Turn Spring Cleaning Into Year-Round Cleaning With These Techniques
With all this talk about spring cleaning, you could be forgiven for simply focusing on spring cleaning. But the real beauty of spring cleaning is that it can be the starting point for a clean year . Yes, you can put in the extra effort right now by restocking and refreshing your cleaning products and doing all those intense annual tasks , but if you don’t declutter year-round, you’ll have another grueling cycle to tackle next spring. Use this as a starting point for a big year of your cleanest home yet.
First, stick to a cleaning schedule.
As you do your spring cleaning this year, keep track of which tasks you enjoy (or just hate less than others), which ones take the most time, and when you feel the most motivated. You’ll want to know all of this when you decide to create a manageable and personalized schedule for the rest of the year.
There are many ways to structure your schedule, but the most important thing is to find a time that really works for you, whether it’s morning, afternoon or evening. This will depend on your current work schedule and responsibilities, as well as when you feel most motivated and what approach to cleaning you decide to take.
I recommend only cleaning in 15-minute chunks each day to keep the whole job manageable and prevent it from becoming tedious, but you can split them up as you see fit. Micro-cleaning and decluttering are a great option because they ask you to pick a small space each day (think: a closet or countertop, rather than an entire room or even an entire closet) and focus on that. Over time, cleaning every small room will result in a cleaner home, but there will still be times when you’ll have to call out the big machinery and take on a big project, like a kids’ room or a kitchen that’s seen better days. Set aside one day every month to clean your entire house.
Otherwise, really stick to your scheduled 15 minutes each day. If after a few weeks you find that the time you chose is not suitable, change it. It’s better to make some adjustments early on than to fall behind because you’re determined to stick with something that isn’t working.
Choose cleaning approaches that are right for you
Once you determine how much time you’re spending cleaning, you need to figure out what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. The micro-cleaning approach of choosing a small space each day works well, but you still need a plan for what you do with that micro-space.
There are several methods that are better than others for long-term home maintenance, such as the “365 Less Stuff” and the ” Calendar ” method. Both of these are aimed at decluttering, but can be modified to handle general cleaning tasks. With 365 Less Things, you commit to throwing away or donating one clutter item every day; With the calendar approach, you throw away or donate one item on the first of the month, two items on the second, and so on until you have accumulated up to 30 items on the 30th and 31 items on the 31st. They’re great for decluttering and forming habits, so use them as intended at first, but don’t be shy about changing them up. Instead of getting rid of six things on day six, think of something you could clear six of, like the six overstuffed chairs around your dining room table or the six mirrors on the upstairs landing.
Here’s a list of my favorite decluttering techniques , as well as my favorite cleaning techniques . There are plenty of them out there, from books by cleaning gurus to methods discovered and shared by everyday people on social media, and trying them out during your scheduled cleaning will keep you interested and help you find the approach that works best for your home.
Adjust as needed
Like I said, you should keep an eye on how this happens. You don’t need to keep super-detailed data, but it’s helpful to note what works and what doesn’t. Changing the time you usually clean, trying a new technique, or experimenting with the reward system you want to use for yourself are all normal and even good. It takes a long time to develop a habit and get into a quality routine, but the goal should be to use spring cleaning as an opportunity to see how great your home can look and spend the next 11 months keeping it that way.
One thing that is very useful here, at least for me, is calling for reinforcements. I’m not talking about a professional cleaner – although I’ve found that hiring one every month or two is very helpful as they spot areas that need attention that you might miss, plus I am surprisingly good at cleaning before anyone is too afraid to be embarrassed. I mean using the app. There are several apps that can help you create the perfect cleaning schedule, keep track of what’s being looked after and what’s not, and even send you push notifications to remind you when a certain area needs your attention. Apps, books by cleaning professionals, and posts from CleanTok influencers can help you, motivate you, inspire you, and generally push you to become a better cleaner.
Again, you can read, watch, and log in as much as you want, but none of it matters if you don’t get it done in real life, so start building your schedule, download my checklists , and get ready for spring, summer, fall, and winter cleaning now.