5 Spots You Shouldn't Miss While Spring Cleaning

Spring is here! Open up those windows, air out your house, and tackle those spring cleaning projects. Make sure you add these 5 often overlooked spots to your spring cleaning list.

Spring Cleaning Your Can Opener

Your can opener becomes encrusted with food from every can you've opened. This turns it into a breeding ground for bacteria and funky smells.

Wipe down your entire electric can opener with a damp cloth or paper towels. Fill a small bowl with warm water and a small amount of dish soap. Take Q-Tips and dip them into the soapy water. Wipe down every crook and cranny. Make sure to get the gears as food often splatters on them.

For extra disinfection, dip a Q-Tip into some white vinegar and run it over the blade. Adding the can opener to your spring cleaning list will help keep your entire family healthier.

Spring Cleaning Your Dryer

You should empty your dryer's lint filter after every load, but that isn't all you can do to keep your dryer clean. Take out the lint filter and wash it with dish soap and hot water. This will help remove any film from dryer sheets.

Now, take your vacuum cleaner's hose attachment and vacuum behind the lint filter. You'll find a lot of dirt and lint back there. You should also detach your dryer hose from the wall and vacuum in there as well.

Dryers that are full of lint can be a fire hazard, so it is a good idea to add your dryer to your spring cleaning list.

Spring Cleaning Your Drains

Unless a drain is clogged, people usually don't think about them. However, nasty smells can seep into your house through your drains.

To cut down on the stench, take out your drain traps and pour some baking soda directly onto the drain. Next, take some white vinegar and pour it down your drain. The effect will be a bubbly mess like an elementary school volcano project.

The baking soda and vinegar will take care of the smell and also clean the drains of build up that may have occurred. Spring cleaning your drains will help keep them in good shape.

Spring Cleaning The Junk Drawer

Who doesn't have at least one drawer in their home that is a catch-all for miscellaneous items? Do you even know what's in there?

Take the drawer completely out. Dump it on the floor and start sorting. You may find some things you thought you'd lost years ago! If you really do need the items in the drawer, try to find a better home for them.

You can place items back into the junk drawer if you really don't have anywhere else to put them and you absolutely do need them. Spring cleaning your junk drawer will allow you to take inventory of some of your items and find better ways to organize them.

Spring Cleaning Your Cupboards

Go through your pantry and cabinets. Check the expiration date on all of your food. If it's past the expiration date, toss it. If it's close to the expiration date, plan your menu around the soon-to-expire items so that you don't waste them.

Put everything that is still usable back into your cupboards. Put vegetables in one spot, pasta in another, and so on. Keeping your cupboards well organized will save you time when you plan meals. It will also save you money since you won't accidentally buy ingredients you already have at home.

Add these 5 spots to your spring cleaning list and you will have a clean, well organized home to welcome summer.