Spring Cleaning Checklist – Easy Path from Start to Finish

We accumulate a lot of stuff, dust, pet hair, and dander throughout the cold months, and spring cleaning is the best time to clean all of this out.  In order to prevent it from being overwhelming, a spring cleaning checklist can help get (and keep) you on track and ensure success!

A spring cleaning checklist has many benefits from keeping you on track to streamlining work and getting everything clean.  There are several types-printable, Excel, PDF, and most are free.  Whether you do your spring cleaning by room or by task, a spring cleaning checklist can keep you organized.

Are you getting ready to clean your home for the spring?  Looking for a better way to get it all done successfully?

What is a Spring Cleaning Checklist?

A spring cleaning checklist is a physical (or mental) list to help guide you through cleaning up and cleaning out your home in springtime.  Spring is a popular time to declutter and reorganize, and spring cleaning is satisfying and rejuvenating in preparation for the change in the weather.  Whether it’s an actual checklist or a list of tasks in your mind, spring cleaning checklists can help you clear out your home and prepare for warm weather.

 Benefits of a Spring Cleaning Checklist

Spring cleaning can feel pretty overwhelming, especially in a large home or a home that hasn’t been cleaned out very well in a long time.  This is where a checklist can help out a great deal.  Here are some of the benefits of using a spring cleaning checklist:

1. Helps you prepare for cleaning.
2. Keeps you on track.
3. Reduces the stress of cleaning.
4. Keeps you organized.
5. Streamlines cleaning-no double duty.
6. Helps with delegation of cleaning tasks to others.
7. Gets every room in your home addressed and cleaned.

Then of course there’s the benefits of spring cleaning-which is decluttering and reducing allergens just to start!  A thorough home cleaning in addition to other interventions have been found by researchers Ahluwalia of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Matsui of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to reduce indoor allergies and severe asthma symptoms. But let’s look at some different types of spring cleaning checklists.

Whether it’s an actual checklist or a list of tasks in your mind, spring cleaning checklists can help you clear out your home and prepare for warm weather.

Types of Spring Cleaning Checklists

Printable Spring Cleaning Checklist

If you’re a hands-on kind of person and really enjoy checking things off of a paper to-do list, there’s always printable spring cleaning checklists.  These are available on many websites with many different versions and formats. Checklists have a great deal of value because, according to Michael Scriven of Western Michigan University, they reduce omission of important things, they’re easier to evaluate completion, and are easy to develop. 

 Spring Cleaning Excel Checklist

If you’re the data-driven type and enjoy the thrill of a spreadsheet, then there’s the spring cleaning Excel checklist.  You can input the room, task, and the date it was completed-similar to those bathroom cleaning checklists you see in retail stores.

Here’s how you can create a spring cleaning Excel list:

1. Create columns
2. List rooms or areas
3. Specify tasks
4. Status column
5. Notes column
6. Customize and format
7. Expand the list
8. Save and print

With a spring cleaning Excel list, you can keep track of your progress, ensure that all areas are covered, and stay organized throughout your spring cleaning routine.

Spring Cleaning Checklist Template

When you like creating things on your own and personalizing your checklists specifically to you and your home, there’s always a spring cleaning checklist template.  All you have to do is fill in the blanks to create your own!

 Spring Cleaning Checklist PDF

When you’re into documents but don’t want to risk losing your form, you can create a spring cleaning checklist PDF.  When you create a word document with your specific checklist or even a downloaded spring cleaning checklist, you can convert it to a PDF and your checklist is safe from editing.

Free Spring Cleaning Checklist

Regardless of what format of checklist you prefer, there are countless free spring cleaning checklists available online.  From cleaning tips to cleaning services, there’s a free checklist out there just waiting for you to download and print.

Spring Cleaning Checklists by Room

One method of completing spring cleaning is room by room with a checklist.  Here are some examples of what these checklists include for each room.

