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Spring Cleaning Tasks You May Be Overlooking

As self-isolation and social distancing stretches on, you may find yourself a bit bored just staying at home. Since there’s a big difference between choosing to stay at home and having to stay at home, even those who enjoy spending time at home may be struggling. This is why many people are starting to look for things that need to be done around the house – if you’re going to be stuck at home every day, you might as well be productive.

Fortunately, there are a number of spring-cleaning tasks that can keep you busy for a while. Don’t just dust, vacuum and call it a day, though. Consider tackling the following jobs as well to reduce your future maintenance needs and ensure that you’re ready to face the summer.

Clean the Windows (And the Screens)

Cleaning the windows is a classic spring-cleaning task, but it’s one of those tasks that’s all too easy to only do halfway. When you clean your windows, be sure to clean both the inside and the outside with a quality glass cleaner. You should also remove the window screens and clean them as well, especially if any of them have dirt or other icky stuff stuck in them after the winter.

Pressure Washing

Dirt, mold, mildew and moss can all degrade the materials of your home over time. That’s why it’s a good idea to break out the pressure washer and give your home a good ol’ scrubdown at least once a year. Spring is a good time to do this since it’s usually still a bit too cool for things that grow on your house to get out of hand. While you’ve got the pressure washer out, you should also look to see if there’s anything else around the house that could use a good deep clean. Check out picnic tables, fences and any other spots where dirt and other contaminants might accumulate.

Gutter Cleaning

A lot of people view gutter cleaning as a fall task, associating full gutters with fallen leaves. There are a lot of things that can clog up your gutters, though, including debris that gets washed off your roof by spring rain and melting snow. To reduce wear and tear on your gutters and make cleaning them easier overall, make cleaning your gutters into a task that you do at least twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Check Out the AC

As things start to warm up, a lot of people prefer to open their windows instead of cranking the air conditioning. You should at least give it a test run to make sure that it’s working properly, though. Clean your AC as best as you can, let it run for a while to make sure that it’s able to maintain the air temperature, and change any filters that need to be changed. If there’s a problem, it’s better to find out now and fix it than discover it in a few months when temperatures peak.

Don’t Forget the Furniture

A lot of dusting goes on in the spring, but it’s easy to forget that dust and dirt accumulate on furniture too. Break out the vacuum or a steam cleaner to give your furniture a good cleaning as a part of your spring-cleaning routine. Not only will this keep your furniture looking good and in good shape for longer, but it can also reduce allergies and other health issues within your home.

Test Those Smoke Detectors

It’s easy to forget smoke detectors if they aren’t beeping randomly in the middle of the night because they have a low battery. To keep your home safe, though, you should test your smoke detectors and replace their batteries every six months. Spring cleaning time is a great time to do this (and then do it again in the fall when you start preparing your home for winter). Don’t settle for just replacing batteries, either; if a smoke detector doesn’t work or seems to have a larger problem than just dead batteries, replace the entire unit.

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At Home Entertainment for the Whole Family

One of the best things that we can do right now to protect both ourselves and our friends and neighbors is to stay home. Unfortunately, there are only so many times that you can watch Tiger King or listen to your kids sing along with Elsa on Disney+. You need something new to do, and it needs to be something that the whole family can enjoy while you’re all staying safe at home.

There are some unique opportunities available right now that may never be available again once this is all over. They provide experiences that the whole family can enjoy that aren’t just the same old TV shows. Though this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are a few activities that you might consider that would give your family some new things to do.

A Virtual Reunion

With record numbers of people working and doing schoolwork at home, more people are using video conferencing services like Zoom, GoToMeeting and Microsoft Teams than ever before. These services aren’t just for work, however. You can use them to get in touch with family from around the country, and even schedule a “virtual reunion” to catch up and check in with each other. This can be a recurring event, letting you stay connected with loved ones throughout the pandemic. You may even grow closer as a family despite the distance.

Museum and Zoo Tours

Even though museums and zoos are currently closed to the public, a number of high-profile museums and zoos have started offering virtual online tours for free. You can go online and view great works of art, watch animals relaxing during their downtime, and even see unique things like puppies getting to run wild in an aquarium. On top of these custom experiences, many zoos and similar facilities have webcams focused on specific exhibits that you can check out throughout the year.

Learn Something New

To help families pass the time, many online learning platforms are offering extended free trials so that people can pick up new skills or learn interesting things while in self-isolation. On top of that, some teachers and experts are streaming free courses on Zoom and other platforms as well. There is a wide range of content available for both kids and adults, meaning that there’s something for everyone to learn and enjoy.

Start (or Join) a Book Club

Reading is a great way to pass the time, and you can share that with the family by starting a family book club. The premise is simple: Everyone picks out a book, and once a week you get together and discuss what you’re reading. Even younger children can participate; let them pick out a book that they want you to read, and at the meet-up you can let them show off the book and tell everyone about it.

If you want a bit more social interaction with your book club, you can also look into online book clubs that are a bit closer to traditional book club offerings. These can have members from across the nation or around the world. Some of them operate on dedicated websites, and others use social media groups. Either way, there should be options available for most readers.

Listen to a Story

Even if you don’t feel like doing all of that reading, there are a good number of authors and celebrities doing podcasts and videos in which they read a variety of books or stories. Quite a few of these are aimed at children, but some of them are more tailored to adults as well. Levar Burton (of Reading Rainbow fame) has even recently launched a video version of his podcast Levar Burton Reads with a wide range of content.

A Night in at the Movies

Under ordinary circumstances, you’d be able to take the family out to see some of the many movies that would be in theaters right now. But that’s not possible now that all the theaters are closed. So instead, movie theaters are adapting. Special digital rentals are now available for recent box-office hits that ordinarily wouldn’t be available for rental yet, so that a wider audience can enjoy them. And some movies that were scheduled for early summer release, such as Trolls World Tour, are also making their debut via digital rental. So pop some popcorn and enjoy these new and recent blockbusters all from the privacy and safety of your own home.