The thought of doing spring cleaning of your house strikes terror in the hearts of a lot of people. After what was a long cold winter for a lot of us, staying indoors to clean the house is not that appealing. All those cleaning tasks you been putting off are sitting there staring at you as you walk by. Here are some spring cleaning tips to help you through the ordeal.

The first step is to focus on a few tasks at a time. Divide and conquer. If you think about all the tasks, you will become overwhelmed and not get started with any of them. This is part of the “fight-or-flight” response hard wired into humans and most other animals. If you are overwhelmed by thinking of all the tasks you have to perform, you will head outside and do just about anything else. Suddenly, that neighbor you usually avoid seems a lot more interesting. The best approach is to pick a room and then some specific tasks in that room.cleaning supplies

In the kitchen, an often overlooked task is to clean under the refrigerator. This is a nice self-contained task that has a clear starting and ending point. Carefully slide out the refrigerator. Newer refrigerators actually move rather easily. Depending on the type of floor you have, you might want to put down some cardboard or several layers of paper to keep the rollers on the refrigerator from scratching the floor. Once the fridge is out, you never know what you will find under there. Sometimes there are lost treasures – that favorite picture of your cat that disappeared from the door, other times there are dried objects under there there were probably bits of food but are no longer recognizable. Sweep and vacuum the floor area. Apply a household spray cleaner to soften what remains. Use a Scrigit Scraper to quickly clean off spots of dirt stuck to the floor and buildups along the edges and corners. Wash down the floor with a rag or mop and let dry. Wash down the top, sides and front of the fridge before carefully pushing it back into place. If you have a stove with a drawer on the bottom, pull out the drawer and vacuum under there.

Take everything off your counter tops and wash those off with a spray cleaner and a blue scrub sponge or similar cleaning pad. Again, use the Scrigit Scraper to remove spots of dried mystery substances and grime that built up along the back edges, sink and stove, depending on your setup. If you have granite counter tops, this would be a good time to apply the recommended annual sealer, though leave enough time for this to dry according to the package directions.

Now that you are on a roll, use a soft cloth, such as a microfiber cleaning cloth, to clean off the sides of the kitchen cabinets and the inside and outside surfaces of the doors using an appropriate  cleaner for the type of surface. Murphy Oil Soap is great for cleaning wood cabinets and other wood surfaces around the house. If you have any energy left, wash the kitchen windows. If you are really motivated, go through the kitchen pantry and throw out any long forgotten and outdated food.

Please share your spring cleaning tips.