spring cleaning and organising

Spring has sprung and this is my favourite time to freshen up our home with ALL the spring cleaning and organising! If you space out your spring cleaning list over a couple of weeks, it might not seem like such an overwhelming task. The easiest way to start is to take it room by room or appliance by appliance with my cleaning checklist and decluttering and organising checklist below. Whether you have only five minutes to freshen things up or you happen to have an entire weekend to dedicate to full spring cleaning days, I’m here to help you out! Keep reading below to find a free cleaning checklist!

Keep reading below for my cleaning and organising checklist and Diy’s using essential oils for cleaning too!

Download Printable here

Download printable here

Spring cleaning always comes with spring organising and decluttering!

SHELF AND BOOKCASE CLEANING

Whenever I am cleaning an area with shelves in my home, I start fresh! For example, with the shelves in the living room, I take everything off, wipe down all the items and the surfaces and then put it back one by one.This is a nice opportunity for a spring refresh too, with flowers and a shuffle of shelf placement.

GET THE PATIO AND VERANDAH READY

Now that are starting to spend longer days outside, let’s get those areas clean too! I dedicated one day for cleaning this area and used a power washer for the waterproof cushions and veranda too! Watch the video here.

WINDOW CLEANING

“A young couple moves into a new neighbourhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbour hanging the wash outside.“That laundry is not very clean,” she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.About one month later, the woman was surprised to see nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?”The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Don’t forget the windows! We wash ours with water and Thieves dish soap which is ammonia free, which can actually cause damage to the glass.

My favourite trick is using a car brush and a shammy towel!

DRAWER AND CUPBOARD ORGANISATION

Whenever I declutter and organise the drawers in the bedrooms. I pull everything out, using the five step decluttering guide and then fold neatly back into the drawers using a simple organising method what they use most, or Mari Kondo! I see no need to keep clothes that have not been used in a while or they have grown out of. I simply recycle or donate. (of course I keep the treasured first pieces in a special box but the rest… that’s just hoarding for no reason, when someone else can benefit from it!)

Pictured below- Tattered old tops turned into rags for cleaning.

HAVE A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

As you work your way through your home cleaning and organising, consider taking an intentional approach with each space. I always ask myself the open ended question, is this convenient? Could I make a dedicated drawer, or add a basket or a hook to make it easier for the everyday use? Could this area be used for shoe baskets instead of skateboards? Pictured below- last year we made two drawers free in the kitchen by decluttering vases and making them dedicated kids school drawers! Every time the kids get home from school they empty the lunch boxes and pack their bags away. Job done! Happy Mumma, happy kids.

Make life easy and have a place for everything you use, especially the everyday items! This not only keeps you on track of what you actually use and need but helps create a calming and intentional way of living. If you don’t have a play room or rumpus room like us, you can make selected areas for the kids, whether it’s an outdoor painting table or shelves and baskets to store the toys. For us, we utilised a space in the guest room and made a dedicated craft area which also has puzzles and boardgames. I also have baskets in the kids rooms and specific toy and craft baskets in the living room which I rotate and organise weekly. Baskets are nice to look at, efficient and easy for them to play and pack away, and it means the living areas are not overwhelmed with kids items and although very kid friendly, feel family and adult friendly too!

DIY DRAWER REFRESHER FOR CLOSETS

1/4 cup white rice

1/4 cup organic lavender petals

20 drops lavender or Thieves essential oil. Combine together and pour into a breathable burlap bag with tie. They make great pillow sacks too btw. These are the sacs I use.

DIY CARPET REFRESHER

Can’t forget those carpets! Once you have vacuumed, try this little toxic free trick!

In a shaker jar... or old spice jar.

+ 2 cups baking soda

+ 20 drops thieves oil or lemon oil

+ Mix well and shake onto carpet.

+ Let sit 10 minutes, then vacuum.

Organising wire baskets, we have these for the pantry!
Clear BPA free organising bins for pantry
Clear two tier pull out cleaning organiser
Miele C3 family vacuum with attachments. I have been using this vacuum for 11 years and I can’t recommend it enough! And yes, it’s lasted that long!
Pressure washer for outdoor cleaning and for waterproof cushions. So long cobwebs and muck.
12 piece glass bamboo storage jars. I have these for the kids area for crafts and in the pantry for seeds and nuts!
Eco friendly adorable spring cloths for cleaning
Eco friendly wooden cleaning utensils for all your cleaning! I love how they look sitting on the bench top too in a tray!
Classic starter bundle of 12 oils and choice of diffuser. Perfect for starting with, spring diffusing and even making diys for cleaning and room sprays!
Grey organising storage baskets
Rattan storage boxes to hide toys in whilst still looking beautiful. I keep one under the coffee table with lego in it!
Car washing kit for cleaning your windows… (and car of course) Make life easier with an extendable cleaner.
Shammy cloth for cleaning the windows. After spending years on the super yachts and cleaning windows, Ben only loves to use this shammy, streak free and EASY!
An organised cupboard is not an organised cupboard without a trusty label makern.to/3ENl3zT
Toxic free cleaning bundle with all the essentials you need for starting a spring fresh home.

