Category: Cleaning Tips

Spring cleaning just feels like a natural thing to do. After all, spring is a time of birth and rebirth in nature. Birds build nests and lay eggs, baby bunnies abound, flowers bloom, trees come back to life— the world is green and lively again!

It makes sense to throw open your windows and perform a thorough spring cleaning of your home after the cooler months are gone. It can also be a time to organize, declutter, and focus on using healthier cleaning products in your home.

Here are our top tips for a green spring cleaning to keep your family in a healthy environment.

Make a Spring Cleaning Plan

Think about all the rooms, closets, and spaces in your home. What is the top priority for your spring cleaning? Make a list of every room in your home and put them in order from most important to clean to least.

Then, take a look at your calendar. Is it easiest for you to commit to a weekend or two in order to complete your list? Or maybe it would work better for you to tackle one room a day for a week or so. Whatever works best for you, be sure to add the dates to your calendar.

Spring Cleaning Supplies

Once you have a list and have decided on the dates, confirm that you have all the equipment and supplies you need before the day you’ve designated as the start of your spring cleaning.

Of course, you’ll need your vacuum and mop, but if you’re planning on a green spring cleaning, you’ll need to make sure you have all the ingredients to make your cleaning products. Here is a helpful list of supplies to make sure you have on hand.

• Baking soda
  • Good for killing viruses, deodorizing, and cutting through grease
• Castile soap
  • 100% plant-based, cuts through grease
• White vinegar
  • Gentle, but will clean almost anything
• Olive oil
  • A natural polisher
• Lemon juice
  • Good for cleaning mold and mildew
• Salt
  • A good scrub agent
• Essential oils
  • Additions to your bases like white vinegar, baking soda or castile soap. Some good essential oils to use in cleaning are Thieves, Lemon, Lemongrass, and Lavender
• Squeegee
  • For windows and glass to leave a streak-free shine
• Glass spray bottles and/or glass containers
  • If you are planning on using essential oils, lemons, or vinegar, the glass will stand up against their acidity
• Microfiber towels
  • These are washable— they eliminate the need for paper towels
• Reusable gloves
  • These can be washed and reused, cutting down on the use of plastic disposable gloves

If you plan on decluttering as well, it might be a good idea to buy some cardboard moving boxes to collect items you’d like to donate. 

The Recipes

The popularity of do-it-yourself anything is so great you can search green spring cleaning DIY products, and thousands of suggestions will come up. Knowing what to search is half the battle. A few suggestions are:

• Natural oven cleaner recipe
• DIY natural toilet scrub
• Recipe for natural disinfectant
• Countertop cleaner with essential oils

To get you started, we’ve added our favorite green spring cleaning product recipes, and all of them can be made with products from the list above!

Bathtub Scrub

For tough grime in the bathtubs, showers, or even your sinks, mix together a bit of baking soda and castile soap with a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Scrub and rinse clean with water.

Kitchen- Microwave

Microwaves can get pretty gross and they’re hard to clean. In a small cup, pour in vinegar and a splash of lemon juice or lemon essential oil. Put into microwave and run it for two minutes. Take out the cup and wipe down the microwave with a microfiber towel. No elbow grease needed!

Living Room- Furniture Polish

Make that furniture shine and remain dust free longer with this natural furniture polish. Combine 3/4 cup olive oil, the juice of a quarter of a  lemon, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 3-4 drops lemon essential oil (optional). Dip a damp rag into the polish and rub on furniture. Use an old dry towel to buff off. This same recipe can be used on stainless steel.

Whole House- Floors Cleaner

Combine one part white vinegar with two parts warm water in a bucket. Use a mop or rag to wipe down floors. Put a few drops of essential oil as well to mask the smell of the vinegar if desired.

Spring cleaning can be a daunting task. It’s tough to find the time you need to do the job right, let alone create the green products that will clean in an environmentally friendly and healthy manner.  There is nothing wrong with outsourcing that task to a professional cleaning company. CleanSpace offers a spring cleaning service to our clients in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and surrounding areas in California.

Our licensed and bonded professional cleaning teams are highly trained; every cleaner is specially trained in our special top to bottom, left to right process of cleaning your home. We are proud to only use Green Seal and Green Guard approved products, so you will only ever receive a green spring cleaning from our cleaning professionals.

Call our customer service team today for your free estimate for your home’s spring cleaning!

The holidays are almost here— that magical time of year where friends stop by bringing cheer and well-wishes, family comes from all around, your house becomes a revolving door for houseguests, and holiday cleaning looms at the top of your list. 

Whether you’re hosting parties prior to the big day or you’re planning to have a full house for the actual holiday, most of us feel the stress of keeping our homes clean ever-ready for our families and friends.

Holiday cleaning might feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Make sure you have a plan for your holiday cleaning and you’ll enjoy a stress-free holiday season this year.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #1: Kitchen

If you’re hosting holiday parties, chances are you’re doing a lot of cooking and baking. Open concept homes are the newest trend, which means that your kitchen is likely a part of your party space. Even if it’s not, people tend to migrate and gather in the kitchen during parties. Try these tips to make sure your holiday cleaning doesn’t pull you away from the fun.

