woman spraying down countertops by daisies

Spring cleaning checklist: your room-by-room guide.

Last Updated: April 9, 2022

After a long winter inside with messy kids and muddy pets, spring is a great time to take care of all those household chores you’ve been putting off. Need a hand? We’ve got a checklist of totally tackle-able tasks to make your home shine.

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Spring cleaning. It’s a load of work, but it’s the best kind of work. There’s nothing quite like pouring a glass of chilled wine or cracking open a cold one and doing that final walk-through. The place feels different — it looks brighter, and it smells like you don’t have pets and kids up to your eyeballs. It even sounds clean — crisp and echoey.


But it’s hard to know where to start, especially if your entire house is, well, a bit of a disaster at the moment. So instead of rolling up your sleeves, wandering aimlessly with no idea what to tackle first — and then giving up, watching old classics on TCM, and feeling guilty — just follow this super-simple spring-cleaning checklist.

First, what’s your spring cleaning strategy?

You can do this spring cleaning business a number of ways, and we’ve designed this checklist to function whichever way works best for you by breaking it all down:


First things first: These are the preliminary tasks that get your rooms ready to clean. If you’re a very tidy person, you probably won’t need to do many of the tasks in this column. If you’re a very untidy person (no judgment here!) just tackling these tasks will make the room look clean on the surface.


Dirty deeds: These tasks take care of the dust and dirt, the grit and grime. They’re at the heart of spring cleaning — when they’re done, you’ll know your home is truly clean.


The devil is in the details: These tasks are the finishing touches — the nitty-gritty stuff you don’t need to do but once you’ve done it, you feel like you, and your home, are worth a million bucks.

Room-by-room

Start in the kitchen — do everything in the “first things first” column, then the “dirty deeds” column, and finish up with the tasks in “the devil is in the details” column.

Task-by-task

Do the first things first in each room, starting with the kitchen and ending in the bathroom. Then do the dirty deeds in each room, and finish up with all of the devil is in the details tasks.

Supplies for spring cleaning

woman in chambray shirt wiping down wood table

You can clean your entire house with these natural products.

All rooms

These tasks are worth tackling no matter what room you're in.
Yellow checkmarked box illustration

First things first

  • Dust or wipe down tabletops, counters, cabinets, table lamps, and lampshades.
  • Wipe down switch plates, lightswitches, doorknobs, and door handles.
  • Clean travertine , wood , or laminate floors.
Blue duster illustration

The dirty deeds

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The devil is in the details

  • Vacuum floor heating vents and wash vent covers.
  • Wash windows and window screens.
  • Create a designated place in each room for cleaning supplies.
  • Give welcome mats a good scrub.

Grove Tip

Switch to cleaning concentrates

Cleaning concentrates are eco-friendly alternatives to conventional cleaners and the concentrated formula means more bang for your buck — that’s what we call a win-win situation.

Kitchen

We like to start in the kitchen, since it’s often the toughest room to tackle.
Yellow checkmarked box illustration

First things first

  • Gather up all the dishes around the house then wash and put them away (we have hacks).
  • Round up all the dirty dish cloths and towels then toss ‘em in the washing machine.
  • Pick up anything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen and put it away.
  • Clean the countertops and backsplashes.
  • Scrub the fronts of cabinets and appliances.
  • Sweep or vacuum the floor and mop.
  • Wipe down the outside of the trash can and recycling containers.
  • Empty and clean the compost container.

Grove Tip

Start composting to reduce food waste

When food waste is left to decompose in landfills, it emits the greenhouse gas methane — a major contributor to global warming. Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and recycle your kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich fertilizer your garden and houseplants will love.

Laundry room

This area is a total workhorse, but a few simple tasks are all it takes to get it nice ‘n’ tidy.
Yellow checkmarked box illustration

First things first

  • Dust storage areas and shelving.
  • Wipe down the outside of the washer and dryer.
  • Clean the laundry sink.
  • Polish any faucets or metal handles with a microfiber cloth or Euro dish cloth.
Orange drain illustration

The devil is in the details

  • Clean and disinfect any laundry hampers.
  • Vacuum behind both machines.
  • Check the dryer hose for cracks.
  • Run an extended duster through the dryer hose.

eco-friendly tip

Upgrade to a refillable laundry vessel

Most people use too much laundry detergent which wastes soap and leaves a dull build-up on clothing. Using a refillable laundry detergent dispenser helps you get the right amount of detergent for each wash, every time. And they’re way more eco-friendly than single-use detergent bottles, to boot!

Bedrooms

Whether it’s your oasis or just the place where everything gets tossed so visitors won’t see, these tasks will help you capture your bedroom’s true relaxation potential.
Yellow checkmarked box illustration

First things first

  • Dust and wipe down bookcases, room fans, and humidifiers.
  • Wipe down remote controls, clocks, speakers, and phone chargers.
  • Wash bedsheets, pillow cases, duvet covers, and blankets.
Blue duster illustration

The dirty deeds

Orange drain illustration

The devil is in the details

  • Clean the mattresses.
  • Flip and rotate mattresses.
  • Vacuum under the bed.

Grove Tip

Check the batteries in smoke detectors

The U.S. Fire Administration says to test smoke detectors at least once a month, and change out batteries once or twice a year. Smoke alarms should be completely replaced every ten years — check the date of manufacture on the back of the alarm to see when it’s time to retire it.

Living room

Weekly wipe-downs are great but Spring calls for a deeper clean in the heart of your home.

First things first

  • Wipe down remotes, video game controllers, and any other electronics with a disinfecting wipe.
  • Dust the TV screen.
  • Vacuum and clean the couch and any other upholstered furniture.
  • Clean leather furniture with natural leather cleaner and a microfiber cloth.
  • Sweep under the rugs to get any dirt or crumbs hiding underneath.

The dirty deeds

  • Organize storage and media consoles.
  • Wash throws blankets and pillows.
  • Remove hanging art and clean the walls.

The devil is in the details

  • Vacuum the top of bookcases or storage units.
  • Clean out brick and stone fireplaces.
  • Clean sliding door runners with a damp cloth wrapped around a butter knife, then vacuum.

Grove Tip

Wipe up with microfiber

In addition to being lint-free and nonabrasive, microfiber cloths are superabsorbent and contain more fibers per square inch than traditional cleaning cloths. All these nifty traits make ‘em super effective cleaners — and they require less cleaning sprays or solutions than other cleaning cloths.

Bathrooms

These tasks are designed to tackle the germs and other icky-nasties hiding out in your bathroom.
Blue duster illustration

Dirty deeds

  • Clean the windows and window tracks.
  • Wipe down the walls, the toilet paper holder, the bottom of the bathtub, and the base of the toilet.
  • Clean the soap dish and toothbrush holder.
  • Check for expired medication, toiletries, and makeup in the medicine cabinet.
  • Update first aid kits.

eco-friendly tip

Switch to natural scrub brushes

Not only are natural scrub brushes non-abrasive cleaners, they also don’t leave behind plastic residue. Natural scrub brushes are an eco-friendly option, too — they break down more easily than their plastic counterparts once they’ve outlived their usefulness in your cleaning routine.

Download Grove’s spring cleaning checklist

Ready to take on your own spring clean? Make sure you're not missing a step with Grove Collaborative's downloadable spring cleaning checklist. And let us know how it's going (or share your own #grovehome tips and tricks!) by following Grove Collaborative on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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