10 Deep Cleaning Chores to Add to Your Spring Cleaning Checklist

Spring cleaning. It marks the official end of winter. We come out of our hibernation and need to knock the dust off of everything. And since we’ve been hibernating, we have the motivation to get up and do it. Some of my spring cleaning chores overlap with my fall cleaning, which you can read here: 10 Deep Cleaning Chores to Add to Your Fall Cleaning Checklist, but there are also some different ones that I reserve specifically for spring. Check out my  10 deep cleaning chores to add to your spring cleaning checklist below!

Windows and blinds

In the fall, I take down my curtains and throw them in the washer while I wash my windows with vinegar and water. I also use rags, not paper towels, to prevent streaking. In the spring, I take down all of my window blinds and throw them in the tub with some water and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I let each set of blinds soak for at least 15 minutes before hanging them on my outside railing to dry. They are then wiped down and hung back up as the windows are cleaned. You’ll see from the ring around your tub how much dirt has been accumulating on them all winter.

Cabinets

I have a curio cabinet in my dining room that gets cleaned out every spring. Despite being behind closed doors, it feels good to take everything out, wipe down the glass and the trinkets inside, and put them back clean. Find the cabinets and shelves that don’t get dusted or wiped down regularly, and give them a deep clean.

Furniture, carpets, and rugs

I don’t have children who drop food and spill drinks on the couch and carpets regularly. So, I don’t have to clean my furniture very often. But each spring, I make sure to move every piece of my living room furniture from behind the wall and clear out the cobwebs and dirt. I make sure to give special attention to the baseboards and corners, using both a duster and vacuum attachments.

Then, I take all of the cushions off of my furniture and go over the interior of each piece with the vacuum attachments and vacuum both sides of the cushions before they are put back. Smaller pieces of furniture are flipped over to catch any cobwebs attached to the chair legs or beneath my ottoman and end tables.

My carpet is old and not worth cleaning, but spring is a good time to clean or have your carpets and rugs cleaned as well. Suck up all of that salt and dirt that is tracked in throughout the winter.

Bedding

In the fall, I like to clean behind and under all of my bedroom furniture. In the spring, I do a less thorough run through in these areas. I won’t move the furniture, but I’ll get the vacuum attachments to hit whatever they can reach, and I dust my baseboards off as well.

However, I do a thorough deep clean of my bed, including:

• Washing my sheets, blankets, and comforter
• shaking some baking soda onto my mattress and then vacuuming it up
• removing everything under the bed and cleaning under it
• flipping the mattress
• adding clean sheets and removing one blanket now that the weather is warmer

Wall art and posters

Though I try to hit my wall art with a duster each time I dust my house, dirt does tend to build up, especially at the top of the frame. So, I take down all of my art and really dust or wipe them down before rehanging.

I also spray posters or frames with glass in them with glass cleaner to remove the dust from them. It’s also a good time to replace or update photos in your photo frames or rearrange the collages.

Oven

In the winter, you tend to do more baking in your oven. This leads to more oven spills which have baked onto the bottom of your oven. I take out my oven grates, heat the oven to 200 degrees, spray some dollar store oven cleaner inside the appliance, let it sit, and then wipe it down. It’s a messy, cough-inducing job that takes several run-throughs to get all of the dirt out, but it’s worth it in the end. Just make sure to lay down some newspaper on your kitchen floors to catch the dirt that falls to the floor.

Also, don’t forget to hit the inside of the oven door. And while you’re at it, clean out the drawer at the bottom of your oven, if you have one. Take out your pots and pans, and wipe down the inside. Then, make sure all of the pots and pans are clean.

You can also use the oven cleaner to clean your grates. Again, newspaper is crucial here, and be prepared to do a lot of scrubbing. You might even want to take that chore outside if there’s a clean place where you can work.

Closets

Cleaning out your closets are one of the staples of spring cleaning. That’s why you see so many yard and garage sales popping up in the suburbs that time of year. We’re determined to Spark Joy by reducing the amount of stuff we have accumulated.

But besides just throwing stuff away and swapping out your winter clothes for your summer ones, make sure to take everything out and wipe down the closet itself. Get all of the cobwebs out. Wipe down your shelves. If you have wooden floors, wash them as if they were your kitchen floors. If there’s carpet, vacuum thoroughly. Tighten the screws on your clothing rods or put up new ones. Put everything back in a neat and organized way. It’s time consuming but worth it.

Yard and gardens

I’m always anxious to get out into my yard, and it usually takes some prep before you can mow the lawn for the first time. Walk the property, and pick up any fallen sticks. Look for holes that animals may have made over the winter. Fix any loose stones on your walls.

If like me you like to garden, I use the early spring to till the soil and get it breathing and ready to plant. Shrubs and bushes are trimmed if needed. I pull out any weeds that start to grow and make room for the perennials that bloom in the spring, such as my daffodils. Then, I try to maintain it until I’m ready to plant my annuals and mulch.

Patios and porches

My patio is a makeshift living space that I made with mostly recycled slabs from other parts of the yard surrounded by a retaining wall. It’s a breeding ground for moss which needs to be sprayed down each year. There are also leaves and sticks to clear, furniture to uncover and rinse down with soapy water, and weeds to maintain around its perimeter.

If you have a porch, despite the roof, it too needs a thorough cleaning. Clean off your furniture. Sweep out and wash your floors. Clean off your welcome mats and rugs. Pull out your cushions, and get the dust off of them. Make the space livable for those upcoming warm nights when you just want to sit out.

Overlap chores from fall

Some of the chores from my fall cleaning post I also do in the spring. These include:

• Washing the Car – including waxing, vacuuming the interior, and wiping down commonly touched surfaces. Don’t forget the trunk, and put away your ice scrapers and other winter tools.
• Light switches/door knobs/remote controls/keys/purses – Clean off these commonly touched items with disposable wipes.
• Laundry baskets/washer/dryer – After washing your bedding and winter clothes, you’re going to have a lot of dirt and germs built up inside your washing machine and on your laundry baskets. Make sure to wipe them down and wash them out with hot water, vinegar, and disposable wipes so that they’re not contaminating your next round of clean laundry.
• Fireplace – If you used your fireplace over the winter, make sure that you finally shovel out those left over ashes. Also, clean off your fireplace tools, and wipe down the area around the fireplace, including the floor and walls. Also, close the flue and make sure the doors are shut tight.
• Front door screen – Each fall I replace my front door screen with a glass screen, and in the summer, I do the opposite. Make sure the screen is free of dirt and cobwebs, and clean around the door before you put it in.
• Shower curtains – Aside from spraying it down each time I clean my bathroom, I like to throw my shower curtain and liner in the washing machine every few months. So, add it to your spring cleaning checklist. Do it last after you have tackled all of your dirty jobs, and keep it from accumulating mold.

What are your go-to spring cleaning chores? Leave your answers in the comments below. Also, download my free Deep Cleaning Checklist to help you with your yearly deep cleaning chores.

Deep Cleaning Checklist

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