By: Cia Huston Dreves
After the ravages of winter, many of us romanticize about the various aspects of spring: the first buds on the trees, the warm breezes, the shortening shadows. But after curling up with the newest seed catalogue on what one hopes will be the last of the chilly days, the reality of opening the windows begins to sink in. The windows need to be washed. The draperies need to go to the cleaners. The blinds don’t look so new. Thus, the arrival of spring comes hand in hand with the need of a dreaded “spring cleaning.”
And just as unwelcome is the fact that beyond the windows, mountains of additional jobs await. There are sidewalks to be cleaned, edging to be done, lawn furniture to be readied. The flowerbeds need to be turned and mulched. Shrubs need tidying. And all the while, the age-old questions of timing: “Is it too early to plant? Will there be another frost?” plague those eager to rush into the beauty that is spring.
I must admit, I fall into my own emotional traps every single year. Even though I know better, I give in to rushing outdoors on the first warm days to tinker and tidy and plan while procrastinating like a pro over the spring cleaning that needs to be done indoors. So I’ve revised my own “Spring To-Do List” to reflect and respect my personal fickle nature. I’ve lso imposed some rules on myself and genuinely try to keep them… The operative word, there, being “try.”
So here are my rules and hints in hopes that they might be helpful to someone:
- RULE # 1 Do not go outside unless the sun is shining and it is too warm for a jacket
- RULE # 2 Sit and enjoy the sunshine for 10 minutes after every 30 minutes of hard work
- RULE # 3 On chilly, cloudy, or rainy days, commit to thoroughly cleaning one room or completing one major task
HELPFUL HINTS
WINDOWS: First, remove curtains, draperies and/or blinds. Bag drapes to go to the cleaners. Start a load of wash for the curtains. Rinse blinds in the bathtub, shower or outside. To clean the windows like a pro, a squeegee is a must. Lay a rolled towel on the windowsill to catch drips. Make a half bucket of warm water with a few drops of dish-washing liquid in it. Wash the windows with a wet sponge or washcloth. Do not rinse. Squeegee from the top to the bottom in straight, even strokes. Remove stray drips with a dry cloth. Wipe sill and frame and move on to the next window.
KITCHEN:
STOVE: Remove oven racks and set to “clean” or heat oven and use a spray cleaner according to directions. While the oven is cleaning, remove the filter(s) from the hood and clean. (I put mine in the dishwasher.) Clean the underneath side of the vent hood by spraying with bleach and scrubbing with a baking soda and water paste on a cloth.
CABINETS: Using a step stool, clear items from top of cabinets. Clean top surface and cover with a layer of wax paper to make your next cleaning easier. Clean items and replace. Wipe upper cabinet doors with a soft cloth and the cleaner appropriate for the surfaces.
REFRIGERATOR: Remove all contents. Clean interior with a baking soda and water solution. Discard outdated items. Wipe everything clean before replacing it in the refrigerator. Clean top of refrigerator and remember to clean the louvered cover below and the dehydration tray behind it.
COUNTERS: Clean back splash and counter tops and lower cabinet doors.
KITCHEN CONTENTS: Remove contents of one cabinet or drawer at a time. Wipe interiors with a cloth dampened with a mild bleach and water solution and replace contents. When finished, clean lower cabinet and drawer fronts.
BATHROOM: Start at the top and work down. If grout is stained, try cleaning it with a paste of bleach and baking soda applied with a brush. Rinse well.
MOVING FURNITURE:Believe me, the Teflon disks are miracle workers. I had to use a pry bar to lift the corners of my very heavy and very loaded desk. Now, I can easily slide it everywhere. If you have hard-surface floors, try the disks with a felt or carpet pad instead of the Teflon.
OUTDOORS DECK: I have a great deal of land and planting beds, so I tackle it one piece at a time or a single task at a time. The most important thing I’ve discovered for myself is that there is no great hurry. I usually start with the deck on one of the earliest “outdoor days.” This year it needs to be restained and I’ll use a pump garden sprayer for that. It’s not too difficult and makes a huge difference. Since staining the deck requires removing the furniture to the lawn, I generally spray it down with a bleach solution and hose it off while it’s in the yard. The following morning, everything is fresh
and clean and ready for the cushions and umbrellas to come out of winter storage. Having the deck clean and new looking goes a long way toward moving me into a “Spring Fantasy” mode.
FLOWER BEDS: As far as the flowerbeds go, I discovered the most valuable tool. Technically, it’s called a “hoe” and I bought mine at Lowe’s. It is shaped like an open capital letter “D” and scoots under the surface of the ground and cuts on both the push and the pull strokes. It’s wonderful for weeding around plants, but it is most wonderful for refreshing last year’s beds. It loosens the soil and gets under old mulch and weeds as it goes. In no time at all, my beds are ready for planting, but, as always, I’ll be much too early. So, I sprinkle the beds with Preen to help prevent eventual weeds and cover them with new, fresh mulch. It is an easy task to move a little mulch out of the way when planting later, and in the meantime, the beds will look tidy and cared for.
PLANTING: I simply cannot resist the urge to purchase flowers and herbs and vegetables long before all danger of a cold snap is past. So I force myself to clear a surface space near a sunny window and allow my purchases to become a part of my décor for however long I must wait. Generally, my first actual plantings are in the large pots on the deck. If a freeze threatens, at least I can bring them inside for the night and I have the illusion of spring’s arrival in the meantime.
My process does not happen overnight. It takes weeks and sometimes slides past May and into June. But, eventually, my house is clean, the yard is beautiful and I find that, once again, I have not only survived spring, but I have loved every single minute of it.
Cia Huston Dreves enjoyed a 37 year career in Advertising as artist and writer before retiring. She has also written, directed and produced documentaries, published the How-To book “Find Cash in Your Kitchen” and maintains the blog, “Still Finding Cash” at blogspot.com.