10 Steps to Spring Clean a Family Home

It’s that time of year again when we start looking at our home with critical eyes. It’s time to Spring Clean!

This year, with the ascendance in popularity of Marie Kondo, we are keener than ever to blitz our homes of clutter and clear the path for the new season. 

The longer days and sunnier weather has us itching to throw out our winter woollies and start adding in fresh, crisp spring-like linens and floral prints. 

But, stop.

Before you do any of this, you need a plan. 

Spring cleaning a family home is an arduous task and you don’t want to fail half way through. 

Create a plan before you start, evaluate how long it will take, and split the tasks amongst the family. That way you’ll get way more done and the house will be looking ship-shape before you know it. 

How to Spring Clean a Family Home 

Step 1: Make the Plan. Sit down in a quiet room and write down 5 goals you’d like to achieve from spring cleaning you home this year. 

Step 2: Once you’ve identified the wider goals, take each one and break it down into 5-10 individual small tasks. This will give you a minimum of 25 jobs. 

Step 3: For each of the jobs, rank them in order of priority. Remember, some of them will be linked to others in order to complete the full goal, so keep that in mind. 

Step 4: Take a blank diary or piece of paper and list out 25 days. Add one job to each day. If they are very small and you have more time, say at weekends, you could add more than one job to the same day. 

Step 5: Next you need to allocate a person to each job. It might be a good idea to give a set of jobs relating to the same goal to the same person, but it will depend on their nature. 

Step 6: Include your children and give them responsibility for some of the tasks. They may need help of course, but it’s a good way to introduce the idea of managing the home in which they live. 

Step 7: Identify a date on which you will ALL begin the house spring clean. 

Step 8: Monitor the tasks and check them off once they are done. Give the family a treat once the first goal is met, perhaps a trip to the cinema, or a visit to your favourite cafe. 

Step 9: Once you’re half way through, evaluate how much progress is being made. If you’re all falling behind, identify ways you can get back on track. Perhaps one task needs two sets of hands instead of one. Be prepared to help each other out to reach the end goal. 

Step 10: You’re at the end of the month and all of your spring cleaning goals should be met! Congratulate yourselves with a family games night, pizza and drinks. You’ve done it!

Sample Goals:

• Clean the interior of all upstairs and downstairs windows
• Declutter and clean all kitchen cupboards
• Repot plants and replace any dead or dying specimens
• Wash and air all winter throws and blankets
• Clean out winter clothes and send any unworn items to charity
• Clean all duvets and pillows according to instructions
• Move all sofas and large items of furniture and vaccum/dust behind them
• Deep clean the oven
• Clean picture frames and glass particularly in rooms where candles are burnt. 
• Wash all tableware and glasses, throw out anything chipped or broken
• Sort through the stack of winter magazines

And so many more!

Sample List of Spring Cleaning Tasks:

SPRING CLEAN THE WINDOWS

1. Remove all curtains and blinds – ADULT 1
2. Clean downstairs windows – TEENAGER
3. Clean upstairs windows – ADULT 2
4. Wash curtains and clean blinds – ADULT 1
5. Restore window dressing to clean windows – ADULT 2

SPRING CLEAN THE BEDDING:

1. Decide in which order you’ll tackle the beds – ADULT 1
2. Start with bed 1 and strip the bed – CHILD 1
3. Wash/launder the duvet and pillows ensuring they can be dried in time – ADULT 2
4. Remake the bed – BED OWNER!
5. Repeat until all beds are complete

How about some more ideas on how to spring clean, and even whether you should spring clean?

How to Spring Clean Your Home – Suggestions from other Families. 

Here are some thoughts from other families on what spring cleaning means to them. 

Those who love to Spring Clean:

I set myself a room to do a week for a deep clean and sort. Sometimes it’s really easy and other times it takes me a few evenings to do. I find with young children around that it’s easier to do the basic sorting of piles, cupboards and drawers when they’re out of the way. Then it’s just a case of pulling out furniture for a clean behind it when they’re awake… far easier! I aim to do that once a year otherwise the piles get out of control and I definitely don’t let my husband near, he’s a hoarder! https://devonmama.com

The boys and I go throw their clothing and toys and donate or sell those they have outgrown. I go through the living room and kitchen storage, as it is our most used rooms. I donate or throw things we no longer use too! Www.themumdiaries.co.uk

I really enjoy it. I pull out all the furniture and give everything a proper clean. We do get the kids to help too especially with the decluttering. The kitchen cupboards also get cleared out and a good scrub. www.kippersandcurtains.com

Skirting boards! Often overlooked but once they are cleaned they can make a room look so much fresher. https://www.scandimummy.com

Can you Spring Clean when you have a cleaner?

