Spring cleaning checklist
About 8 minutes to read. Published . By the House & Hedge team.
Spring is when a house is opened up again, and it is a sensible moment for the jobs that only need doing once or twice a year. NOAA defines meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere as March, April and May. The seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, so spring there is September, October and November. The checklist below is the same on either side of the equator. Only the calendar moves.
The order is deliberate. It works from the things that shed dust to the things that catch it, from the inside to the outside, and it finishes with the floors, so that nothing you have already cleaned gets dusted again. Each job links to the full guide for that job. This page places it in the sequence and says what the spring pass is for.
What to have ready
Most of the jobs below use the same short kit: a bucket of warm water with a little dish soap, microfiber cloths, a soft brush, baking soda, rubber gloves and a vacuum with a brush attachment. Each guide lists anything extra. Keep the kit in one bucket and carry it from room to room.
Read the maker’s manual before cleaning any appliance. The manual says which parts come out, which cleaners the maker allows and which parts must stay dry, and it overrides the general advice in any guide, this one included.
1. Change over the closet
Start here, because the closet decides how much laundry there is to do. Bring out the lighter clothes, put the heavy ones away for the warm months, and wash or dry-clean everything before it goes into storage.
The University of California’s pest notes on clothes moths say to store susceptible items clean and pest free, in an airtight container. They also say to hang woolens in the sun now and then and brush them thoroughly, especially along seams and inside folds and pockets, and that the vacuum cleaner is the best tool for cleaning the places moths hide. The method for the shelves, rails and floor is in how to organize a closet, and the signs of an infestation are in how to get rid of clothes moths.
2. Dust and wash the blinds
Every slat is a shelf, so blinds shed dust into the room each time they are moved. The blinds guide suggests dusting venetian and vertical blinds every few weeks and fabric blinds monthly, and washing metal and plastic blinds about every six months in a busy kitchen or once a year elsewhere. Spring is the yearly wash.
Do the blinds before the windows. The method, including the safety points about cords, is in how to clean venetian, vertical and fabric blinds.
3. Wash the windows
Clean glass on a cloudy day or in the shade. In direct sun the cleaning solution dries too fast and leaves streaks. Clean the frames, sills and tracks at the same time, because a clean pane next to a dirty track looks unfinished.
If you plan to use vinegar and water on the glass, check first that the window has no tint film, which vinegar can damage over time. The full method is in how to clean windows without streaks, and the list of surfaces to keep vinegar away from is in things you should never clean with vinegar.
4. Turn the mattress and wash the bedding
Strip the bed, vacuum the mattress and let it air. The mattress guide says to vacuum the mattress every three to six months and to turn or rotate it if the maker recommends it, so check the maker’s advice before turning anything. Wash the mattress protector and the bedding at the same time. Duvets and pillows have their own method in how to wash a down comforter and pillows.
The mattress method is in how to clean a mattress and keep it clean.
5. Clean the fridge, coils and all
Empty it shelf by shelf, wash the drawers and the door seal, and clear the drip tray. The refrigerator guide recommends a full clean once or twice a year, with the coils done every six to twelve months, and every six months in a home with pets or a dusty kitchen.
Keep the food cold while you work. Perishable food should not sit above about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours, and sooner in a warm kitchen, so use a cooler with ice. The whole method is in how to clean a very dirty refrigerator.
6. Clean the washing machine and the dryer vent
The washing machine has a monthly routine, and spring is a good time to do the full version: the drawer, the door seal, the drain filter and the drum. The method is in how to clean a washing machine. If the towels have started to smell, musty towels and laundry covers the wash itself.
Then the dryer. The National Fire Protection Association says that the leading cause of home clothes dryer fires is failure to clean them. The US Fire Administration puts failure to clean at 31 percent of the home clothes dryer fires it counted from 2018 to 2020, the largest single factor. The Association’s advice is to clean the lint filter before or after each load and to clean lint out of the vent pipe once a year, or more often if clothes are taking longer than normal to dry. The full method, including the outdoor vent, is in how to clean a dryer lint screen and the vent.
7. Uncover the grill and wake the patio
If the grill has been standing since the end of the last season, take out the grates, clear the burner ports on a gas grill, empty the grease tray and check the connections before the first cook. The steps are in how to clean a grill, the grates, the burners and the grease tray.
For the patio, work on a dry day when the surface is cool and the moss is easy to see. The moss guide suggests treating a patio once or twice a year and fixing the damp and the shade as well, so the moss has less reason to return. The method is in how to get rid of moss on a patio, path or deck.
8. Do the floors last
Floors come last so that nothing from the jobs above lands on them. Sweep or vacuum first, then mop.
For hardwood, the National Wood Flooring Association advises a cleaner made specifically for the finish on the floor and warns against wet mops and steam mops, which it says will damage the finish and the wood over long periods of time. The method is in how to clean hardwood floors without damaging the finish. Tile and grout are in how to clean tile floors and grout.
One rule for the whole list
A big cleaning day is when people reach for a second product to boost the first. Do not. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to never mix bleach with ammonia or any other cleaner, and that rule is the reason every guide in this section says to use one product at a time. The specific pairings and what each one releases are in what never to mix when cleaning.
Carrying the list through the year
Spring clears what the winter left. The next list, the summer cleaning checklist, covers the jobs that matter in the warmest months, including the air conditioner filter, the grill in mid-season and the kitchen bin. It runs from June to August in the Northern Hemisphere and December to February in the Southern Hemisphere.
Do not try to finish the whole list in a weekend. Groups of jobs, such as the bedroom jobs together or the laundry appliances together, make a better day than the list in one go. What matters is that each job gets done once a year, in an order that does not undo the one before.
