Published: March 25, 2008 05:56 pm            

Some tips for tackling spring cleaning

FAIRMONT — Spring has sprung and so have the dust bunnies, so the time has come for planning a spring cleaning strategy.

And even though the phrase contains the word “cleaning,” to conduct the process fully, there also should be some sorting out and getting rid of some items.

“My suggestion for the individual homeowner is that they need to get organized,” said Susan Moore, owner of cleaningservices.com LLC in Fairmont. “They should take one room at a time so they don’t get overwhelmed.”

Homeowners can plot their own strategy on how they will approach the cleaning, but Moore recommends saving living areas for last and hitting offices and spare bedrooms first.

“Some folks that I have run across like to do a master bedroom first and the living rooms, great rooms and Florida rooms last because those are the bigger jobs,” she said. “People have collectibles and showcases there and it takes longer to do that.”

Before getting down to the nitty gritty of cleaning up, people also might want to consider cleaning out — getting rid of excess clothes and other items in closets, offices, etc.

Spring is a busy time for PC Renewal on Grafton Road near Morgantown, where people can drop off electronics such as old TVs, stereos and computers instead of storing them in their house or just throwing them away.

“It’s environmentally friendly to send them here rather than to the landfill,” said Susan Crosco of PC Renewal. “They contain toxins, especially monitors, which have cathode ray tubes, which eventually will get into the soil and water. It’s just not a good thing.”

Because spring is such a busy time for cleaning, PC Renewal will have a collection site at the Westover City Hall from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 5. Someone who wants to drop off electronics will pay a nominal fee for each item, which Carl Crosco of PC Renewal either can rehabilitate to be reused or break down into various components to be recycled at the proper facility.

Excess clothing can be taken to volunteer organizations that accept them.

“It’s no major brainer,” said Jennifer Reed of California Closets in Wexford, Pa., on organizing your closet and other home areas. “Assess your wardrobe into piles of what you will wear and what you’re never going to wear.”

Figuring out what to get rid of can be difficult, however, especially if a clothing item still seems perfectly good, Reed said.

“If you’re never going to wear it again, give it to charity. If you didn’t wear it last year, are you really going to wear it this year? If there’s nothing wrong with it, but you haven’t worn it in a while, get rid of it. Most people wear 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time, so it’s about minimizing what you have and having what you need in the closet.”

To that end, after decisions have been made on what clothes to keep, items can be divided up by season in order to maximize room in the closet and keep the current season’s clothes as unwrinkled, visible and accessible as possible.

“Take your winter clothes and put them in storage, in the attic or basement, so you have some separation,” Reed said. “Make it easier and less cluttered.”

Homeowners can tackle other spaces such as the garage or an office by using the same strategy.

“The same rules apply to the garage, the pantry, the hall closet or your entertainment center,” she said. “Pull everything out and look at what you have. If you have DVDs that you don’t watch, get rid of them.”

As for specific advice on how to clean, Moore has that as well.

“Start from the top. Dirt falls, soil falls and dust falls, so you want to be able to get all of it.”

That means cleaning light fixtures and ceiling fans, and doing that before you wash or vacuum the floor beneath them or clean that carpet.

Pictures should be taken off walls and dusted or cleaned and the walls scrubbed down as well.

To dust a table properly, use a cotton cloth and spray the dust cleaner onto the cloth. Remove all items from the piece of furniture and dust them as well.

As for floors, Moore does not use mops but instead does them by hand. “If you use a mop, you are moving the dirt from left to right.”

When deciding what cleaning products to use, Moore recommends those that contain degreasing ingredients. Products that do not “only clean your house when it isn’t dirty,” she said. “If you use your kitchen for what it’s intended, the grease goes into the air and throughout the house.”

She also recommends using a product that has a pleasing scent, “so you don’t just get things clean, but the house also smells good,” she said. “It makes you feel happy when you’ve finished at the end of the day.”

In some cases, Moore and her employees have dismantled beds for a thorough headboard and footboard cleaning and perhaps to replace the mattress. Sometimes they clean an entire house except the windows, which the homeowner will do, and sometimes Moore and her crew clean the windows.

A homeowner should count on taking more time than a day to properly spring clean a house, Moore said.

And, if all else fails, you can call in the professionals. For a spring cleaning job, Moore will send at least three cleaners, if not four, “depending on the soil level and what their expectations are.”

E-mail Mary Wade Burnside at mwburnside@timeswv.com.

        

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