Tackling the Less Obvious Spring Cleaning Tasks

Springtime is nearly upon us, bringing with it the infamous spring cleanup. With a little organization and a plan of attack, you’ll have yours done in no time. You can find many great spring cleaning suggestions online—particularly on Pinterest—to help you prepare. Whether you’d like to take on the entire project in one day or break it up into manageable tasks, here are some to-dos that often go overlooked.

Washing Machine:
It’s common to overlook the items that are in plain sight. Including your washing machine in your spring clean is important not only as a comrade, but as a task to defeat. While cleaning your washing machine may seem counterintuitive, the dirt and grime that accumulate is undeniable, leaving many manufactures recommending monthly to biannual cleanings.
Here’s one suggestion for cleaning a top-loading washing machine.
Supplies:
• 2 cups bleach
• 2 cups white vinegar
• Sponge
• Microfiber cloth
Method:
1. Fill your washing machine with hot water, setting the dials to the biggest load and hottest temperature.
2. Pour the bleach into the water. Close the lid for one minute to allow the machine to mix the liquids.
3. Open the lid to let the bleach water sit for one hour (if your washer has a self-timer, it’ll start to drain after about 20 minutes; simply reset the cycle to get the full hour of soaking in).
4. At the end of the hour, run the washer through the cycle.
5. Fill the machine with hot water, as before.
6. Pour the white vinegar into the water. Close the lid, letting the liquids mix for one minute.
7. Let the solution sit for one hour. Do not drain at the hour’s end.
8. At the end of the hour, dip your sponge into the vinegar solution, wiping down the lid, dials and dispensers.
9. Run the washer through the cycle.
10. Once finished, wipe and buff any grime inside the washer drum with the microfiber cloth.
Note: You can adapt this method to suit a front-loading washing machine. Instead of letting the solutions sit for an hour as in steps three and seven, run each through the longest cycle your machine offers, following with a cycle of hot water to rinse any residue.

Tech Devices:
While tackling your spring cleaning project you may have already dusted off your computer, tablet or other tech-related device, but have you cleared the clutter within? With the passing time it may seem that the space on our devices gets lost in some digital plane to which we have no access. What’s really happening is the accumulation of files that we no longer need or use. Devoting some time to organizing your tech devices can not only enhance your machines’ usability, but quite possibly improve their performance, too.
Uninstalling no-longer-used software will prove productive in freeing up disk space, as will clearing your Web browser’s cache. While you’ve got your Web browser open, you may want to organize your bookmarks, prioritizing your favorites and deleting those that have become irrelevant. Don’t forget about your phone when conducting your tech device spring cleanup: organize your contacts by adding last names and syncing them to your computer as a backup.

Mailbox:
Spring cleaning should always extend to the outside of your home, where your mailbox is likely to be overlooked. Refreshing your mailbox starts with an examination to see what kind of treatment it may need, from a simple cleaning to a paint touch-up or flag upgrade. If closing the door gives you trouble, adjust the hasps with vice grips or metal pliers. You can bend both the upper and lower hasps to align them.