With the winter months behind us and the warmth of the gorgeous summer sun upon us, many of us have spring cleaning listed as a job we must do soon! Whilst most of us intend to do a thorough job, and will go to great lengths of moving furniture to vacuum underneath, standing on stalls to dust on top of the cupboards and bring back the shine by polishing our stainless steel door handles, there are several spring cleaning tasks that regularly get overlooked. Luckily for you we’ve got you covered and have written this article to list the very tasks that get forgotten.

Unblock your Gutters

It’s not the nicest of jobs, although you do get to enjoy the sun whilst doing it, is cleaning out your guttering that is no-doubt obstructed with decaying leaves and other debris left over from the winter months. If forgot about, debris can lead to leaks and overspill which will eventually cause damp and damaged walls. Make sure you’ve got your gardening gloves on, preferably those that are water resistant and using your hands and a trowel, scoop out of much of the debris as you can before wiping the guttering clean. Once finished you can use a garden hose or bucket of water to check water flow.

Bleed Radiators

Although not cleaning as such, bleeding your radiators during a spring clean makes sense while a good routine to get into each year. Radiators should be bleed to help avoid potential problems such as burst pipes occurring down track. Bleeding your radiators will also help reduce or even remove cold spots from your radiators, which can still give a chill to the room at this time of year.

Cut the Trees and Hedges

Cutting back overgrown trees and hedges early on in spring will help reduce potential problems caused by growth spurts expected during the coming months. Cutting back hedging and branches that are overhanging your property or interfering with windows and doors will stop damage to your properties roofing and brickwork.

Uninvited Visitors

Rodent and insects aren’t only troublesome but can cause great damage to your property if left to come in and nest. So whilst spring cleaning popup into your loft, check the garage, shed and any other areas of your home for signs of their presence. A pungent smell, droppings, chewed cables, rustling or even a buzzing noise are signs that you’ve got uninvited visitors.

Plunge your Plugholes

Checking your plugholes and pipework are clean and unobstructed is something to do every now and again, and there’s no better time than during a spring clean. More than a third of people have experienced blocked sinks or pipes at some time or another so by plunging and cleaning occasionally you’ll hopefully not be included in that third. Use 10 heaped tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda mixed with 100ml of vinegar poured in to the plughole, leave it to fizz for 5 minutes whilst plunging each minute or so, before pouring some hot, yet not boiling water down the plughole to flush the cleaning solution through.

Tackle Damp

There’s more to spring cleaning than a feather duster and pair of marigolds, so while the weather is dry take the time to remove damp from around your home. If there is damp patches on painted walls or ceilings then scrape away the flaky paint and treat the area with damp sealant before repainting.

If damp and mould has been a problem for you over winter then read our article, 6 tips for keeping mould off bathroom ceilings.