As winter says goodbye, the rite of passage to spring includes the traditional spring cleaning checklist. Here’s everything you need to say hello to summer.

The flowers are starting to blossom, birds are chirping but your home still feels musty and untidy. It’s time for a spring clean.

Simply spring cleaning is not the answer. Only 26% of Americans include deep cleaning in their spring cleaning regime.

It’s important to have an action plan, you need a systematic spring cleaning checklist.

How to Spring Clean

Most people amble from room to room, picking up the mess and randomly moving furniture around. This is not spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning is the deep cleaning of the house, from corner to corner.

Systematic cleaning of each room until it sparkles like new.

Moving through the house can be difficult, and you can forget what’s been done already and what still needs to be done. Particularly if you live in more than a one bedroom apartment.

The only way to truly spring clean your home is through the use of a spring cleaning checklist.

Your Spring Cleaning Checklist

Begin by picking up a notebook. A pen. Make a cup of coffee.

Now, list your rooms and all areas that need to be cleaned. From bedroom to bedroom, each bathroom, the living areas, the kitchen, the patio, even the garage, and storage areas.

Each room will have low to reach areas and higher ones. List these.

Don’t forget the air vents and the refrigerator.

Think about the places that haven’t been touched in a while, like medicine cupboards and utensil drawers.

Kids’ bedrooms also have toy boxes and wardrobes that are almost always, packed to the brim with unused and forgotten items.

Deep Cleaning Checklist

Part of your spring cleaning regime needs to be the deep cleaning. Draw a column on the edge of your spring cleaning checklist.

Now, think about items that may need a deep clean. These are hard to reach areas that we spoke about.

Inside wardrobes, bookshelves, DVD shelves, underneath furniture are a few examples.

Create your deep cleaning checklist in your final column.

You won’t have all the products and items for the deep clean, so make a small shopping list of those items you need.

Your sanity and the health of your family is what’s at stake. Yes, a dirty home can make you sick.

You’re almost ready to go.

De-cluttering

De-cluttering is an important part of the spring cleaning process.

Most people shuffle around unused items, pack them away in boxes and store them in places soon forgotten. This is not cleaning.

I repeat. Moving clutter from one place to the next is not spring cleaning.

The right way?

Be relentless. Be unforgiving.

De-clutter your house as if it weren’t yours. If items haven’t been used in over 6 months, do you really need them lying around and gathering dust?

Maintaining a Clean Home

We know the initial spring clean is important, stick to your spring cleaning checklist!

The maintaining of a clean home is just as much so.

You need to know how often to clean your home, having a schedule will help with peace of mind.