I have a cleaner who comes in every week to do the usual tasks which leaves me free to do the big stuff like a nice clear out, freshening up the home, changing bed sheets, sorting the airing cupboard and going through the boys clothes to see who has grown etc. I like organising, I don’t like cleaning my bathroom! http://emmareed.net

Oh yes, I love a good spring clean. Our lounge gets full sun in the afternoon at this time of year and it shows up all of the smears on the windows and dust so I like to give it a good going over around now! My tip for smear free windows is to use a 50/50 vinegar/ water solution in a spray bottle and screwed up newspaper to wipe it with. www.lauraleanne.com

I like to do a blitz of the outside of the house, like window cleaning and pressure washing the drive and decking. Perfect ahead of summer! Illustratedteacup.com

I like to deep clean a room at a time. Trying not to overwhelm myself and give up the task. I work from window to door, include all high and low areas, washing curtains, cleaning blinds and skirting boards. After all rooms are finished we hire out a carpet cleaner for the whole apartment my fiancé does this part www.ouririshfamily.com

How to Get the Kids involved in Spring Cleaning

Me and my two girls love cleaning. Lydia is 6 and Emily is 4 and they come up to me to ask if we can do some cleaning. Emily usually goes round the skirting boards and lydia cleans the doors whilst I do other jobs. It keeps them quiet and we all sing whilst we clean. We also have a vacuum cleaner upstairs and one downstairs and they love vacuuming their bedrooms. My partner on the other hand only does it when I ask him too. Www.theknighttribe.co.uk

I do not get excited by cleaning, in fact I hate cleaning, but I do like having a clean house. What I hate about cleaning is the monotony of it and that is why I do actually like spring cleaning, pretty rock n roll of me eh? Spring cleaning is different, it is a chance to sort through things, go the extra mile, and perhaps the most important aspect, getting rid of spider eggs. Archieandtherug.com

I like to break down this otherwise mammoth undertaking by room. I often choose to start with my wardrobe. Pulling everything onto the bed for assessment and reassignment, the inner construct -rails and shelving – are dusted and spritzed with an anti-bacterial mist. I then set about culling and curating my wardrobe edit for the season ahead, setting aside some pieces for storage and forming a generous ‘charity shop’ pile. girlabouthouse.com

Those who dislike to Spring Clean:

I honestly don’t bother – no matter how many times I clean or how intensely I clean it is always a tip again within an hour with the kids around, spring or not! Www.everafterwithkids.com

I don’t spring clean per say but use this as a reason to ‘freshen up’ the home post winter. The warm stuff goes inside storage, and the lighter stuff comes out. And while I’m at it, I manage to clear out/ discard a lot of stuff. Also, the garden gets some TLC! talesfrommamaville.com

 

I never spring clean. Life is too short as far as I am concerned. I’d actually rather spend the time with the kids and teaching them to manage some of the household chores themselves! My daughter has just started getting an allowance linked to helping around the house – so we’re in it together now she’s a teen https://www.kiddycharts.com

I do a deep clean on rotation as part of the organised mum method and therefore don’t ever need to do a spring clean. It’s changed my life! www.thisismenow.co.uk

I’m useless at cleaning so have a cleaner come in once a week. She does the bathrooms, floors and a general tidy up.
The only spring cleaning I’m any good at is sorting out wardrobes of clothes! I love nothing more than auditing my kids wardrobes and sorting out what still fits/needs to go to charity. Www.livingwithajude.co.uk

Now you have a plan and lots of ideas on how to get started, it’s time to put it all into action! 

Get the whole family involved and you may even have some fun spring cleaning your home this year. 

Let me know how you get on!

PIN FOR LATER:

Read Next:

• How to Save Money Spring Cleaning
• Top tips to Organise Spring Cleaning
• Give Your Home a Spring Makeover

Jen x