Titus 2 Christian HomeKeeper ™

It’s Spring!…And the Homekeeper gets the urge pull back the curtains and throw open the windows! The house could use some attention right about now. All the dust and comfortable clutter of winter has settled around us and must be moved out to make room for Spring!

When cleaning for spring, remember these rules;
1. Biggest to Smallest
2. Top to Bottom

Always start with the biggest job and work your way to the smallest. With many projects, it is simpler to do the opposite, but to have a clean home and to keep your spirits up, it’s a good idea to follow the biggest/smallest rule. The Top to Bottom rule has to do with cleaning things that are higher and moving to the lowest points in the room, This way, dirt and dust won’t fall on your cleaned spaces.

Supplies for Spring Cleaning

Lots of old, soft, clean rags
Bucket that will hold water
Mop
Broom
Laundry Powder
Wood Soap
Protective rubber gloves
Wood polish such as Scott’s Liquid Gold
Either Commercial or Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
Diaper pin or Clothespin {you’re wondering, aren’t you?}
A few strong backs and willing spirits

Before you begin to clean each room, run a sink of soapy warm water in the kitchen or bathroom. This is for washing nicnacs from the room you are cleaning. Lay out a towel to drain the nicnacs on and let them soak or wash them one at a time and dry on the towel while you are cleaning the room.

Gather up all the loose ends in the room. Everything that can be put away needs to get taken care of first. Throw away everything that is junk, put everything small in a box to be replaced in the room later. Get everything out of the room that you can. You may want to get a few other boxes and label them, “trash”, “store”, and “other”. The “other” box contents go to some other rooms in the house.

Next, if possible, move all the furniture out of the room. If you can’t move it out, a nd are worried about what the floor cleaner will do to the furniture, then cover and protect the feet and legs of the furniture with either foil or cloth fastened with string.

Cover carpet with plastic drop cloths or fabric sheets if you are concerned with cleaner dripping on it.

Take down the curtains and window treatments and get them washing or soaking. If you have blinds, cleaning them is a good job for a 10 year old child or older to do outside. They can be cleaned in the bathtub also, but an older child will make less mess doing it. Clean them with a spray on cleaner and soft bristled brush. Rinse well.

Remove room rugs and take them outdoors of possible to air and to beat them as described in the Spring Cleaning preliminaries post.

Begin to clean the room: 1) ceiling and walls – fasten a clean cloth to a broom and dust the ceiling and walls. Wash the walls with a mild detergent and water solution and a clean soft cloth.
2) tops of doors and window frames
3) baseboards
4) shelves
5) floors

In the kitchen you may have to use the cleaning solution to remove grease. You will have to stand on a ladder or chair so have some help nearby to steady you. I have had so much grease on my kitchen ceiling that I have had to use a cleaner like 409 or other. Just spray it on and wipe it down. If you haven’t already, it is a good idea to paint your kitchen ceiling with a semi-gloss, scrubable ceiling paint to make removal of grease an easier task.

If your walls are scrubable paint or wood, make up your cleaning solution and begin to wash from the floors - UPWARD. I know, I know this seems like a violation of the Top to Bottom law, but not really. You are still working from ceiling to wall to floor. This way you won’t have any drips down the paint to have to remove later. These little drips and streaks are hard to remove, so starting at the bottom is a good rule to remember.
The cleaning solution for scrubable painted walls is 1 Tablespoon laundry soap per each gallon of warm water. For wood paneling I like to use Murphy’s Oil Soap.

Finally, I like to go into the room after the walls and floors are dry and polish any wood paneling with a product like Scott’s Liquid Gold. Next I polish any wood furniture and run the vacuum over upholstered furniture.
Clean mirrors and windows next. I use a homemade solution and crumpled up newspaper.
To make homemade window cleaner:

© 1995 Sylvia Britton