The Big Spring Clean Begins

This Thursday, tax return done, I decided to start work on a big spring clean of the house.

I deployed Sophia's method (as mentioned in a previous blog post) and set the timer for one hour, with the aim of cleaning the main kitchen windowsill above the sink. It was very dusty and I had been wanting to tackle it for quite a while.

Surprisingly, it took the full hour, as I had to remove everything, clean the sill and windows and wash all the ceramics, before returning them to the sill.  I also took the time to clean the leaves of some of the plants, which were very dusty. They looked a lot better for it though.

Shiny leaves

I then left it at that, thinking I might do another hour the following day and go through the house at a steady pace, deep cleaning for an hour a day over the next few weeks.

Later in the evening, however, there wasn't much on the TV, so determined to get into every nook and cranny, I decided to clean the cupboard tops in the kitchen.

I wanted to tackle this job first, as it hasn't been done for a couple of years and they were filthy. I also wanted to start the deep clean from the top down, so as not to re-dirty lower areas by cleaning the tops later. I didn't set the alarm for this job, as I just wanted to get it done however long it took. Out came the stepladders and up I went.

Here's a picture of what they looked like before I started, covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. (Please excuse the fact that we only painted part way along here)





It took quite a bit of elbow grease, especially the ones closest to the cooker, due to the fact that grease from cooking had deposited itself here along with the dust. Eventually though, I got them all done.

Here's a picture of my now clean cupboard tops.

So much better.  If we ever refurbish this kitchen, I would definitely like floor to ceiling cupboards with inaccessible tops, as this was a thoroughly horrible job. It will be interesting to see how quickly dust accumulates here and whether if I wipe them down more regularly, how much easier it might make the job.

I'm keeping a written record of what and when things get cleaned this time around, so that I can start to form some sort of regular cleaning routine, one of this year's aims.

For tomorrow's hour of cleaning, it's the turn of the fridge top, cooker hood and wall racks.  Wish me luck.  I'll keep you posted on progress.