Spring Cleaning For The Entire Family
By Brenda Hyde
It's spring and what does that mean besides the start
of the garden
season? (Three cheers for spring flowers!) It's time to start spring
cleaning. You can actually turn down the heat, open those
doors and maybe even the windows if you are lucky and go to work!
Your spring cleaning may take you a couple minutes or longer depending
on how long it's been and how many kids or grandkids have been
messing up your house! Remember to involve the entire family, order
in
pizza for supper and put on your most comfortable grubby work clothing!
Where do you start?
The Laundry Room: Wash the outside
of the washer and dryer
until it sparkles. Vacuum out the back of the dryer, clean the lint
trap
and the area in the back and around both appliances. Consider a
fun
repainting of your laundry room. Do you have extra paint from other
projects? Leftover paint from kid's rooms is great for this. Practice
some new texture techniques you've been afraid to do elsewhere.
Think bright and cheery! It's the laundry room and a fun look can
be a good thing. I've set aside leftover green, yellow and light
blue
paint for my basement laundry room. I'm having visions of grass,
sky and sunshine... Oh, and while in the laundry room don't forget
to pack away the winter clothing-making sure it's all washed
and repaired, if need be, before storing.
Appliances: Clean your humidifier
before storing or turning off
for the season. Change the filters in the furnace and any cooling
systems.
Clean the refrigerator and freezer-vacuum the coils and clean behind
and underneath! Wipe down the stove till it shines and clean the
oven as
well. The appliance cleaning can be something you delegate to each
family member depending on their age. Start after breakfast and
make the goal for each person to be done by a morning break time
that you set. Reward everyone with a fun snack and drink!
Windows and Doors: How do they look
from the outside? Is the
glass and screen in good shape? If not, decide what you can
fix, what needs to be replaced and make a budget with a time frame
for doing this. Example: We need a new back door, two screen
doors and a replacement storm window on the front window of
the house. We're watching the sales and replacing them one at a
time. We decided to repair the storm window with new glass,
and new screen. This was cheaper than a new storm window which
would have had to be ordered. Check your locks and the door knobs
too, again fixing or replacing as needed. It's also a good time
to scrape and paint if they look rough. Doors can get beat up pretty
quickly if you have kids.
Now it's time to clean the windows! Wipe any dust
or dirt
(outside especially) off with a rag or a clean broom, then wash.
Try
this solution for the glass and use old socks for rags.
Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle. Use as
you would commercial
window cleaner. If you grow your own herbs you can fill a jar with
lavender
leaves and flowers almost to the top and pour the white vinegar
over it.
Allow to sit for 4 weeks, then use in this recipe. The smell is
nice, and it
works great!
