A Few Spring Cleaning Tasks to Get You Started

Here are three great tasks to start off with—and don't forget the maintenance! If your schedule is too full for spring cleaning, focus on getting a little more organized and hire a maid service to take care of the cleaning for you.

You're going to be making the switchover from winter clothes to summer clothes, and now is the perfect time to go through the clothes and decide what to keep and what can go. Be merciless! If you haven't worn something in a year or if it doesn't fit, give it away to someone who can use it, and make room for new things for yourself!

When you put your clothes back in the closet, create a system that makes sense to you. You might put the clothes you wear most frequently within easy reach, or you might sort by color or style. Whatever makes it easier and faster for you to find everything you need, that will be the best system for you.

Most homeowners don't often think of cleaning their walls until there's a large stain or crayon mark that sticks out, but walls collect dirt, too. Unfortunately, cleaning painted walls can be a little tricky because you don't want to damage the paint.

Try this:

• Water first. If you can take care of the cleaning with just water, that's going to be the safest for your paint, hands down.
• Water + dish soap. Dish soap is an extremely mild cleaner, so if you have a bit of stubborn dirt, this is your next step. If you can, use a low-sudsing dish soap, and don't use too much!
• Stronger solutions. If you have extremely bad staining, you can opt for stronger solutions, but be as gentle as possible with them—they're likely to soften the paint.

Whichever you choose, the experts say make sure you rinse with plain water so no soap or solution is left on the wall.

Now is the time to really get to the carpet. Move the furniture out of the way and vacuum everything. Dirt left in carpets will wear the fibers and make your carpet look dingy. If you haven't done it in a while, now is a good time to steam clean the carpet or call in professionals to do deep cleaning.

Maintenance is an important part of carpet care, so make sure you vacuum at least once a week (2 or 3 times a week in heavy traffic areas)!