Spring cleaning seems to be a daunting task for many people. It need not be. To some they have the luxury to hire a cleaning service to come in but there are those like me that have to depend on ones self to get the job done.

Before I tell you what I know I want to give you some back ground about me. From Dec 1995 to Dec 1999 I had a cleaning company that specialized in new construction cleaning and deep cleaning for homes, condo's and apartment buildings in the resort areas of Colorado. My business grew at tremendous speed and soon overwhelmed me to the point I closed the business to relieve the stress in my life and the closing of the business just might have saved my life. If you have ever been in the construction business working with contractors and run a crew of 6 to 10 people, mostly mothers but many high school kids would work with us during the summer months and holidays. So now you know, I do know what I am talking about.

If you have family or friends that are willing to help you for a weekend or two depending on the square footage of your home and also how much stuff you own, a team would be an ideal situation but if you are only 1 person you can take the same steps for cleaning just break it down into small daily projects or take several days and just get it done. What ever you do the procedures should be the same.

You need to decide what type of cleaning you will be doing as there is "Spring Cleaning" of cobwebs on ceilings and walls, windows and drapes, deep clean kitchen and baths plus carpet, then there is the task of ‘spring cleaning' all the furniture, displays, pictures, lighting etc. So before you start decide if you are going to do one or the other or even both. Basically if you really clean your house thoroughly you can then get into the habit of a cleaning schedule where you rotate daunting tasks and accomplish much more in less time.

One suggestion is to ‘out source' some of your cleaning tasks such as a window cleaning service for windows and also use a carpet cleaning company. Actually windows are pretty easy to do and maintain and you can rent some really good carpet machines; then there are those who can afford the luxury of buying their own carpet cleaning machines. There are many good ones out there now.

Having the proper tools will help but to many people having the proper tools is also a luxury so you have to become creative and make do with what you have. Some tools I recommend would be a back pack vacuum (there are many sizes; you would just need a small back pack for your home. If you find a steam machine many daunting tasks become supper easy to get done. Actually, if you have never cleaned with steam you would be amazed at the difference; you also have the satisfaction of knowing you killed germs and mites and you can rid your home of nicotine, grease etc.

You want to pick a room to start cleaning. I usually start with my bed room. It makes me feel really good that first night when I fall to sleep in a cleaned room with a really fresh bed. It motivates me to tackle another room tomorrow. It doesn't matter which room you start in; the procedure will be the same. About that fresh bed. It's fresh because I would use the steam machine to clean the mattress after I vacuum the bed. This gets rid of mites, dead skin cells, and animal dandruff if you own a pet. Now really, everyone knows if you own a pet they will be in your bed, on the couch etc. That pet dandruff can be aggravating to someone with allergies.

Always start at the top of any given room. This is where I would use the backpack vacuum. If you don't have one most of the vacuums we own today have the hose attachments. It's really hard to get that hose up to the ceiling. If you have a small compact with a hose that would work with a step stool (with the back pack it is safe to go up and down a ladder or reach the ceiling standing on the floor. It just depends on the height of the room). If you have none of the above just get a broom and wrap a rag around it and start sweeping the ceiling and then work down the walls. If the walls need washing I would use the steam machine. You just add your cleaning towel to the attachment and go up and down on the walls. This will remove nicotine, grease and other grime from your walls. The steam machine can be safely used on all floor types as well. The slow way but a very effect way is to manually wash the walls with a bucket of water with TSP added as a cleaning agent; make sure you wear rubber gloves, this is some strong stuff. You should request a MSD sheet on any products you purchase for your home. Just ask the store clerk - "I want the MSD Sheet for this product". This is also another 2 step process where you have to rinse the walls. Before I had the steam machine we would get sponge mops, one gal would wash and another would follow with the rinse water. You see team work is where it's at.

Next step is to go around the walls and clean all the mirrors, pictures or wall décor. Every picture, mirror or light will sparkle. You'll truly dazzle yourself with the results. Then get yourself a wood cleaning soap and wash any and all wooden furniture (that is, if you decided to do furniture this cleaning session) or wood paneling. Remember Murphy's wood soap is a 2 step process, you have to rinse after you washed. I always looked around at the hardware store to find a 1 step cleaner. I would add a few sprays of lemon oil in my cleaning water. Keep your bucket water clean. Remember you are cleaning not wiping things down with dirty water, make your work count. If cleaning furniture covered with fabric than I would use the steam machine for a fast clean and the furniture doesn't take long to dry out; just make sure your heat setting is not to hot. Most of the fabrics used today are synthetic and will melt if over heated. Don't worry that sounds scary but really a light steam is all you need to get the dirt and kill the germs. After you have done the ceiling, walls, washed down doors, door frames and window frames; vacuum the edge of carpet or floors then wash the baseboards. The next step would be to vacuum and have the carpet and windows cleaned. A steam machine is safe to use on all hard floors including wood floors. I also like the Hoover Floor Mate for hard floors. Floors really need to be scrubbed with a brush, soap and water and then vacuumed or squeegee off. The Floor Mate does all of this. Oh and another thing you can do with a steam machine is to clean your windows. It's kind of like ironing your windows!

What makes cleaning with steam so unique is every surface has pores. These pores get filed with dirt, germs etc. When the surface is heated by the steam the pores open up and the dirt is removed with a cloth that is either over the attachment or you follow along with a dry clean cloth. I guess you can tell I am sold on the steam machine.

One of my first jobs was working with Merry Maids. They taught me this method and I have relied on it ever since. So remember, start at the top and work your way down. Vacuum and out of there! There is no simple to hard physical work but if you have a system you get the work done faster. I also found that working with a team of people gets the job done faster. You can all work in the same room and as Larry The Cable Guy says, "get ‘er done"!