• Clean out your fridge before holiday shopping. Wipe down all the drawers and shelving, and throw away any outdated condiments. This will free up space for all the ingredients you’ll need for your holiday gatherings.
• Wipe down all your appliances. We tend to blame all the sticky fingerprints on our kids, but when you’re cooking and going in and out of the refrigerator, stove, oven, and dishwasher, chances are there are going to be something on your hands!
• Wipe down your trash can, and make sure the trash is taken out before your gathering. This will help your kitchen and home to stay smelling fresh.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #2: Bathrooms

If your home has a guest bathroom, such as a half bathroom on the main floor, you can focus on this bathroom during your holiday cleaning. However, if you’re having guests to stay, remember that all the bathrooms might be up for grabs during the holidays. Here’s a guide to help you clean all your bathrooms in a hurry. For deep cleaning, pay attention to these areas in particular:

• There’s all the obvious spots that need to be cleaned— the sink, the toilet, the mirrors—but remember the other areas too. Cleaning around the base of the toilet is an important task that’s all too often neglected.
• Be sure to clean out your medicine cabinet, and have aspirin and bandages readily available for your guests.
• Wiping down door handles and towel racks will help your bathroom sparkle.
• Bathrooms should have fresh towels and washcloths, but also freshly stocked supplies. Make extra towels, washcloths, soap, and toilet paper easily accessible in your bathroom for your guests.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #3: Guest Bedrooms

If you’re having people come to stay at your home during the holidays, this room is definitely important for your holiday cleaning, even if it hasn’t been used recently.

• Wash all linens whether they’ve been slept on since the last washing or not. They may feel stiff or be dusty.
• Dust all surfaces and wipe down door handles and blinds.
• Make sure there is room in the closet for your guests’ clothing.
• Putting a dryer sheet inside the pillow cases or underneath a chair cushion is a good way to keep the room smelling fresh.
• Go the extra mile for your guests! Leave a little basket of necessities like snacks, the wifi password, and travel sized bathroom products in case they have forgotten to bring something from home.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #4: Floors and Carpets

Floors and carpets are a part of basic everyday cleaning, but you’ll probably need to clean them with more frequency as you celebrate the holidays. For holiday cleaning, give your floors and carpets a deep clean before all your events. Then, you’ll just have upkeep before and after parties and gatherings.

• Your entryway is the first thing your guests see and your first line of defense in having guests track in outside dirt. Make sure you sweep up the entryway daily and also provide your guests will doormats inside and outside the door to wipe off their shoes.
• Carpets should be vacuumed regularly to make sure there aren’t clumps of dirt or pet hair.
• Keep a small vacuum or broom and dustpan handy to clean up small spills during your party.
• Consider getting a few holiday throw rugs to protect your floors and carpets from spills and dirt.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #5: Dining Room

Some holidays are a sit-down affair, while others involve you and your guests mingling and munching on hors d’oeuvres. Either of these parties necessitates a clean dining room. General cleaning would include the floors and dusting, but consider these extras for your holiday cleaning:

• Wipe down the chairs entirely. Depending on what kind of dining room table you have, use a wood cleaner, leather cleaner, or fabric cleaner to really make your chair shine.
• If you think your chairs might look a little too lived in, consider holiday chair covers to give them an extra spruce-up.
• Some tables might need to be lengthened with a table leaf. It might be a good idea to add this before you clean the floors. When you pull the table apart to add the leaf, crumbs might fall to the floor. Give it an extra wipe before putting it all back together.
• Don’t forget the bottoms of your chairs and tables, too. Dust and animal fur can gather on these, so it’s a good idea to wipe them off prior to cleaning the floors.

Holiday Cleaning Tip #6: Living Room

During your holiday party, the living room is sure to be a high traffic area. Many of the season’s decorations are located here, so aside from pre-party cleaning, you might consider giving this area extra care before your decorations are put up! Here are a few things to remember as you undertake your holiday cleaning of your living room:

• Look under the couch cushions! Kids or no kids, pets or no pets, if you haven’t looked under your couch cushions lately, you should. People getting up and down off the couches can release dust, move cushions, and reveal lost items you might not want your guests to see. Pull up those cushions to rescue the lost socks and vacuum out the unwanted dirt.
• While you might always dust your mantle or bookshelves, do you take the time to dust your vents and air returns? Take a look at your ceiling fan and light fixtures, too—they could probably benefit from a quick wipe down!

Holiday Cleaning Tip #7: Here, There, Everywhere!

Aside from all big things in your house you’ll want to handle when you’re doing your holiday cleaning, here are some extra tips that will really make your guests marvel at the warmth, cleanliness, and comfort in your home.

• If you’re using actual silverware during your holiday party, and not just flatware, did you know that toothpaste can help you buff out tarnish? Make sure you shine the silverware before your party and rinse it as quickly as possible after use.
• Even though your house is clean, you may not want it to smell like the cleaner you used to get that shine. Try putting one of these simmer pot recipes on your stove to make your home smell delicious.
• Putting a scented candle in the guest bathroom will help keep it smelling clean and fresh.
• If you have children, an easy job to give them to help out during holiday cleaning is to take disinfectant wipes to all the door handles and light switches. This not only is a good job for them before your parties but after holiday parties as well, and all throughout the cold and flu season!

CleanSpace is proud to serve Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, California with all their cleaning needs. From regular cleanings to holiday cleanings, we can give your home that sparkle and shine you want for your guests all year round. All our maids clean the same way, starting from the moment they walk in your door, they will clean the room from top to bottom, left to right.

We use an Aspria Backpack vacuum system, that allows us to capture 99% of the dirt and remove it completely from the home. Our cleaning products are Green Guard and Green Seal approved, meaning your home will be cleaned with non-toxic and environmentally safe cleaning products, improving the health of your family and pets. Contact CleanSpace today so we can help you with your holiday cleaning, and year-round health of your home!