With all this cleaning and organising…let’s talk about why cleaning with no chemicals is so important!

The top 10 most dangerous chemicals in your home are: Air Fresheners (like plug ins or candles), Laundry Detergent, Chemical Cleaning Supplies (for your counters, floors, toilets, drain and oven cleaners), Furniture Polish, Dishwasher Soap, and Dish Soap, that is scary right? What happens when we are surrounded by these chemicals daily? “The damage is believed to occur to the immune system, to the actual airway tract and due to chronic, low-level inflammation triggered by the cleaning products. Dozens of other studies link common home cleaning products to asthma, immune system dysfunction, autoimmune diseases, cancer and other ills” Dr Axe. We may not be able to control the environmental toxins, but we sure can control what we bring into our home. And cleaning products is one of the easiest switch to make!

DIY LINEN/ROOM SPRAY!
Take a glass spray bottle and add 1 part alcohol free Witch Hazel, 3 parts distilled water and add 30-40 or so drops of your essential oil(s) of choice. You don't have to be precise with this, have fun - if you feel like your spray could use more oomph, go ahead and add some more oil! Shake up, and mist away.

++FLORAL FRESH++
10 drops Bergamot
10 drops Spearmint
10 drops Manuka
10 drops Rosemary

++ SPRING FLING ++
10 drops Grapefruit
10 drops Lime
10 drops Citrus Fresh

++ ORANGE CREAMSICLE ++
15 drops Orange
15 drops Stress Away

++ MINT MOJITO ++
8 drops Lime
8 drops Tangerine
8 drops Grapefruit
8 drops Spearmint

++ FARMER’S MARKET ++
10 drops Lavender
10 drops Lemon
10 drops Rosemary

++ FRESH & CLEAN ++
10 drops Eucalyptus Globulus
10 drops Rosemary
10 drops Balsam Fir

See this post for more DIY sprays using essential oils, you can make many just from the classic bundle of 12 oils. See here.

Diffuse to purify your home and make it feel fresh too.

Get started with a bundle of 12 oils and your choice of diffuser here.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health studied 2,983 ingredients in our products at home and found 884 toxic ingredients. 314 caused biological mutations, 218 caused reproductive problems, 146 (they knew) caused cancerous tumors. Twenty-six seconds after exposure, chemicals are found in measurable amounts in the human body. The average woman applies 300 chemicals a day to her body 80 before breakfast!

One of the first things I learnt on my low tox journey was that the word “fragrance” wasn’t my friend.

Fragrance might be one of the biggest things I’ve eliminated in my journey to clean up our products. That word alone can hide any one of 3000+ chemicals that companies engineer in creating these scents. They can hide all of these chemicals under the word fragrance, and it is considered a trade secret.

Fragrances are linked to a staggering number of health risks. Across multiple research studies, chemicals used to make fragrances are classified as allergens, hormone disruptors, reproductive and developmental toxicity, asthma triggers, neurotoxins & carcinogens. The punchline: fragrances are highly toxic.

The Environmental Working Group, a non profit research organisation that uses the power of information to protect human health and environment, recently came out with a “cleaners hall of shame” list. The list includes common household cleaners, (even products marketed natural) showing compelling evidence that the ingredients can inflict serious harm and be detrimental to our health. Ingredients containing carcinogens, asthma instigators, and poisons. Three years ago we ditched all chemicals in our home for young living oils and Thieves, 100% Plant based and Essential oil infused. We use Thieves for every cleaner in our home. I cannot believe how well it works, how affordable the switch has been, how good it smells, and how easy it is!

I use Thieves cleaners to clean every ounce of my home. See below Thieves cleaning hacks!

The Thieves product line contains a selection of plant based products infused with pure essential oils to help tackle your everyday chores with ease. Our careful blend of botanicals is free from harsh chemicals and irritants, perfect to use around everyone in your whole family.With its warm and welcoming aroma of eucalyptus radiata, clove, cinnamon bark, and rosemary essential oils it make a powerful natural cleaner which is tough on dirt but gentle on you! All Thieves is Formulated without SLS, Dyes, Formaldeyde, Phosphates, Petrochemicals, synthetic perfume and optical brighteners. Toxic Free.

Get started with Thieves

We have two bundles great to start with!

FAQ. Won’t using essential oils in your home, in laundry or on your sheets stain?

No! Pictured below, visiting a Young Living Highland Flats Tree Farm in Spokane Washington last year, and watching the entire distillation process. Young Living practice a seed to seal commitment ensuring the purity and quality of each oil is rigorously tested in house for therapeutic viability. Young Living oils do not stain. You get what you pay for. The only thing that would stain are carrier oils like coconut oil in a DIY roller. You can see my trip on a highlight here. Most amazing experience!