I am pretty confident in my cleaning skills due to my attention to detail, and the appreciation I have for a clean house. Even when life gets full, I consider outsourcing cleaning my house so that I have more time for other things, but then I know it won’t be done to the high standards I have. There’s just something very satisfying about having a place that is fresh, smells good and a spot that you can be proud to call yours. Now, with Spring here and the sunshine bursting through my windows, I have the urge to take extra steps to refresh after having the windows shut for a few months. Read up below for my favorite Spring cleaning tips to make your home feel as good as new :).

1. Bathtub

This area can be a tough one as it is constantly wet, and the place where we remove dirt from ourselves on the daily. One area in the tub that can be especially tough is the grout line between the tile and the tub. My top trick to remove all the mildew is to take cotton balls, stretch them out length wise and soak them in bleach. Then proceed to place the cotton directly on the grout line and allow it to sit overnight, and ensure you keep the room as ventilated as you can. In the morning, remove the cotton and see before your eyes a white, clean, mildew free grout line!

2. Carpet and/or rugs

It always surprises me how much my vacuum picks up when my carpet and area rug looks clean already. Once a year, I recommend heading to your local hardware store or Home Depot and renting a carpet cleaner. There is so much dust and hair in the air (he he!) that you don’t even realize how dirty things are. Using a professional carpet cleaner gets in there, washing out any dirt from shoes, and pulls up debris. Especially in Spring when a lot of us suffer from allergies, this helps to cleanse the breathing air. Also, a tip for when you do your weekly vacuum, check and see if it has a washable filter. If it does, add your favorite essential oils to it and it will fill the house with the relaxing scent as you pick up debris - a two fold chore :)

3. Clean your appliances

From cutting boards, to knife blocks, vitamix blenders, the list goes on. We use these things on the daily, and often times neglect giving them the deep clean they need. The tools you’ll need to clean these items will be environmentally friendly, and will depend on the item you’ll be cleaning. See a quick list below to get you started.

Baked on grime on pots and pans: Mix equal parts dawn soap, baking soda and vinegar. Use the paste to scrub the pan and let sit for 30 minutes - then rinse clean. This does wonders. Repeat as necessary to get your desired result.
Wood cutting boards: Slice a fresh lemon in half and pour some coarse table salt on the opened half. Using circular motions, scrub the cutting boards top to bottom. This will remove majority of stains (try paste above if not) and all the scents like onions and garlic.
Coffee pot: Wash all of the pieces that are removable, wipe down the areas you can reach with a hot soapy rag, then run a full pot with equal parts water and vinegar. Then run through a few pots of water to remove the smell. This will improve the taste of your coffee and remove buildup.
Vitamix Blender: This is made of plastic, so tends to get more build up on it than a glass blender. I also use mine at least once per day, so that could also be the culprit. Pour in 1 cup hot water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda and one squirt of dawn soap. Run the wash cycle on the blender, and then rinse with hot water. To eliminate the leftover stuck on mildew, use a wet magic eraser - then watch it sparkle!

4. Your mattress

We spend so much time in our beds, making sure they stay clean and tidy is a must. Also, kinda gross yet true, is as we sleep a lot of dead skin cells leave our body and go right into our mattress. Thus, doing a deep clean at a minimum once per year is a must. If you have a mattress cover, obviously remove and wash or get dry cleaned. Then for the mattress itself, mix together baking soda and your favorite essential oil and cover the top of the mattress in it and let sit for a couple of hours. As the baking soda drys, it will pull up bad smells with it. Then vacuum the whole mattress clean until the baking soda is gone. This may take awhile, but the result is a fresh, essential oil scented piece of heaven.

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