February Tasks That'll Save You Time On Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning can easily feel overwhelming or exhausting. There's a lot to do as soon as the weather changes, and it's easy to feel like you have too much work and not enough time. You may even find you push off some tasks until later, or never get to them at all. While there are tips and tricks to make the whole process easier, it still doesn't reduce the sheer amount of work involved. Plus, for many, spring is when the weather starts to change, offering more pleasant days. After a dreary and cold winter, the thought of being stuck inside cleaning can be almost heartbreaking. 

Whether you are looking to enjoy the nice weather outdoors or simply want less on your plate at one time, prepping for your spring cleaning can make life easier. February is often a dreary month, and comes after all the stress of the holidays, making it the perfect time to hunker down and work on most of your indoor projects. Prepping for a deep clean by decluttering or taking out some of the more annoying tasks, like dusting baseboards and fans, can make your spring cleaning a breeze and help to ensure you actually get the work done every year, instead of pushing it off. 

February is the perfect time to declutter your home. You can remove some items that you haven't used for a long time, and decide what you no longer need in the new year. Also, it's always a good idea to declutter before you start cleaning and organizing, as it leaves you with fewer items to find a place for and move around. Starting this step in February, before you truly get into spring, will create a smoother cleaning session overall. Start with items hidden in the backs or bottoms of closets, pantries, and dressers, and find a place to recycle or donate gently used items.

All around your home are fabrics that probably get used a lot, but rarely get cleaned: curtains, throw blankets, and duvets may be among them. They all have different cleaning needs, so this is a heavy lift that is best tackled before spring cleaning. Some

curtains may need hand-washing

, while a duvet may need to be dry-cleaned. Taking care of these items one-at-a-time in February saves you this extra workload in the spring.

February is also a good time to clean out vents and replace filters in your home. This should be done roughly every six months anyway, so starting in February lets you get the first round over and done with. It's also a good time to check and make sure everything looks like it's working correctly before you need to start using the AC you haven't used in a while. Cleaning your air vents can be a bit of a time-consuming process, but it will help your home feel much cleaner. 

Defrosting a freezer isn't a task people do often, despite it being something that needs to be done at least once a year for many freezers. It's quite a pain, as it involves pulling everything out of your fridge and freezer, unplugging it, letting the ice melt, and wiping it all down. However, you can mitigate the stress a little by doing it in February. This is a good time, as your fridge and freezer might already be bare after the holidays and eating all of those holiday leftovers. 

If more than a year has gone by since your rugs have been cleaned, they may be starting to look and feel a little weary. Many throw rugs can be washed in the washing machine. But, for larger rugs and carpets, you can rent a steam cleaner from most big hardware stores, so consider making a day out of this task. Those rug cleaning videos make things look pretty complicated, but it's easy enough to wash a rug yourself in 10 steps or less.

It may seem like there's never a good time to sort through your kids' play areas — so you have to be intentional and set aside a time when you can focus on the mess. Sort through broken or rarely-used toys to donate, recycle, or toss. Then, you can go over the ones your child no longer plays with and consider donating them. After that, work on organizing and deep cleaning the space. It's tedious sometimes, but during February, when it's still cold and dreary for many parts of the US, it's worth working on some of these more time-consuming cleaning projects you might otherwise avoid.

Speaking of tedious work, there's no better time to scrub some hard-to-reach spots. Baseboards, trim, deep corners, and around the stack of wires behind your TV are all areas that get neglected throughout the year and need a bit of love. You could go ahead and get this work out of the way, since it involves quite a bit of scrubbing and elbow grease — saving yourself the extra work come spring.

Guest sheets and linens may need special attention — to stay fresh, free of potential allergens, and clean. All those sheets and pillows need to be washed before your next cycle of guests. Take the time to prepare all your guest linens while also sorting through to throw away or recycle pilled or threadbare sheets. You can also look around your guest room and see if anything needs to be decluttered or cleaned so you feel better prepared come spring. 

Before you get all of your tables and chairs back to the patio in time for spring, they need to be given a good clean. If it's too cold outside, you can clean your patio furniture easily indoors with nontoxic options like white vinegar. If you have the space outside to clean your tables and chairs, give them a good spray with a hose for a simple clean. 

Going through your gardening equipment is worth doing before you actually use any come spring. It's a good time to inspect your tools and see what needs to be fixed or replaced. You can also see if there are any materials like vermiculite, potting soil, pots, or manure you should buy for your indoor or outdoor garden. That way, you can jump right in when it's time to start planting. If you want to make your life even easier, you can begin to plan out your garden beds for the year.

Another spring cleaning task you can do a little early is dealing with your big appliances. They are heavy and bulky, which is why you probably don't clean under them often. However, you might as well do them while you're stuck inside with cold weather. Don't just sweep under your appliances, clean the interiors of them as well. Scrub your oven, wash out your filters and seals in your washer and dryer, and give your microwave a fresh makeover with a bowl of water and lemon (for a DIY steam clean). This helps to prevent issues with your devices down the line. 

Cleaning out your office area helps to bring in a sense of freshness and new beginnings. This is a good time to start clearing out the clutter and old documents you no longer need. Check your stationery, ink, and folders to ensure you're fully stocked up and ready for whatever work throws your way. You can also look around and see if you are incorporating any home office design mistakes that are ruining your workflow, such as using uncomfortable furniture or leaving your desk too cluttered. 

Once you've cleaned and decluttered as much as you can in February, the final step is to sit down and create a list of what you need to do when spring comes. Perhaps you want to tackle the garage after it warms up, or maybe you noticed rooms you need to paint when the windows can bring a breeze through. You can even remind yourself to try the cleaning method that makes tackling deep cleans a breeze by breaking spaces up into zones.