It’s warming up in most of the country and with sunnier days comes everyone’s favorite time of year: Spring Cleaning. Out with the old, in with the new, and time to actually wash your baseboards instead of just convincing yourself a quick swipe of your sock while vacuuming did the trick. A clean and refreshed room can make a huge impact on your mood—and even your health. Dust can really irritate allergies and keep you from breathing as easily as you will after dedicated a few hours this weekend to sprucing up your space.

What To Do Friday Morning Before Work Instead of blocking off your entire weekend to scrub and sweep, start early and get things prepped now. Take twenty minutes when you first wake up to do a rapid run around your home. Gather linens that need washed (Don’t forget kitchen towels and table accessories!) and move them to your laundry room or in a basket. Strip your bedding and read up on the best way to care for each piece here. Get everything washed Friday night so you can put it all back together over the weekend.

Put lingering dishes or glasses in the sink to tackle later and toss anything that needs to go. Take a quick five minutes to toss everything in your fridge that is beyond its lifespan and raid the pantry. On your way out the door, take your trash out so you’ve got a fresh start when you really dig in tomorrow.

And as for everything else? Make your To-Do list and get ready to power through it tomorrow.

Clear Out First, Clean Out Later Before you break out the spray bottles and rags, declutter everything in your home. Make a donation pile, a recycle pile, and a dump pile and sort accordingly. Once you’ve gone room by room and pulled everything that needs to go, get it on out of the house. The less you have to work around as you start to deep clean, the easier it will be!

Open every drawer in your house and dump them so you can replace and sort as you go. Anything that doesn’t have a place, sort into your donation or get rid of piles. Do the same for your closets and any storage baskets or bins you utilize. Once you’re done sorting, the real fun begins.

Here’s the ultimate checklist to get you through the rest of your Spring cleaning! Pro tips: start at the top and work your way down, you don’t want to have to sweep again after dusting a ceiling fan blade or your windows, and, speaking of windows, before you dive in open your windows in each room to let natural light in and show you where dust may be hiding!

• Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, and windows—make sure to get in between blinds!
• Get those air vents! They collect a ton of dust and can circulate it throughout your home.
• Wash walls and baseboards from the top down—dust quickly first to catch any larger particles, then use a mixture of warm water and dish soap to give them a good clean. Anything harsher could damage your paint!
• Wash doors, too! Inside and out.
• Pull any rugs out of the room and vacuum under everything. Move your furniture to make sure nothing gets to hide. Take your rugs outside and beat them gently to get dust out if you can.
• Make sure to get handles on furniture, door knobs, and light switch plates. These often go unnoticed, but we touch them all day long.
• Dust furniture surfaces and polish if needed. Lift. Everything. Knick knacks, lampshades, remotes, every piece. Clean every surface, and don’t forget to get inside of the microwave, under your burners on your stove, or inside the dishwasher.
• Cleaning your machines that do the cleaning is an important step too!
• Clean your mattress, bedding, and pillows. You won’t regret it!
• Once you’ve dusted and cleaned everything off of the floor, sweep or vacuum. If you have hardwood floors, a steam mop is a quick way to finish off the room.
• Replace linens, fluff pillows, and tuck any accessories away.
• Replace rugs or mats.
• Sweep your porches/balconies/walkways outside for bonus points.

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