Spring Cleaning Guide for This Chinese New Year

By V-Care

Spring cleaning before Chinese New Year is probably one of the most thorough clean-ups in the entire year. Families often take this chance to throw out old furniture, clothing, and cookware. The Chinese believe that throwing out old and broken things will make room for better things to come in the new year!

How should I spring clean my home this Chinese New Year?

To let all the good things and news to roll in this 2020, the first thing to do is throw out all unwanted and worn out items that you have been keeping in your drawers, wardrobes and storerooms! Remember that old piece of dress you have been keeping at the very bottom of your closet? Yes, its time to part with it. Alternatively, you may also choose to donate items that are still in good condition but no longer have a place in your home. Either way, this is your chance to get rid of all of them once and for all.

How to kickstart this spring cleaning?

One of the greatest feelings on Earth is to be able to strike out every item on our to-do list. So with Chinese New Year coming in about 2 weeks time, let us help you with getting your homes cleaned up for the festive occasion. We have come up with a detailed spring cleaning checklist to help you kickstart the cleaning. We have also included some spring cleaning tips for you to follow!

If you are a busy mom or dad, you can split up the checklist over several days, or even have your kids help you out! Feel free to use the spring cleaning checklist according to your time!

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Here at V-Care, we like to spring clean room by room, and we always follow this same routine. It is impossible to tackle all rooms in one day, so let’s be realistic and do it over a few days. We have also included a printable spring cleaning to-do list for each room at the end of this post!

1. Store Room

The store room also known as the “dumping ground”, is the most neglected room, and also the first room we love to tackle on our spring cleaning checklist. We are all guilty of dumping our old photo albums, revision notes, toys and a whole lot of random things collected over the years in this very room.

Because we have so much stored inside over the past year, it’s no doubt the best place to start off from. Clearing out unwanted things in your store room also gives you more space to store out-of-season items from the other rooms in your house.

Store Room Spring Cleaning To-do List:

Declutter everything in the store room. Have a box for items to be thrown away and another for items to be donated.
Dust and wipe the shelves in the store room.
Wipe down any big items that are to be stored in the store room.
For everything else to be kept in the store room, place them in boxes or baskets and have them labeled so that you can find them easily!
Sweep/vacuum the store room.
Mop the store room floors.

Tips for Cleaning Store Room:

Start from the top! Look through the items on the top most shelf, and go downwards.
Scour for medium or large sized boxes to store the out-of-season items.
Organize them according to categories, it makes it easier to find them!

2. Living Room

The most commonly used area in the house is definitely the living room. This is where we entertain our guests, and gather for family bonding sessions. Our weekly cleaning routine can keep the living room generally neat and tidy.

Still, there are much bigger items in the living room that may have been neglected. What about the curtains that have been collecting dust the past year or the sofa covers with numerous stains? This spring cleaning before Chinese New Year is definitely the best time to tackle these bulky items.

Living Room Spring Cleaning To-do List:

Remove the curtains and sofa covers for a wash. Alternatively, you can take them to the dry-cleaners.
Look around the living room for any out-of-season to keep in your storeroom or items you no longer want and wish to donate. Keep them in separate boxes!
Dust the ceilings and corners of your walls. (They tend to accumulate spider webs and dust over the years)
Dust and clean ceiling fans, bookshelves, entertainment centre.
Dust and wipe down windows.
Wipe down photo frames and other knickknacks such as your television, lamps, ornaments and trophies.
Clean any carpets or rugs.
Sweep/vacuum the living room.
Mop the living room floors.

Tips for Cleaning Living Rooms:

Work from top to bottom! E.g. Start dusting your ceiling fans and the top of your shelves.
A great tip for dusting ceiling fans is to slip an old pillow cover over the blades, and run it back and forth to collect the dust in the pillow cover itself! This makes sure that dust will not fly all over the room when you are cleaning it.
Use a microfibre cloth to dust the top most shelves. Microfibre cloths are great at trapping dust and dirt particles. We previously shared a post on why you should start using microfibre cloths if you are not doing so.
Use old newspapers as cloths to wipe down your glass windows! It keeps the surface streak free.
Here’s a little secret of ours: we love having the music on while spring cleaning our living rooms, it makes the whole cleaning process much more enjoyable. Try it!

3. Kitchen

Next on our spring cleaning checklist is the kitchen, one of the most commonly used areas in our homes. Though we clean it often, there are definitely still some areas we might miss out on like the exhaust hood filter and backsplash.

The kitchen is also where we store our foods. We often forget the spice we bought that we wanted to use in the next pasta recipe, or the canned beans we wanted to include in the chicken stew for dinner months ago. It is normal to be forgetful. Kudos to you if you regularly check your cabinets and refrigerator for expired foods but if you don’t, this spring cleaning before Chinese New Year is the best time to do so!

