Renter’s Spring Cleaning Checklist – RENTCafé rental blog

It’s spring again – the season when everything comes to life after months of hibernation! The birds are starting to chirp, the days are longer, the sun is shining more often and the temperatures are getting hotter.

Spring is often seen as a new beginning, and what better way to start over than by deep cleaning your home? It’s high time we tackled all the cleaning tasks you’ve been delaying for weeks. Even if you are not the owner of the house in which you live, it is your responsibility to keep it clean. And while tasks such as garage door opener maintenance or replacing the water heater filters is the owner’s responsibility, you should take the opportunity to thoroughly clean the house at least once a year.

You do not know where to start? You are then in the right place! In this article, we will not only tell you what to do during spring cleaning, but we will also explain its importance and how to best organize yourself.

The importance of spring cleaning

As we mentioned before, spring is a great time to reset everything in your home. This will have a positive effect not only on your physical health, but also on your mind and general well-being.

Also, by doing it at least once a year, you can avoid bigger problems, such as mold. This is especially important for renters because, if it turns out that such a problem has occurred during your stay, your landlord may take part of your deposit to cover repair costs. In some cases, but not so often, the landlord may decide to terminate the lease earlier than stipulated in the contract.

How to start spring cleaning

Focusing on spring cleaning is a great first step, but it’s not enough – after all, you have to. Once you’ve decided you’re 100% committed to this cleanup project, tell someone, whether it’s your spouse, roommate, parents, social media friends, or whatever. Announcing it will make you responsible: since you’ve already told someone you would, you now have a stronger feeling that you need to!

Then you need to make a plan. It doesn’t have to be detailed, but you should have a rough idea of ​​what you’re going to do. Ideally, you should create a checklist, either with what needs to be done in each room or a to-do list for the whole house. This will help you stay organized and prevent you from creating an even bigger mess.

Spring cleaning checklist

Here are some of the tasks you should include in your spring cleaning session. While this isn’t a complete list, it’s a good place to start:

You probably wash your sheets, pillowcasesand duvet covers regularly, but your pillows or comforters also need a refresh every now and then.

Sprinkle baking soda on your mattress, let it sit for a few minutes, and slowly vacuum the mattress with the brush. Use the crevice tool to vacuum around the top and bottom seams of the mattress. Last but not least, flip your mattress; make sure you can do this, as some types should not be reversed.

Curtains are excellent dust collectors. Remove them from the stems and wash them at home or bring them in for professional cleaning. If you don’t want to remove them completely, you should consider vacuuming them while they’re hanging.

These also collect a significant amount of dust. If you don’t regularly dust your blinds, spring cleaning is a great time to take care of them – just grab a damp dust cloth and you can remove any grime. Shades, on the other hand, can be cleaned with a lint roller, vacuum cleaner, or a slightly damp microfiber cloth.

Once the temperatures start to rise, you need to turn on your ceiling fan. However, before that happens, you need to avoid an avalanche of dust. You can try to clean it with a stretch cloth.

Even though cabinets are one of those places that rarely get cleaned, they certainly need them, with the number of hands touching them frequently. Start with the kitchen cabinets and work your way through the rest of the house. Be sure to use a cleaning solution that cuts through grease.

The best time to clean your windows is on a cloudy day because your windows won’t be left with stains or streaks. Start by cleaning the dirtiest parts (sills and rails), then move on to sieves, if you have them. Finish by washing the windows.

Visible baseboards are probably dusted from time to time. However, what about those behind your bed or a living room console? Spring cleaning is a perfect opportunity to take care of all.

Soon it will be warm enough to spend more time outdoors, so why not take this opportunity and prepare the outdoor furniture? All you need to wipe it off is a simple solution of water with a ladleful of dish soap. If the furniture is dirtier than you thought, you can always hire a pressure washer.

Spring is a great time to rearrange your wardrobe. Take a look at your clothes and you’re bound to find things you don’t wear anymore. Set them aside and give them away or sell them. Once you have only the items you want to keep, sort them by type, length, or color. This will not only make your closet more visually pleasing, but it will also make it easier for you to find things.

The first thing to do when cleaning rugs is to vacuum every square inch, including the areas under the furniture. Once you’re done, remove the carpet and vacuum the carpet, as well as the floor below. If the carpets are dirtier than you initially thought, make an appointment with a professional carpet cleaning service.

How to organize your spring cleaning

Now it all depends on how many tasks you plan to complete during your spring cleaning session. Obviously, if you’re planning to do a deep clean, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to do it overnight. That is why you have to spread the tasks over a few days. How do you choose which ones to play first? Here are a few tips:

• Choose cleaning tasks throughout the house

Go through your checklist and choose tasks that involve more than one room or item, for example, washing bedding or cleaning windows.

• Select the tasks you keep putting off

By doing things you don’t like first, you’ll not only have a clean house, but you can also relieve yourself of any guilt you might feel about not finishing them sooner. Although these tasks differ from person to person, some of the more common tasks procrastinated these include a thorough cleaning of the shower or oven.

• Base your choices on time

Some tasks may take a little longer than others, such as washing bedding. While collecting the bedding itself doesn’t take much time, you need to remember how long it will take for it to wash and dry. The good news is that in the meantime, you can complete other tasks that don’t take as much time.

• Put labor-intensive tasks at the top of your list

If you are unsure of which tasks you should complete first, you should try to start with the ones that require the most energy.

The bottom line

Spring is a great time to finally take over all the cleaning tasks you’ve been procrastinating for a few weeks, if not months. Since it’s time to think about new beginnings, why not give your home a fresh start too?

We hope you now have a better idea of ​​how to get started with spring cleaning, what tasks should be on your checklist, and how to decide which ones to do first. You will find that once you finish cleaning the house, you will feel much better, not only physically but also mentally. Good luck!