This Essential Tip Takes the Pain Out of Spring Cleaning

Longer days, sunshine, and blooming flowers can only mean one thing: It’s time to bust open your windows—and, perhaps less thrilling, your cleaning supplies—and start that big spring clean.

Though no doubt rewarding (spring cleaning can even help you manage stress!), the idea of tackling every dust bunny, stubborn stain, and cluttered nook and cranny can feel overwhelming. So much so that you may wonder, where do you even start when you have a closet in serious need of organizing and carpets that look not-so-new, plus a whole host of other things on your to-do list?

We get it—which is why we asked a variety of experts and professionals for their best spring cleaning tips, from how to DIY cleaning solutions that work as well as the real deal to the spots you're probably overlooking (the washer/dryer, blinds, and ceiling fan, to name a few). You can even consider the following to be your unofficial checklist for what to do during spring cleaning: Go slide-by-slide to get every inch of your home or apartment (or workplace!) impossibly clean or start with the room that requires the most attention (like, say, the kitchen) and go from there, tackling as many projects as you can. Or, if you're really determined to do your spring cleaning in a day, you may want to recruit a couple friends or family members in exchange for a free dinner or a bottle of wine.

Either way, these tips, tricks, and out-of-the-box ideas will help you master the mess once and for all.