It’s nearly September, and for those of us I the Southern Hemisphere this means Spring is around the corner.

When I think of Spring I think of longer days, with warm sunshine intermingled with rain clouds and cold mornings and evenings. I think of the beautiful carpets of veld flowers up the West Coast and I think of the promise of summer!

AND THEN I think of Spring Cleaning. Cleaning house from top to bottom, packing away winter woollies, and having my home sparkling and ready for the summer ahead.

With the Spring solstice on 21st September comes warmer and longer days in the Southern Hemisphere. I am not sure about you, but I have noticed that I no longer get up in the dark, and our afternoons are stretching! I love this time of the year, when I can throw windows wide open and start getting my house ready for summer. While I am not a domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination, I love the yearly act of cleaning my house from top to bottom getting rid of all the winter cobwebs.

And so, to SPRING CLEANING! I have shared these tips and checklist before, but feel it’s worth sharing again. I hope it gets you in the mood to do some SPRING CLEANING yourselves.

Have a plan before you start. Make sure you give yourself enough time, and rather tackle this job over a few days. Have all cleaning materials handy and enlist help where you can. Work room by room, leaving bathrooms and kitchen for last. Don’t move on until you are done.

Here is a checklist that I use each year, which I hope you will find useful.

Bedrooms

• Strip bedding, wash on high temperature and dry clean duvet inners
• Remove curtains and clean
• Clean picture rails, curtain rods, and cupboards
• Clean furniture and shelving
• Dust and clean window sills, window frames, burglar bars, doors and skirting boards
• Vacuum bed base and mattress, then vacuum floor moving all furniture
• Turn mattress

Living and dining areas 

• Wash curtains, loose covers, throws, and cushion covers
• Move furniture and dust walls, rails, window sills, frames and skirting
• Vacuum couches, chairs and cushions
• Wipe down all surfaces
• Dust lamps, lamp shades and light bulbs
• Remove books from bookshelves, dust and wipe
• Clean all electronic equipment, including wires and plugs

Kitchen

• Clear all gadgets and items off counters, donate those not used.
• Clean and wipe down appliances
• Empty display shelves and wash all items
• Dust and clean all surfaces
• Clear out grocery cupboards and throw away anything that is out of date
• Wash tiles, grout, basins and taps
• Wipe down cupboards inside and out
• Clean all kickboards under cupboards
• Pull all large appliances away from wall and wipe down
• Defrost freezer, clean fridge and freezer thoroughly
• Run dishwasher on hot cycle with one cup vinegar in soap dispenser. Clean filters and replace salt
• Run washing machine on hot cycle with one cup vinegar in soap dispenser
• Wipe out tumble dryer and clean filter
• Finally clean floors before moving large appliances back

Bathrooms

• Sort through all toiletries, make up and medications. Remove anything that is out of date.
• Donate anything you don’t like or don’t use
• Wipe down all cupboards, shelves and countertops
• Clean all accessories and wash all towels, bath mats and shower curtains
• Dust down all surfaces, doors, window frames, mirrors and skirting
• Clean bath, shower, basin, tiles, taps and finally toilet
• Polish taps and mirrors and replace accessories and toiletries
• Finally clean floor

Do you have any great tips to add to our SPRING CLEANING repertoire?

One of my favourite books is Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management. I read the first few chapters again and again and have put most of her tips to the test. Recently I found a copy of Readers Digest Good Housekeeping, and again found some wonderful tips for the home. I thought I would pass on my growing list to you and would love to hear about your tried and tested tips!

Here goes:

Vases

Meer as net ‘n ‘spring clean’ is nodig om iemand te help wat goed opgaar en niks weggooi nie.

Artikel in Kuier, deur Saafia February