Cute and Crafty Mom

That's right, Spring Cleaning!!!

So it's getting close to that time of year where us moms want to air out the house to remove the odor of winter, clean everything and get organized! If your house is anything like my house, it just seems like during the winter it's so stuffy and stagnant. Plus, I have 4 boys, two of which are teenagers, and when they are cooped up in the house for much of the winter I feel like there are just germs EVERYWHERE! All of the closets are full of winter clothes and I am soooooo ready to replace them with the nice, lighter clothing for spring.

I would like to share with you the "routine" of my Spring Cleaning frenzy, which I usually do mid to late March (yep - I'll be doing mine soon). First let me tell you - save the dusting for absolutely last! All of the cleaning will stir up dust that will settle on everything so if you dust before that, you'll just have to dust again. So not only will I share my routine, but the order I use, too.

1) Cleaning out the bedroom closets
It's time to go through everyone's clothing and see if it's something they have outgrown, not worn or ready to be thrown out or donated. My rule of thumb is if it hasn't been worn in a year, I can donate it. I also sort through the clothes to see if outgrown clothing can be handed down, and if not I donate it. If it's beyond repairable and is even too trashed to be considered "play clothes" I just toss it. I box up most of the winter clothes, but I do leave a few hoodies and sweatshirts since I live in Wisconsin and even in the summer it can get cool out of the blue and cool at night. I do leave all of the jeans hanging, too, since they can be worn pretty much year round. Then - I hang up the spring clothes that were stored from the previous year and decide what they need more of (usually it's shorts that I end up buying more of and of course, socks, too).

Also in my closet I've got boxes of odds and ends, plus boxes containing business receipts and invoices. I toss out anything that's over 3 years old. I go through my hobby stuff and if I haven't used it in a year, I donate it. If you're planning on organizing a closet, adding shelves or having a closet system installed, spring cleaning is the perfect time to do it. I highly recommend hanging organizers because you can pretty much fit them into any size closet. They're great. There are hanging organizers for your shoes, larger ones that you can put folded clothing into. I also have cloth bind in my closet to hold intimates and swimsuits.

2) The linen closet attack
I do go through the linen closet and wash my table cloths and things like that since they are not used all of the time. Dust build up on them when they are just sitting in the closet and I don't like that. I also use my linen closet to house other things like board games and such. I go through the games and if it's something that hasn't been played in a year, I donate it.

3) Change out filters and get the air conditioner ready
Usually, I'll dust the vents (if you can afford it, I highly recommend having your ducts cleaned), sometimes even taking the vents off and washing them. Even though they get dusted over the winter, they still get pretty crudded up on the inside of the vent cover. Yuck! Check your heating and/or air conditioner filters to make sure there is a fresh, clean filter in there. Do the same to any humidifiers or air purifiers using filters. Another place to change the filters would be your oven vent and the ice maker/water spout of your fridge.

4) The kitchen ... time to change the dishes out
A lot of moms I know have their "winter dishes" and then their normal dishes. Time to pack up the winter dishes, bring your normal dishes out of storage, wash them and put them away. Wipe down the cabinet shelves before putting them away, though. Also go through your pantry, refrigerator and cabinets to throw out anything that has expired, staled or gone bad. I also give the refrigerator and freezer a good cleaning inside and out. I also have a white floor in the kitchen so it gets a good bleaching.

5) Wipe down the walls
You would be surprised how dirty your walls can get over the winter! I know in my house, there's dirty hand prints here and there (especially on doors and the stairs). I usually wipe down the doors and handles during the winter because of germs, but I SCRUB them when I'm doing my spring cleaning.

6) Deep clean the bathroom
My bathrooms get cleaned regularly, but they get SCRUBBED in my spring cleaning. I tell ya, boys are pigs! LOL Being the only female in the house, my boys know to put the seat down, but they don't know how to aim. I bleach the bathroom!

7) Vacuum and clean all the carpets
We vacuum regularly, but I have ServiceMaster come in and clean the carpets for me to make sure they stay nice and fresh. With my health condition, I can't push and pull a cleaner myself, so for me it's worth the expense. I actually prefer to do this in the Spring and then again in the fall. The rest of the year I use a concoction of Arm & Hammer laundry soap (with OxiClean) and water to spot clean and freshen up the carpets.

8) Window washing
I'll be honest, I don't wash my windows all the time, unless I see dirty hand prints on them LOL. So, when I'm spring cleaning I do wash every window, the blinds, the sills. I also spray the screens with Clorox with bleach and wipe them down because they get so nasty with dust and from the snow and stuff. It gives me tennis elbow when I do it, but it's worth it to me.

9) Finally, time to dust
When I say dust, I mean really dust. I use Swiffers all the time to dust, but when I'm spring cleaning I break out the pledge and I dust everything - furniture, TV's, knickknacks, wall hangings .... you name it.

10) Last but not least, let's get organized
Every year I have a new idea to organize something in my home. This year I'm reorganizing my pantry and adding cloth bins to hold things that have packages and come in boxes. It takes up less room and my boys have this bad habit of leaving empty boxes in the pantry so this will stop that LOL

Overall, I give the house a good scrub top to bottom and I feel wonderful about my home when it's all done. It smells so good and it's nice to air out the house. I hope you got some great ideas. I did some searching and found some coupons for cleaning and organizing so be sure to check them out!

Arm & Hammer Coupons (they do make you sign up for their newsletter, but you can opt out right after you get the coupons)

Swiffer Coupons

Clorox Bleach Offers

OxiClean Coupons (they make you sign up for their newsletter, too)

Sign Up for Scrubbing Bubbles offers

Find more coupons at Coupons.com, too, or shop eBates.com to get paid for your cleaning!