Let the Spring Cleaning begin!

It’s official… it’s now Spring! Cleaning may be the last thing on your mind when you think of Spring, but throughout history people have taken a day out from other jobs to do a complete clean of their house – cleaning areas that are sometimes hardly touched with day to day cleaning because there's no time! Of course originally this was necessary because people heated them with wood and coal and welcomed the opportunity to open the doors and windows to get rid of the sooty air and get some fresher air inside! Central heating has meant that we no longer have this problem thank goodness, but that in itself has problems – creating an unnatural living environment which could still benefit from some sunlight and fresher air too!

So in the spirit of our ancestors I would suggest that we could all benefit from giving our houses a good clean and tidy… this becomes much easier if you have been able to do little and often, spending a short time cleaning and tidying each day makes the Spring Clean a much easier and less scary job!

Let’s begin with the basics – when you get a day with promised dry and warm weather make the most of it and hang out all you larger bedding items – quilts, blankets and mattress covers, plus any sofa/bed throws. Open up the windows!!! It will make you feel good as you work(!) and you’ll soon notice the difference in the air quality inside!

I like to work on areas that normally don’t get much cleaning – hoover curtains, dust blinds and lampshades with a specialist cleaner or duster such as the brilliant ‘Microfibre Blind Cleaner’. It’s a really useful cleaner because the handle has three arch spines that enable you to clean places that you usually find hard to reach with a lot less effort. This will make cleaning your blind really quick and easy – even narrow blinds and there’s no need for chemicals. When the sleeve is dirty simply wash it in the washing machine & the product comes out as good as new, even after multiple washes. Each pack contains 2 replacement microfibre sleeves.

For really small blinds the ‘Deluxe 100% Lambswool Fluffy Duster (Made in England)’ is perfect. It’s 25" long (635mm) and made of natural lambswool fibre, which is both resilient and elastic so will reach into most crevices.  Lambswool is extremely soft and the natural lanolin in the wool will attract and hold the dust – magic! Not only great for mini blinds this is a really useful duster and particularly effective on:

Ceiling fans
Picture frames
Plant leaves
Fragile ornaments
Baseboards & woodwork
Bookcases
Lampshades
Vents

For a super quick and easy way to clean lampshades try the ‘Gonzo Lampshade Cleaner Sponge’ which is an amazing sponge used to lift dust and dirt from Lampshades (but is also great for Ceiling Fans, Venetian Blinds, Curtains, Computer Screens, Books and more!) It does not scratch or smear surfaces and can be used over and over again. Ok so that’s the curtains, blinds and lampshades clean!

We should now think about giving everywhere else a good dusting before moving into the kitchen, the bedrooms and not forgetting the outside areas!! Take a well earned break… more on these areas later, nobody ever said it could (or should) all be tackled in one day!!!