Bedroom Spring Cleaning Checklist

Here’s a bedroom spring cleaning checklist to help you clean out all of your bedrooms:

1. Pick up dirty clothes
2. Declutter dresser and nightstands
3. Remove things that don’t belong
4. Wash sheets and towels
5. Dust furniture, ceiling fans, blinds, light fixtures, décor and pictures
6. Dust baseboards
7. Vacuum floors
8. Remove trash
9. Open windows or use air purifiers to freshen the room

Office Spring Cleaning Checklist

This is an example of an office spring cleaning checklist:

1. Declutter desk
2. Dust and clean desk surface
3. Dust desk accessories
4. Wipe down high-touch surfaces
5. Clean out keyboards with compressed air
6. Clean monitor screen(s)
7. Vacuum
8. Remove trash
9. Clean up computer files and emails
10. Backup files to a jump drive or online server

Outdoor Spring Cleaning Checklist

It’s about time to get outdoors!  In order to get ready for the warmer season, here’s an outdoor spring cleaning checklist:

1. Clean outdoor furniture
2. Sweep and declutter porch and patio/deck
3. Pressure wash porch, sidewalk, driveway
4. Wash windows
5. Compost old plants
6. Clear out gutters
7. Check sprinkler system
8. Dispose of old vegetable and fruit seeds
9. Pull weeds and replace mulch
10. Tune up and clean gardening tools

Whole-House Spring Cleaning Checklist

Do you work better with one at a time for your whole house?  Here’s a whole-house spring cleaning checklist for you to try:

1. Dust every room including upper and lower corners
2. Dust all furniture and accessories
3. Dust all décor and floorboards
4. Dust all appliances and ceiling fans
5. Dust all window blinds and shelving
6. Shake out throws, pillows, and blankets
7. Vacuum all floors and furniture
8. Mop all floors
9. Clean all mirrors and windows
10. Go through all clothing and shoes
11. Clean all appliances and repair as needed
12. Wash all sheets, dirty clothing, floor mats, towels, and table linens
13. Dispose of all expired medication, personal care, makeup, and food

 Kitchen Spring Cleaning Checklist

Yes, your kitchen deserves a deep clean as well!  Here’s a kitchen spring cleaning checklist for your review:

1. Declutter
2. Clean food-prep surfaces
3. Clean appliances (front, top, insides)
4. Defrost freezer
5. Degrease oven, microwave, and vent hood
6. Trash expired food
7. Clean inside pantry and cabinets
8. Dust above cabinets and appliances
9. Deodorize kitchen drain
10. Dust baseboards
11. Vacuum floors
12. Mop floors
13. Wash linens, towels, and floor mats
14. Dispose of old sponges and scrub brushes

Bathroom Spring Cleaning Checklist

You have to change your personal care routine when the seasons change, so here’s a bathroom spring cleaning checklist to go with that:

1. Declutter countertops and vanity
2. Clean mirrors and countertops
3. Clean tub, shower, and shower door
4. Wipe down and clean toilet
5. Wash bath mats and towels
6. Clean tile grout
7. Wipe down high-touch surfaces
8. Dust baseboards
9. Vacuum floors
10. Mop floors
11. Discard old medications, makeup, and personal care products

This video will help simplify a spring cleaning checklist to keep you on track to streamlining work and getting everything clean.

Related Insights

 What is included in a spring cleaning?

Spring cleaning tends to be a pretty thorough cleaning of a home, generally from top to bottom.  There’s vacuuming and dusting everything from floors and baseboards to ceiling fans, disinfecting high-touch surfaces like light switches and doorknobs, cleaning windows, mopping, washing table linens, and even wiping down live and fake plants for dust.

 How do you spring clean an entire house?

With a little bit of help and a lot of time and patience!  A spring clean will include cleaning all of those things you just don’t think of very often, like baseboards and ceiling fans.  I like to take it one task at a time throughout the house, or one room at a time from top to bottom.

How do you organize spring cleaning?

Spring cleaning can be organized through tasks (dusting, vacuuming, washing, disinfecting, etc.), room by room, floor by floor, or with a checklist.  Choose the way that works best for you-there are no rules.  But trust me when I say your allergies will thank you later!

Areas Where Real People Think a Spring Cleaning Checklist Would be Most Helpful

I asked 5 friends and family to list which area would be most helpful to have a spring cleaning checklist. Here is what they shared and what I learned from the poll, and the percentages of their responses.

Other Resources:

• Spring Cleaning – Successful Methods for Simpler Living
• Spring Cleaning List – Making it Simple from Start to Finish

Spring cleaning can be a wonderful time for cleaning out dust, cobwebs, and allergens.  It can also be a time of decluttering, reorganizing, and renewal.  Whichever checklist you use, a spring cleaning checklist can help you in being successful in all of your home cleaning endeavors!  Which one will you use?