The lounge, or living room, is always prone to attracting clutter, so it’s probably the best place to start when spring is on the horizon and a cleaning blitz looms.
As the main communal area it’s often the place where people leave their shoes, clothes, magazines, MP3 players and various other gadgets lying around. The first step in the lounge spring clean therefore should be to remove all personal belongings.
Ornaments can be unbelievable dust-catchers and, unfortunately, there’s no getting away from having to clean them individually. If you have lots of ornaments you should ask yourself if you really need all of them.
The spring clean is the perfect time to get to grips with all those attachments on vacuum cleaners these days. The attachments all have a role to play, in particular the extension hose, which helps you reach areas that are probably not regularly attended to.
Apart from carpet and floor cleaning, and gathering the dust off the top of skirting boards and zapping the odd cobweb, the vacuum really comes into its own when sorting out the settee. You should remove all loose cushions from the sofa and vacuum it extensively to get rid of dust, crumbs and any other items that have congregated over the months. And don’t forget to vacuum under the sofa as well.
It can also be used to clean curtains, wall hangings and drapes, but you should always reduce the suction – by opening the vent on the extension hose – before you gently vacuum the areas where dust has accumulated.
Believe it or not televisions can be major dust generators. The static electricity they produce is a magnet for grime, so any walls behind televisions should be vacuumed rigorously. And it’s also a good idea to target the area where the ceiling meets the walls because it attracts dust, too.
Many people skim over flooring edges and corners when they do their regular vacuuming so give those some extra attention during the spring clean in the lounge.