It is also a great time to check for any faulty or worn out kitchen appliances. Nobody wants to enter the Lunar New Year with things that no longer work. Imagine having to cook for a crowd for your Chinese New Year gathering, only to realise your cooking wok or frying pan is in a really bad condition.

Moreover, this is also the best period to snag new cookware and other kitchen appliances at really good deals! Right now, we are having a special purchase with purchase deal for our Zenez 32cm Cooking Wok! If you purchase a Zenez 32cm Cooking Wok (RSP: $169, NOW: $135.20), you can choose to get either a Zenez 28cm Frying Pan (RSP: $99) or a Stainless Steel Steamer by Zenez (RSP: $149) at only $60!

Kitchen Spring Cleaning To-do List:

Throw out expired foods that have been sitting in your cabinets and refrigerator.
Check for faulty and worn out kitchen appliances, and change them out for new ones.
Declutter the plates, bowls, and cups that have been hiding in your cabinets! Keep those you love and donate the rest.
A thorough cleaning in all cabinets, exhaust hood, stove and backsplash.
Wipe down counter tops.
Switch out the old sponge and kitchen towels for new ones.
Give your sink a good scrub!
Sweep/vacuum the kitchen.
Mop the kitchen floors.

Tips for Cleaning Kitchens:

Baking soda is a great helper to get rid of the stubborn grease on your stove and backsplash!

4. Bedrooms

The room where we love to chill and relax after a long day at work or school. This is why it is so important to keep it clean especially since it is a place where we spend most of our time catching up on our precious sleep.

We know it can be slightly tough to keep up with tidying our bedrooms (been there done that). We get up early to leave the house, and come back home only to feel tired. Our plans to clear the clothes in the wardrobe, the letters on the desk keep getting pushed back. Ultimately, we just procrastinate and forget about it.

The spring cleaning before Chinese New Year is the best time to declutter the clothes that have been hiding in our closest, and stock it up with new ones. Our parents never fail to remind us to buy new clothes for the new year. This is because the Chinese believe that having new clothes from head to toe symbolises a new start and fresh hopes for the new year.

Bedroom Spring Cleaning To-do List:

Declutter all clothes in the closet. Separate them into two piles – one to be discarded and another to be donated!
Clear out all drawers and desks.
Clear out everything from under the bed! (This is where most of us always miss out!)
Dust the ceilings and corners of your walls in the bedrooms. (They tend to accumulate spider webs and dust over the years)
Dust and clean ceiling fans.
Dust and wipe down windows.
Dust down bookshelves and closets, and give them a good wipe down afterwards!
Clean any carpets or rugs.
Sweep/vacuum all bedrooms.
Mop the bedroom floors.

Tips for Spring Cleaning Bedrooms:

Use old newspapers as cloths to wipe down the windows! It keeps the glass surface streak free.

5. Bathroom

Did you know that the average person spends at least 92 days in the toilet over their lifetime! We spend so much time in the bathroom each day but how often do we actually give it a thorough cleaning? If you take a closer look at the areas around your sink, you are bound to see mould growing because of the humidity.

Cleaning the bathroom is probably the most daunting task on your to-do list. However, it is important that you clean it a few times a year. Since spring cleaning before Chinese New Year is one of the biggest clean-ups in the whole year, let’s not skip over the bathroom!

Bathroom Spring Cleaning To-do List:

Wipe down mirrors.
Clean out the sink.
Clean out the gunk in your shower heads. If you wish to change out for new shower heads, we have just the right one for you. Our V-Care Magic Shower Head Bundle comes in 2 a pack.
Give the toilet bowl a good scrub!
Scrub the tiles and floor to remove all the stubborn gunk!

Tips for Cleaning Bathrooms:

Use old newspapers as cloths to wipe down your mirrors! It keeps the glass mirror streak free.
To remove the gunk in the tiles in your bathroom, scrub the them with baking soda and water!
To remove any mould, use a mixture of vinegar and water, and scrub it off using an old toothbrush! If you have yet to try out this interesting tip, do so this spring cleaning!
To remove the build-up of gunk on your shower heads, first scrub off any dry debris from the holes using an old toothbrush. Then fill a plastic bag with a solution mix of equal parts of water and vinegar. Immerse the shower head such that the holes are covered with the water mixture, and let it sit for 2 hours before removing and running hot water from it to flush out the mixture.

The Bottom Line

Spring cleaning before Chinese New Year can be daunting but if you follow our room-by-room checklist, you will definitely be able to clear out your entire house before the festive occasion! A clean and inviting home attracts more positive energy and luck. Who knows, this year might just be your year!

As promised, here is the PDF file for the Spring Cleaning Checklist!