Spring is in the air. Blossom is on the trees, and the urge to spring clean our living spaces is calling!

What is it about April that inspires us to put those marigolds on and scrub everything in sight? (even the cat is starting to look tempting).

If you’ve got the cleaning bug and are looking for tips, or are unsure where to start. We have some handy tricks to help inspire cheaper, easier cleaning for all.

For declutter tips read our previous article here.

Cleaning benefits

When our minds feel overwhelmed, our home environment can reflect that. Cluttered worktops, dirty dishes, and crumby floors that could do with a little love, are all signs that our internal world needs attention and care.

While throwing around a duster with reckless abandon won’t solve mental health issues like talking to a licensed therapist, it can help improve mood and create a sense of calm.

Cleaning can:

  • help give us a sense of order and control. We can’t control certain things in our lives, but we can control how tidy and clean our spaces are. Helping ease the everyday issues we face
  • provide routine, familiarity, and consistency. We are creatures of habit, and we love a routine! Daily and weekly cleaning routines can offer us stability amid trying circumstances
  • release endorphins. Cleaning is a great workout, releasing endorphins – helpful chemicals our body makes that provide pain relief, stress relief, and overall well-being

We know cleaning can create a more organised environment, and help our mental health, but did you know it can also help improve air quality and ease allergies and asthma?

Cleaning removes allergens and targets triggers for many folks with allergies and asthma.

Read more about the benefits of deep cleaning for allergies here.

Tips, tricks, and hacks

Ready, steady, clean! Below are helpful cleaning hacks that will save you time, money and give great results. Clean smarter, not harder!

  • bicarbonate of soda. Tricky stain buster, dissolver of grease and grime, deodoriser, there isn’t much bicarb can’t do! Costing from £1.49 for 500g, this soda can be mixed with water to create a paste that is abrasive enough to work on most surfaces and stains. Uses include, but are not limited to:

–Fridge cleaner

–Oven buster

–Soft furnishing deodoriser

–Laundry brightener

–Stinky plughole savior

–Smelly trainer fixer-upper

Watch bicarbonate of soda cleaning hacks for the home

  • When life gives you lemons, clean with them! A cleaner home is just a peel away. You can revive chopping boards by sprinkling some salt and then scrubbing with a lemon, brighten up taps and showers, and even freshen up your fridge

Learn more eco-friendly ideas for cleaning with lemons in your home

  • upcycle old clothes. No need to buy new cleaning cloths or dusters, old T-shirts and socks dust surfaces and blinds perfectly

Learn how to turn old T-shirts into dust rags

  • set a timer. Put 60 mins on the clock and blast your favourite playlist (ours is ABBA). You’ll be surprised how much you get done. By setting yourself against the clock you can get tasks done quickly, in a fun way

Read more about the Tik-Tok timer cleaning method

  • clean as you go. Make a daily cleaning list that includes wiping down surfaces and putting items away when you’re done with them. This will prevent any mess from building up and make weekly cleaning faster
  • gleaming toilet cleaning. No need for bleach or expensive products, pour a cup of white vinegar into the toilet along with two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda. Let it fizz for a few minutes, give it a good scrub with the toilet brush, and now you have a shiny toilet throne!
  • never underestimate an old toothbrush. Many cleaning tools are out there, but few beat the mighty toothbrush. They can help you get the toughest dirt out of the tightest spaces. Just make sure you clearly label them from your dental toothbrushes

What are some of your favourite cleaning tips and hacks? Let us know in the comments below!