While spring may be the season of revival and renewal, this is no reason to neglect your home and well-being during winter. While the term "winter cleaning" isn't as popular as its spring counterpart, this is still something that is worth doing every year, to enter the holiday season in maximum comfort. Not to mention that, if you're welcoming guests during the winter celebrations, you would want to show them the best possible version of your home. All in all, a winter clean is a good start to a season of maintaining a high standard of living. And while there are some similarities between this and a spring cleaning, a winter cleaning comes with its own tricks and specifics. This article will lay out a few basic ideas for you to consider, but be aware that you should decide for yourself what is appropriate for your home.

The first thing to do is always a general clean of the house. As with spring cleaning, this will have to be deeper than your usual cleaning routine. Besides your standard vacuum cleaning, mopping, kitchen and bathroom cleans, etc., here are some things your winter cleaning routine should include.

•    Window washing - you should schedule your winter clean for one of the last remaining sunny and warm days. This way, you could include a good and thorough window wash for the last time of the year. Winter isn't exactly the season for window washing, but it wouldn't be good if the dust and grime, left over from the dusty summer months cover up your fairy lights or decorations.

•    Washing and drying your entire winter wardrobe, as well as the duvets, blankets and so on - it is time to put away the summer wardrobe - not before washing it, of course. This project is bound to take at least a couple of days, so plan accordingly. After you're done, pack away as many of your summer clothes (ideally, in vacuum seal bags to save space) and accessories as you can to free up space for coats, cozy jumpers, scarves and mittens. These should also be washed, but, if you washed them before putting them away and stored them in air-tight bags as well, you may be able to get away with simply airing them out. Heavy fabrics - particularly wool and the like - do not crease easily, but some of the lighter items may need ironing, so factor that in when planning your time.

•    Washing and/or steam cleaning all of the rugs and carpets in your home - There are multiple ways to do it, the most basic of which only requires a good carpet shampoo and some elbow grease. An alternative, if you own a steam cleaner is to hoist the carpets up on a clothes line and steam them. Whichever method you end up choosing, though, do not forget to vacuum the carpets first.

•    Sweeping the chimney - If you have a fireplace or wood burning stove, the winter is the season when it will get used. However, the coldest months of the year are definitely not the time for a good chimney sweep, so make sure to include this in your winter cleaning routine. Be aware  that this is quite a dangerous and difficult job, so unless you have some experience, it would be best left to a professional.

All of these things are quite time consuming, so unlike your regular weekly routine, the winter cleaning is bound to take more than one day. This can be inconvenient if you have a day job, so make sure to leave most of the work for the weekend. Something else you could do is create a timetable, to know what you're doing every day and spread the work out into five days to a full week. This way you can get everything done with just two to three hours of work each day. 

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