Spring Cleaning Tips

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Cooking Light and Real Simple, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FreshandFab http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

It was officially the first day of Spring last week, can you guys even believe it!? Before you know it your temps will be rising {or if you are in AZ like me, your temps will start scorching!} and flowers will be blooming. Spring really is such a beautiful time of year, one that I have always loved, except for one reason…Spring cleaning! I am so glad that I use house cleaning Melbourne services otherwise the little bits of cleaning I do throughout the week would take forever! They do such a thorough job!

Growing up my parents were good about giving me and my siblings chores. I felt like a commercial cleaner for a company like GREENFACILITIES.CO.UK since we always did such a good job!! They some how managed to find a balance of making us have responsibility, but also allowing us to be kids. One task though that we freaking dreaded every year was Spring cleaning. It would be a weekend {or week sometimes} long marathon that never seemed to end. Dusting every square inch of the house, cleaning out filters, cleaning out those spaces that you never even tough all year long. The only things we didn’t clean were the carpets and rugs because we used an area rug cleaning and carpet cleaning service for those bits. Our parents wanted to make sure every bit of grime was removed from them and what better way to do so than with the help of a professional. As a kid I hated it. Dreaded it. Wanted nothing more than to be magically ill and not able to participate {but of course still be able to go to a friends house to play}.

And guess what the ironic part of all that dreaded chores is now? I totally Spring clean. I attempt to keep my home clean continuously, but there are totally things that get overlooked. Things that I don’t think necessarily need a ton of ‘upkeep’ but then get so neglected that its a train-wreck. One of those spots in the home for me is my cleaning supplies. Yep, the very stuff I use to keep this house clean is the very spot that is the most disastrous.

I am afraid to admit that I had products down there that I haven’t used in years. Which really means that I moved them from the old house, where I probably hadn’t used them in forever, and then have had them here at the ‘new’ house {we’ve been here a year already} and STILL haven’t used them. It was time to toss, organise, and simplify. I’ve got so many things in my house that I need to get rid of, which is why my friends recommended I looked into skip bin sizes, as this would be the most appropriate way of getting rid of the majority of unwanted items. Spring is the time for me to do all of this. A fresh start for us all.

I am normally not a huge magazine gal, love reading them, but don’t give myself that luxury often enough. When I saw the April issues of Real Simple and Cooking Light though, I thought I could use them as a form of motivation for this Spring cleaning process! Real Simple gave a crazy good list of cleaning tips, ranging from how-to’s, and even awesome tips of using products unconventionally to get you great results!

From that article I totally revamped my products and organization under the kitchen sink. I ditched any and all products that I don’t use, and simplified in a big way. I followed some of their recipes using products like Dr. Bronners soap, and even rubbing alcohol to make up some of my new mixtures. I got my spring color inspired bottles at the Dollar store {so fancy, I know;) } and labeled each with some Washi tape.

So what was I able to accomplish from some of their tips and about 30 minutes of my time?

The main take aways I took from the magazines were these simple Spring cleaning tips:

• Condense and consolidate anything you can, always! Say you need an all purpose cleaner for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. Have you ever thought of looking in to one that can do all surfaces?
• Get rid of the clutter. Get rid of the products {and other household items in general} that you don’t use. A good gauge of that for me is if I haven’t used it in the last six months, its most likely not necessary to store.
• A great cleaning tip was to make it accessible. I make double batches of all my cleaning supplies so that I could keep one set upstairs and one downstairs. I will be the first to admit that our master gets neglected often, if for no other reason than I simply don’t have supplies up there to clean it with! Problem solved!

So, tell me- are you a Spring cleaner? Dread that time of year, or like the task of making your house really squeaky clean? If you are in need of some inspiration and motivation like I was then head to your nearest Target and pick yourself up the April issue of Real Simple and Cooking Light. Best thing yet? When you buy those two at the same time you get a $5 Target giftcard back- which basically makes the magazines BOGO {while supplies last}! Heck yes!

Now, back to the grind for me, I have got a whole lot more cleaning to do. If only there was such a thing as being able to pay someone to do this for you? Oh wait, there is…I am just too cheap for that:)