April Cleaning Checklist: 15 Spring Cleaning Tasks

Woman washing an exterior window from the ground.

April is when spring cleaning gets serious.

March was the warm-up. You cleaned a few windows, dealt with the winter grime, and ventured outside to see what happened to the patio.

Now the sunlight is brighter, the days are longer, and your house is revealing information you did not request. Dust on top of the cabinets. Fingerprints on the doors. Something alarming under the refrigerator. A coat closet containing six months of winter.

Welcome to April. This is the month for deeper spring cleaning, but not all of it at once.

You don't need to pull the entire house apart and spend three days putting it back together. Pick a few neglected jobs, finish them completely, and move on. Here are 15 April cleaning tasks worth doing.

1. Wash More of the Windows

If you started with your most-used windows in March, expand the operation this month.

Wash the inside glass, and the outside wherever you can reach it safely from the ground or a sturdy step stool. Wipe the frames, tracks and sills while you're there. Use equal parts water and white vinegar, or your usual glass cleaner, with a microfiber cloth or squeegee, on a cloudy day.

Don't forget the glass doors, which have an extraordinary ability to collect fingerprints at exactly the height of every child and dog in the household.

And don't take risks to reach the outside of upper-story windows. A streak-free second-story window is not worth becoming a cautionary tale. Hire a window washer for those. (More on cleaning windows.)

2. Wash the Window Screens

April is the time to clean the screens, before you start leaving the windows open.

1. Pop out the screens. Most have small tabs or springs along one edge.

2. Label each one with painter's tape, so you know which window it goes back in.

3. Lay them flat on a driveway or patio, and hose them off gently.

4. Scrub both sides with a soft brush and a bucket of warm water with a squirt of dish soap.

5. Rinse, shake off the water, and let them dry completely before you put them back.

Check for tears while they're out. Small holes can be patched with a screen repair kit. Clean windows behind filthy screens are an unnecessarily short-lived victory.

3. Clean the Doors, Frames and Handles

Doors get touched constantly and cleaned surprisingly rarely. Look around the handles and edges first. That's usually where you'll find the evidence.

Wipe the doors and frames with warm water and a drop of dish soap on a microfiber cloth, then dry them. Use a disinfecting wipe on the handles and knobs. Pay extra attention to:

• Front and back doors

• Bathroom doors

• Bedroom doors

• Pantry doors

• The closet doors everyone uses

You may discover your doors are a slightly different color than you remembered.

4. Dust From the Top Down

April is the month to go after the dust above eye level. Check:

• Ceiling fans (use the pillowcase trick: slide an old pillowcase over each blade and pull it back toward you)

• Light fixtures

• The tops of cabinets and tall furniture

• Door frames and window frames

• High shelves

• Air vents and return grilles

Work from high to low, so the dust falls onto surfaces you haven't cleaned yet. Do the floor last. Otherwise, you're essentially cleaning the room twice, which seems contrary to the spirit of this website.

Use a sturdy step stool or an extendable duster. Never a chair.

5. Clean Under and Behind the Furniture

March's assignment was one piece of furniture. April permits expansion.

Slide out the furniture that rarely moves (get help with anything heavy) and vacuum underneath and behind it:

• Sofas

• Beds

• Dressers

• Nightstands

• Side tables

• Lightweight shelving

You don't need to move every object in the house. The piano may remain where it is.

6. Give the Bedroom a Spring Reset

Time to start swapping the heavy winter bedding for lighter layers.

Strip the bed and wash everything in the warmest water the care labels allow. Vacuum the mattress with the upholstery tool and rotate it head to foot. Dust the headboard and furniture, vacuum under the bed, and clean the floor.

Wash the winter comforter or duvet before you store it, and store it in a breathable cotton bag, not plastic.

Then look under the bed. If you use it for storage, make sure you're storing things there on purpose. “Push it under the bed and revisit the situation in another fiscal year” is technically a system, but not a particularly good one.

7. Declutter the Clothes Closet

Two clothing piles labeled discard and keep.

April is the perfect time to sort the winter clothes, while you still remember what you actually wore. Go through each category, and pull:

• Clothes that don't fit

• Clothes you don't like wearing

• Damaged things you won't repair

• Shoes that hurt

• Things you didn't wear all season

• Things you replaced but kept anyway

Donate the wearable ones. Wash or dry-clean the winter clothes you're keeping before you store them, since moths and stains love dirty wool.

And don't buy storage containers until you've decided what deserves to be stored. (For a complete system, see How to Organize Clothes.)

8. Clean Inside One Major Appliance

Pick one. Whichever needs it most:

• The refrigerator: empty one shelf at a time, toss the expired food, and wash the shelves and drawers in warm, soapy water. Wipe the inside with a mix of 1 tablespoon of baking soda per quart of warm water. It cleans and deodorizes without leaving a chemical smell near your food. Get details at Easy Refrigerator Maintenance Tips.

• The oven: run the self-cleaning cycle with the windows open, then wipe out the ash once it cools. Keep pet birds out of the house during the cycle, because the fumes can be deadly to them. No self-clean? Make a paste of baking soda and water, spread it inside (not on the heating elements), leave it overnight, and wipe it out. Easy Oven Cleaning Tips here.

• The dishwasher: pull out the filter at the bottom and rinse it, wipe the door gasket, then run an empty hot cycle with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of white vinegar in a top-rack bowl.

• The washing machine: here's the full step-by-step: How to Clean a Washing Machine.

When you're finished, stop. You don't need to clean every appliance just because you've already put on gloves.

9. Pull Out One Appliance

Pick one you can move safely: a freestanding fridge on wheels, the washer or dryer, or the microwave cart. Gas ranges and built-in appliances stay put. Moving them can damage the gas line or the water line.

Vacuum the dust and debris, and mop the exposed floor. If it's the fridge, unplug it and vacuum the condenser coils on the back or behind the bottom grille. Dusty coils make the fridge work harder and use more energy.

This is also a great opportunity to discover a pasta noodle that has apparently been living independently since 2023.

10. Deep Clean the Living Room

Clean, organized living room after spring cleaning

Give the room where everyone gathers a deeper spring clean:

• Dust the furniture and lamps.

• Vacuum the upholstery, under the cushions too.

• Wash the washable throws.

• Wipe the tables.

• Dust the TV and electronics with a dry microfiber cloth.

• Vacuum under the furniture.

• Clean the floor.

Then remove anything that doesn't belong there. Don't reorganize the entire house while you're at it. Put the obvious things away and keep moving.

11. Clean the Rugs and Carpets

Vacuum the carpets slowly and thoroughly, including the edges and under the furniture. Flip area rugs and vacuum the back, then vacuum the floor underneath. (Here's how to vacuum properly.)

Treat spots by blotting, not rubbing, with a little dish soap and water. Test it on a hidden corner first.

For a deeper clean, rent a carpet cleaner or hire a pro. Wool, silk and handmade rugs should go to a professional. (How to choose a carpet cleaning service.)

The important thing is not to saturate a mystery rug with a mystery product and hope everyone gets along.

12. Refresh the Bathroom

Woman cleaning a bathroom sink and faucet

Your regular cleaning handles the obvious bathroom surfaces. April is for the neglected ones:

• Grout

• Shower door tracks

• Around the fixtures

• The exhaust fan cover. