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9 Spring Cleaning Safety Tips

Last Updated: July 18, 2023

9 Spring Cleaning Safety Tips

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The weather is warming up, and you’re ready to shake off the dust and doldrums of winter. What better way to energize your home and family than doing a big spring cleaning of your whole house? When you’re ready to dive into all those big spring cleaning tasks, you probably don’t have safety at the top of your mind.

There are some home hazards that you could encounter as you dust, wash, and clean around your home. The good news is that with some care and awareness, you can reduce the chance that you’ll be injured as you clean your home inside and out. There's never any harm in safety precautions, in fact you help to reduce harm that can occur.

Hazards of Spring Cleaning

“A lot of people are thinking spring cleaning, but they’re not thinking safety in spring cleaning,” says Dr. Clayton Cowl with Mayo Clinic Preventative Medicine. How can spring cleaning be risky? When you’re doing deep cleaning, you are moving furniture, using chemical cleaners, climbing ladders, and dealing with wet surfaces. This can increase your risk of falling, injuring muscles, or being harmed by toxic chemical mixtures.

Injury Risks to Spring Cleaning

In a study on injuries resulting from spring cleaning activities, researchers found that spring cleaning can increase the risk for home injuries. It showed that there is an increase in injuries resulting from home cleaning tasks at the start of each spring cleaning season, with 23% of these injuries requiring medical attention. Most of the injuries reported were the result of overexertion, repetitive motion, and falls.

Injury Prevention Requires Planning

But most of these injuries can be prevented. A general rule of thumb for working safely is to not overexert yourself, take care to prevent falls, and use cleaning products carefully. Slow down your pace, so you don’t overdo it and don’t work when you are tired or feeling unwell. Always take proper precautions. In short, don't be a hero.

Use the right tools for the job and read the labels on your cleaning supplies. An additional way to ensure you’re working safely is to ask for help. A cleaning partner can keep an eye out for hazards, hold steady a ladder, and spread the work around so you don’t get overtired.

Spring Cleaning Safety Tips

An infographic detailing nine spring cleaning safety tips.

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1. Make a Plan and Set a Steady Pace

Proper spring cleaning doesn’t happen in just one day. You can expect to spend several days or even weeks working through all the chores that spring cleaning entails. Making a plan is a spring cleaning safety tip that is among the most important.

To make spring cleaning less stressful, you should start with a clear and simple plan. A spring cleaning checklist can certainly help. Juliana Hernandez, a professional organizer, explains, “Small steps are easier to process, and in the end, you’ll feel good about not being overwhelmed or stressed by the mess.”

2. Declutter Before You Start Cleaning

You can’t make good progress without getting rid of the clutter first. Trying to clean in a space that is full of too much stuff can be not only frustrating, but may be hazardous as well. You could end up overexerting yourself moving items around or tripping over things on the floor.

Taking the time to declutter will make your cleaning tasks easier and more fruitful. This also gives you the opportunity to sort through your items and discard what you no longer need or want.

3. Be Careful with Cleaning Chemicals

Common household cleaners may help to get the job done, but they can also be a safety concern if used improperly. When using chemical products, be sure to read the labels before starting your cleaning. You should only use one cleaning product at a time if possible, as mixing some cleaners can be dangerous.

An especially toxic combination is formed when mixing bleach and ammonia together. This mixture, which results in chloramine gas, create toxic fumes that irritates to your respiratory system, eyes, and nose, and can actually be fatal in high concentrations. Be very careful of mixing cleaning chemicals that can create nasty fumes.

If you are sensitive to chemical cleaners, wear rubber gloves and use eye protection while cleaning. It also goes without saying, yet you should block small children's access to these chemicals

To further reduce your risk, consider switching to less harmful cleaners. Natural products, such as baking soda, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, borax powder, and Castile soap can get the job done without the toxic side effects. Regardless of which cleaning products you use, be sure to put them securely away at the end of your cleaning work to keep your children and pets safe.

