Springtime Cleaning |: Simple To-Do List

The weather has warmed up, and it is time for spring cleaning. Follow along as we show you how we do our deep cleaning with all-natural DIY cleaners. Plus, find simple spring cleaning tips and a checklist to make your cleaning day even easier.

We love the spring weather! It is wonderful to open the windows and let the house air out from all the winter stuffiness.

As soon as the weather warms up, you will find me deep cleaning the house with springtime diffuser blends going and the windows open.

It is such a wonderful time of year and a good excuse to get the house cleaned up and ready for a nice (and hopefully relaxing) summer!

If you’re unsure of where to start, keep reading for all of the tasks we include in our deep clean each and every year.

Before you get started, you can join me as we get some springtime cleaning done in our spring cleaning YouTube video!

What is Spring Cleaning?

Obviously, we clean every day as we am sure you do too! Even if it’s a simple wipe down with DIY reusable cleaning wipes or sweeping the floors after a meal, cleaning is a never-ending job. But it’s only a few times a year that we do the whole house and really do some deep cleaning.

Spring is the perfect time to deep clean the house! After all, we are inside a lot more throughout the winter, so the grime builds up.

It feels so good to wipe down every surface, disinfect (with natural cleaners, of course), and just have a fresh start. We know daily cleaning won’t last long, so it is rewarding to deep clean and touch on those spots that will actually stay clean longer than 2 hours.

We am going to give you our best cleaning tips and take you through our spring cleaning checklist. Hopefully, this will motivate you to do some spring cleaning as well!

Spring Cleaning To Do List

For this note, we am not going to talk about sweeping the kitchen floor or cleaning the toilets (though we do have no-scrub toilet bombs We rave about).

If you are anything like me, those types of things need to happen daily, regardless of the season. This note is going to be for that whole-house cleaning day when you are ready to really deep clean!

For the everyday side of things, we put together our daily cleaning routine so the little stuff stays under control and a deep clean day like this one is the only time you have to really dig in.

Floors

Clean floors can instantly brighten up any space. Often, a simple sweep does the trick, but for a deeper clean, try using a homemade grout cleaner to freshen up your tile floors. If your floors need a little extra love, our homemade wood floor cleaner or homemade laminate floor cleaner are great options to bring them back to life.

Sheets and Mattress

When we really want to deep clean the house, we start by stripping all the beds. Of course, we wash the sheets more than a few times a year, but for spring cleaning, we wash every blanket and all the comforters too. We're always sure to use our homemade laundry soap with DIY scent boosters so they smell super fresh.

Sprinkle baking soda over the mattresses and let it sit for an hour or so, then vacuum it off. Baking soda can be very effective for removing odors and stains. If it is a warm sunny day, you can also take your mattress outside to sit in the sunlight. We also like to clean the mattresses with a little baking soda.

Learn how to deep clean a mattress as well as make a mattress freshener spray here.

Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets

Little kids are constantly rubbing and touching anything and everything in sight, leaving little fingerprints and smudges on everything in their path. Any other mamas saying YES right now? The cabinets in our house can always use a little TLC.

Wiping all the cabinets down definitely makes our spring cleaning to-do list! We use our DIY all-purpose cleaner and a cloth to do this. Our kids love to help, too! Give everyone a spray bottle and a cloth and go to town. This is the best part about using natural cleaners; the kids can help as well!

This is also a good time to see our tips on keeping the kitchen clean and organized.

Baseboards and Walls

Just like the cabinets, the baseboards and walls can really use a good wipe down. Again, we use our all-purpose spray and cloth for this job. We have found that warm water works best, and if you have a bad spot or stain, add a little lemon essential oil to the spot. It works just like a magic eraser, and believe me when we say it works for getting markers and crayon marks off the wall.

Lemon essential oil can also be used to remove sticky residue if you have any little ones who feel the need to decorate with stickers.

Tables and Chairs

About once a month, we like to give our kitchen table and chairs a solid cleaning. They tend to get really sticky and need a little TLC. For this job, we use our all-purpose spray or homemade liquid dish soap.

We find it easiest to spray everything generously and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping off. This will help loosen anything that is hard and stuck on the surface.

Dusting

We have a large bookshelf in our living room, and though it is pretty, it can collect a lot of dust. Using our homemade dusting spray and a microfiber cloth, we will dust the whole thing.

A few times a year, we take everything off the bookshelf and dust the whole thing. We will dust all the decor and books before placing them back on the shelf.

Couch Cushions and Inside Couches

We can’t wait to get new ones, but until the kids are older, we just don’t see the point. We bought these couches used before we were married for a really good deal. We like that they are old and cheap, so we don’t have to stress about keeping them stain-free. Oh, the couches!

Though they are stained, we do like to keep them clean or at least crumb-free. The cushion covers are all removable, so we will take them off and wash them with our homemade powder laundry soap. We let them air dry and put them back on the couch. Clean covers make all the difference! For our leather sofa, we use DIY leather couch cleaner to get the dirt and grime off of that.

If your couch cushions don’t have removable covers, don’t worry. You can spot treat them with homemade upholstery cleaner to get them looking fresh.

While the cushions are off, we will vacuum in, around, under, and down into the couch.

Windows and Sills

We should probably do this more often, but washing the windows and wiping down the window sills fall into our spring cleaning list. We usually use our homemade window cleaner for this and wipe down the window sills with a microfiber cloth.

Sometimes the window sills can develop mold. If that happened to you, don’t fret; follow our simple tutorial on how to clean moldy window sills!

Under Rugs and Furniture

Doing one room at a time, move all the furniture and rugs to sweep or vacuum and mop under them. You never know what you might find!

Ceiling Fans and Ceilings

The same duster can be used to clean the ceiling corners and along the top of the wall lines. Use a pole extender to make it easier to reach high places. Use a duster that reaches around the fan blades to clean them off.

Showers and Bathtubs

Showers and tubs are often left neglected. After all, they technically are cleaned every use. Right? Over time, the build-up of soap scum, grime and even mold needs to be addressed. Use a deep cleaner such as this DIY shower scrub to restore it to its original shine, then follow up after each use with a quick daily shower cleaning spray.

Note: If your shower has a lot of soap scum buildup, consider using a DIY soap scum remover first. You may also be dealing with moldy grout in your shower. Learn the easiest way to clean mold from shower grout here.

Other Spring Cleaning Tasks

• If you have a screened-in porch, this is the time to get that clean so you can enjoy it all summer! You can learn the best way to do it in our post about how to clean porch screens.
• After months of heavy use from winter baking, we like to give our oven a deep clean. We're able to do it without any harsh cleaners by cleaning the oven with steam!
• If this isn’t a regular task for you, spring is a great time to do some decluttering. Go through the closets, basement, and garage and clear out items that are no longer useful to you. You’ll feel so good having less stuff to think about and store! Our summer declutter checklist walks you through it room by room if you want a place to begin.
• If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got a few favorite DIY cleaners you come back to every spring. But if you’re ready to switch things up or just want all the recipes in one place, we rounded up our go-to natural cleaning recipes in this note here to bookmark later!

Supplies

If you’re curious about the tools, cleaning cloths, and other supplies we use, we've put together a list of everything (or similar items) right here!

We hope this spring cleaning checklist helps you feel on top of your deep clean this season. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you would add. Thanks for visiting!