned, and carpet cleaning machines are available which remove a surprising amount of dirt and grime. To eliminate stains and odours, use a specialist product aimed at the offending substance. General purpose cleaners often don’t work as well.

Hire what you need

While most of the cleaning can be done with products you already have, cleaning a carpet properly requires a professional-quality machine. This does not necessarily mean getting a professional company to do it, though, as it is much cheaper and more rewarding to do it yourself. Some people could consider buying a carpet cleaner, but for most people the best option is to rent. 9 out of every 10 people in the UK live 10 minutes or less from a rental outlet - they just don’t know it yet.