4. Ventilate While You Work

There is a reason that people across all cultures do their deep cleaning in the springtime. The warmer weather allows you to open up the windows in your home. Not only does this let fresh air in, it also provides good ventilation while you clean.

This reduces the concentration of any chemical fumes and helps clear the air if you are working in a dusty area. If you are sensitive to dust or have allergies, you can use a mask to reduce the amount of dust you might inhale.

5. Be Aware of Standing Water

While you do your big cleaning, you’ll probably encounter wet slippery surfaces. Mop up any wet floors and let the surface dry completely before walking on it. If you use a large 5-gallon cleaning bucket while spring cleaning, do not leave buckets filled while unattended if you have small children in your home. Also, as an extra tip, wear non-skid shoes is you have any around.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that these types of buckets present a drowning risk to toddlers. Small children are very curious when encountering water. They can topple into the bucket head first and become unable to stand back up, leading to drowning even when there are only a few inches of water in the bottom of the bucket. Empty out your cleaning buckets immediately and do not leave them unattended to prevent these types of accidents.

6. Use Safe Climbing Practices

During spring cleaning, you will often have to climb up a ladder or stepstool to get to those up-high dirty places. You may be cleaning out your gutters, dusting the top of your doors, or changing an old burned-out lightbulb.

When you do this, you increase your fall risk, often from a considerable height. To reduce that risk, ensure that the ladder or stepstool is on a level surface and fully supported. Do not climb up if you feel dizzy. Having a helper hold the ladder will keep it steady.

7. Reduce Your Trip Risk

Spring cleaning involves lots of decluttering. While you’re working on that, it can be tempting to pile up items that need to be moved to a different room or discarded.

Doing this increases your risk of tripping and falling. To be safe, keep your stairs and the landing areas clear of clutter. This is also a measure of children's safety as well.

You can use a basket or bin to collect things that need to be removed. Don’t carry too much at once, and use the hand rails on your stairs to keep steady. Don’t load up your arms full of things to the point where you can’t see over your load. Smaller loads are safer.

8. Lift and Move Furniture Safely

Injuries from improper lifting can be prevented with attention to a proper lifting technique. You should not lift a heavy object or pick up heavy furniture by bending forward. Instead, bend your knees and squat down. Then straighten your legs to lift.

You also should not twist or turn your body when moving heavy furniture. This will reduce the risk of hurting your back. If possible, get help from a partner to move heavy items.

9. Get a Rental Dumpster for Lots of Junk

Along with deep cleaning your home, spring cleaning is a great time to toss unwanted or broken items. If you will have a lot of trash and junk, consider getting a rental dumpster delivered to your home.

A compact dumpster will fit on your driveway, giving you convenient round-the-clock access to the dumpster container. You won’t need to bag up all your trash and you can dispose of your junk as you work. This keeps your home safer by eliminating piles of trash waiting for a pickup.

Make Your Home Safer with Spring Cleaning

There are several reasons to do a good spring cleaning of your home. Spring cleaning doesn’t just leave you with a tidy and clean home, it also has been shown to reduce stress. Further, it will result in a safer home when you are done.

To further improve safety in your home, you can add some specific deep-cleaning activities to your spring cleaning chore list. Spring is a good time to do the following tasks to increase the safety in your home:

• Schedule a chimney sweep

• Inspect your fire extinguisher

• Clean your gas furnace

• Clean out and unclog your dryer lint vent pipe

• Remove trip hazards in your rooms

Better Safe than Sorry!

Having a safe, heathy, and comfortable home is not just enjoyable. It also improves mental health, both for you and your children. By working safely and addressing the safety hazards in your home, you can relax and enjoy your home when your spring cleaning tasks are completed. So, get started on your spring cleaning, but remember to always keep safety first!

About Monica Mayhak

I am an expert content writer with a depth of experience in the waste management and dumpster industry, with over 25 years of experience writing about construction, home improvement, property management, and education topics. As lead research writer for Discount Dumpster, I have expanded my knowledge and understanding of waste management, construction, and environmental issues over the past several years.

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