9 tips for an effective spring cleaning

Article written in partnership with the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE)

Who says spring says big cleaning in the house! It's time to roll up your sleeves for a proper spring cleaning. We hunt down dust, wage war on dirt, push furniture and sort our things to clear things up, once and for all. Here is our guide to effective spring cleaning.

1. Ask for help

Mobilize family, children, friends to help you in your war against grime. The more we are, the more efficient we are. Agree on a date and remember to remind your loved ones about it a week before. For your part, list the tasks and distribute them according to the capacities of each one.

2. Choose the right tools

Here is a small list of essentials:
– gloves
– Garbage bags of different sizes
– Clean boxes for sorting, tidying up, storing
– Vacuum
– Sponges (including one with an abrasive side)
– Quackgrass brush
– Swab
– Bucket
– Cloths

Good to know : Instead of wipes and paper towels, prefer mops and sponges, less expensive and so much more environmentally friendly. Even better, make your washable and zero waste sponges, tawashi! In Japanese, tawashi means "mop". This one is done by hand, we knit it in the crochet, or better, we braid it.

3. Focus on the right household products

For a clean interior, prefer natural products to toxic household cleaners. Bet on natural ingredients that you can mix together to make your homemade household products.

• White vinegar: ecological and multi-purpose, it replaces bleach, much criticized for health and the environment. This is the product that can be used in any room to disinfect, neutralize bacteria, shine, descale …
• Black soap and Marseille soap: Black soap disinfects, stains, deep cleans, shines … As for Marseille soap, ideal for washing clothes, it has formidable cleaning power.
• Baking soda: This miracle product has many uses. It cleans clogged ovens, detaches linens, deodorizes carpets and fabrics, shines taps … It is also an excellent deodorant for the refrigerator.
• Soda crystals: anti-scale, anti-limescale, they restore their splinters to the glasses, but also serve to unclog the pipes.
• Lemon : Formidable in the kitchen, bathroom and WC, it sanitizes, deodorizes and removes all traces of limestone. Associated with white vinegar, it deeply degreases the oven for example.

Read also: Natural (and effective) alternatives to household products
And: The 5 essential homemade household product recipes

4. Sort, repair, donate

The goal of the game: no longer store what is unused
How do you know? By dividing your objects into three piles: on the one hand, what you really need and are sure you want to keep, on the other, what requires repairing and finally the unused objects that can be donated, traded or resold. For objects on which we hesitate, we store them for six months in a place provided for this purpose. Anything that is not used after this time will probably have nothing to do with us. And before throwing away used objects, let's have the right reflex: many of them can be reused as old clothes in rags, boxes for storage, cups transformed into flowerpots … Let's be creative to give a second life to these objects!

Good to know : To find out how and where to repair, donate, exchange and resell objects, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and ADEME have launched a site rich in practical advice and useful addresses, including a directory of nearly 80,000 professionals: www.longuevieauxobjets .gouv.fr.

5. Tidy up from top to bottom

Before tackling the big cleanup, tidy up the last sock. The most inaccessible shelves and bedsides, the most remote cupboards and cupboards: track down clutter everywhere! Store accumulations in cardboard boxes on which you write the contents.
Some ecological tips:

• If you want to part with a working device, you can give it away or sell it. Otherwise, for used devices, you can have it repaired or take it to one of the many collection points for recycling. When you buy a new device, the seller is obligated to take back the old one free of charge, regardless of how the new device was purchased, in-store or by delivery (this is called a 1-for-1 trade-in. ). Large stores selling electrical equipment are also required to take back small electrical equipment with no obligation to purchase and free of charge (this is the 1 for 0 recovery)

• Sort your papers and documents. All everyday papers are recycled: Sheets of paper, envelopes, notebooks, newspapers, magazines, notepads … Even with staples, spirals or with plastic elements … Put them in bulk (not locked in a bag) in the sorting bin of your home or building or in sorting containers near you. You will find more information on sorting instructions on the Bonnes Habitudes website.
• Sort your medicine cabinet. Return expired or unused medications to the pharmacist. Beforehand, you will have taken care to put the cardboard packaging and paper instructions in the dedicated recycling bin in your home.
• Bring used batteries and accumulators to a collection point to recover and recycle the materials from which they are made.

• A household has an average of 106 cells and batteries, of which 13 are used and waiting to be recycled. Look deep in your drawers or in old toys to find them, and take them to a collection point. Your sorting gesture will allow you to recycle the metals that compose them to create new objects. Find the nearest collection point to you on: lesbonneshabitudes.gouv.fr.

6. Track down dust in every nook and cranny

Carefully vacuum every square inch of the box springs to dislodge dust and mites. The same operation is performed on the mattresses, which are turned over before placing them back on the beds.
Remove dust from baseboards and the tops of frames, light fixtures, round electrical outlets, hoods and door handles. Vacuum your curtains and blinds from top to bottom. And every two years or so, pick them up and drop them off at the dry cleaners.

Regularly clean your blisters. Dust can limit their luminous flux by up to 40%.

7. Clean the linens

Machine quilts and pillows or take them to the dry cleaners.
The curtains, if they are cotton, can be washed at 60 °. If they are white, add a capful of white vinegar to the machine drum to restore their radiance.

Synthetic fiber curtains, on the other hand, support a gentle program without spinning. They are drained, hung on a bar, before hanging them on rods, without ironing them.
Good to know : To prevent your duvet cover from curling up in the machine, add one or two tennis balls to the drum. They will "beat" the laundry.

Also remember to prepare a bag for the laundry you plan to donate. Even if they are punctured, all items can be reused or recycled, as long as they are placed clean and dry in a closed bag. So, do not throw away your old sheets with holes and your used tablecloths!

8. Brick your interior

Give your windows a fresh boost, but methodically. We start by taking care of the window frame and then the exterior (top to bottom and right to left); and finally, from within.
To finish drying the windows, take some newspaper rolled into a ball and rub the window. It is the printing ink that will prevent windows from getting dirty again too quickly.
Don't forget your floors. Remember to respect everyone's instructions. The vitrified floors are cleaned with water and a little detergent. To make your tiles shine, dilute 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in a large bucket of hot water.
Carpets and rugs, for their part, are shampooed after serious dusting.

Good to know : Take this opportunity to change your rugs meaning: they will wear out less.
If you want to tackle your painted walls or covered with wallpaper, use a mixture of water + diluted detergent, and a wrung out sponge. Work in small areas, from bottom to top, then rinse from top to bottom. Dry quickly with a clean cloth to avoid streaks. Not all wallpapers will wash off. If you have any doubts, don't do it, you might regret it!

9. Sanitize your home

The centerpiece is the refrigerator, a great source of pleasure, but also of salmonellosis if we don't worry about it. Now is the time to unplug it, empty it, remove shelves and racks. The interior and accessories are then passed through water with the addition of white vinegar. To ensure proper hygiene, the refrigerator should be cleaned once a month.

In the bathroom, the limestone attacked around the taps and the drain in the bathtub? Nothing an old toothbrush soaked in vinegar water can't fight. Are the holes in your showerhead only leaking a thin stream of water? Leave the latter to soak overnight in a basin filled with water and lemon.

Disinfect the wall of the toilet by soaking it with a glass of white vinegar and a few drops of essential oil for odor. Leave on overnight. Then, flush the water the next day to rinse!

Need advice and tips to reduce waste, reuse objects and recycle? Discover #LesBonnesHabitudes to adopt on the website lesbonneshabitudes.gouv.fr