A spring cleaning, the right way

Spring is here (loud sigh of relief), which means it's time to rid your house of all that winter dust, grime and junk. Not to mention the cooped-up, closed-off smell. It's amazing what a stiff breeze through an opened window can do for a room when it comes to the nose.

Feel the need to clean out the house but don't know where to begin? Living room or kid's bedroom? Kitchen or bathroom? The following game plan will efficiently guide you to a quick and clean sweep through your beautiful home.

Before cleaning

+ Wear comfortable, old clothes that you won't mind staining or getting dirty.

+ Take stock of your cleaning needs and supplies. Don't wait until you're about to clean to find out that you don't have any supplies

+ Prepare one bucket of supplies to bring with you to every room. All you really need are a few rags, some paper towels, furniture polish and one good all-purpose glass and counter cleaner. These items will do the trick for most cleaning jobs. Also, grab two empty garbage bags: one to carry garbage you find along the way, and the other to fill with things you no longer want but are still useful.

+ Turn off the television and the phone. The quickest cleaning is accomplished without any distractions.

+ Get organized by making a list of the rooms you want to tackle, and then clean each room fully before moving on to

the next.

+ Open the windows and allow the clean air to blow inside. Not only will the mustiness of winter be removed, but you'll also protect yourself from inhaling dust and dangerous fumes from cleaning products.

During the clean

+ Play some fun, lively music. Before you know it, your adrenaline will start pumping and you'll be dancing your way through the house.

+ Toss away everything you don't use. Be ruthless. Less clutter makes future dusting easier.

+ Gather the extra items in your life and give them to charity, or sell them at a springtime yard sale. Get the whole family in the act by telling kids that they can keep the profits from selling toys they no longer use.

+ Work around the room in one direction, either left or right. This way, there won't be any time wasted in crisscrossing the room, or vacuuming that same spot twice.

+ Clear it off and put it away. This is really the first step to cleaning any room. In the bedrooms, remove items stored under the bed and file away or throw out papers. In the kitchen, remove everything from counters and take down curtains. In the bathroom, clear away potpourri holders, magazines, and wastebaskets. Take down the shower curtain and liner for laundering. Just remember to tackle one room at a time. Remove these items and cleaning will be much easier.

+ Wear rubber gloves! Even though it is harder to grip things with gloves than it is with bare hands, it is worth using them to protect your skin from the harshness of hot water and drying chemicals, so wear rubber gloves.

Post cleaning

When you're finished cleaning, it's time to put back the items you need and love. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

+ The only necessary appliances on kitchen counters are the ones that you use on a daily or weekly basis. Stash anything else in cabinets or cupboards. Also, if you have a counter full of cookbooks you seldom use, you may want to put them on a shelf for more living and cooking space.

Each room needs TLC. Here are some spring-cleaning tips and techniques for every room in your home.

Living room

+ Dust and vacuum corners and crevices from high points to low. Remember dust falls downward so you want to clean from the top to the bottom of any room.

+ Vacuum furniture, lampshades and pictures. Remember all those gadgets that come with your vacuum cleaner? Use them here, and experiment with different attachments for furniture and corners of rooms.

+ Vacuum or wash curtains as well as carpets.

+ Dust wood furniture.

+ Dust/mop floors.

+ Take plants outside for a gentle washing with a fine spray from your garden hose. Plants and their pots get dusty over the winter.

Bedrooms

+ Wash or dry-clean curtains.

+ Take blinds outside and wash them with a mild ammonia solution. Rinse with the garden hose!

+ Strip bed linens and dust ruffles.

+ Vacuum your mattress and box spring. Flip and rotate the mattress before putting on new sheets. This will prevent dips from forming on the mattress and keep the mattress firmer for longer.

+ Polish wood furniture and dust knickknacks.

+ Vacuum everything, from the floor behind and under the bed to the carpet, lampshade and pictures.

+ Clean mirrors and wipe down light fixtures and lamps.

+ Dust mop wood floors.

Kitchen

+ Spray your oven with cleaner the night before you plan to spring clean your kitchen. This will allow you to simply sponge off the grime.

+ Vacuum stove vents, refrigerator coils, floor,

and counters.

+ Defrost that freezer. A blow-drier aimed at the ice will speed up the process. Get rid of old foods, or those jars of things you thought you'd like

but never ate.

Clean the inside of freezer and fridge with a solution of three tablespoons of baking soda and one quart of warm water.

+ Clean the outside of the fridge with glass cleaner

+ Clean counters, appliances and stove tops with an all-purpose glass cleaner or the baking soda solution

listed above.

+ Wash out the trash can and spray it with a good disinfectant before putting in a new lining. Leave it outside the kitchen for the next step.

+ For linoleum floors, spray a foaming tile cleaner and take a five-minute break. When you come back, you just need to sponge mop the floor. The foaming cleanser will have already lifted up the dirt so you don't have to.

Bathrooms

+ Spray shower and tub with strong cleanser.

+ Pour cleaner into the toilet bowl, and spray the outside with the same cleaner. Let the chemicals do the cleaning while you do the next steps.

+ Clean mirrors, chrome, bathroom scale, and light fixtures with glass cleaner.

+ Vacuum everything, removing dust and hair that is so hard to get up when surfaces are wet.

+ Empty and clean the wastepaper basket.

+ Clean the sink and wipe off the cleanser you already applied to the shower and tub.

+ Working from the top of the toilet down, clean the outside, and brush and flush the inside.

+ Scrub the floor with a strong cleanser. Tough tile floors can be most easily cleaned by hand with the scrub-brush side of a bathroom-only sponge.