This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/12/2016 12:00 AMIt's spring! What better time of year to throw open the windows, let in the fresh air, and tackle cleaning your home from top to bottom? Start by opening up—and cleaning—your windows and sliding glass doors.
"Open up the storm windows because you will have flies and cobwebs and dust in there from the winter—vacuum those out," suggested Larry Twain, owner of Merry Maids of Branford.
"Most of these things you can do yourself and save quite a bit of money," said Twain, who noted that window cleaning is the exception. "It's better to hire a professional window cleaning company, especially if you have high windows, because they can do a better job than you can do and there's big safety issues involved with that."
You'll want to thoroughly dust your home, as dust and soot will have accumulated over the winter.
"Typically at the start of the winter when people turn on their forced hot air for the first time a lot of dust is blown out," said Twain. "Don't forget the bottom of the refrigerator—it's very important and often neglected. There's an air vent at the bottom of the refrigerator. There's probably a half inch of dust on it."
Another much-neglected area is your dryer vent; you'll need to detach the clips on the tube and remove it to clean it.
"Everyone should take the vent off the back of their dryer, whether it's a long tube or you can access it with a vacuum cleaner outside your home," said Twain. "That tube is full of dust and that's how dryer fires occur."
A big part of spring cleaning is simply getting rid of items you no longer want or need. If this is something you've never done before, extreme measures may be required.
"For homes that have been in a serious need of a spring cleaning, there is one factor that always stands out with those who seem to have the most success: a dumpster," said Kevin Noonan, owner of Genie Maids LLC in Madison. "Although you have to shell out $150 to $400 depending on the size, in my opinion it more than pays for itself with increased mental health. If you have a difficult time throwing things away because 'someone might be able to use it,' set up a few tables by the road with a big 'free' sign. Anything you can't get yourself to throw away, put it on those tables.
"Start with the big stuff; get all that out to the dumpster first," Noonan continued. "After that's done you can see what space you have to work with. Next, start in one room and go through every single cabinet, closet, and drawer. Have a kitchen-sized trash can to drag along with you instead of wasting time and money with trash bags. Throw away every single thing, no matter how small, if you don't need or want it anymore. When you're done, you realize that everything in your home has a use or is near and dear to you."
If you don't like the negative aspect of deciding what needs to be thrown out, there's a new method that focuses on the positive instead. Called the KonMari method of organizing, it was created by Japanese organizer Marie Kondo, who outlines the minimalistic approach in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
"She turned it around and said, 'Let's keep the things that are most important to you and keep you happy," said Amanda Babineaux, owner of A La Maid in Clinton. The KonMari approach recommends you identify the objects that are meaningful to you, and place them strategically in your home—even if that means folding your clothes so they stand up instead of lying flat.
"It not only organizes you, but it increases the quality of life that you're living," noted Babineaux.
As for the actual cleaning, Babineaux recommends taking on everything and anything that's neglected during the other months: front and back porches, walls and ceilings, chandeliers and ceiling fans, dusting obscure corners, couches and couch cushions, shelves, drawers and cabinets, curtains and blinds, washing or replacing your shower curtain, and cleaning all of your appliances. It's a ton of work—but spring comes but once a year. When summer rolls around, all that's left to do is relax and enjoy your newly organized home.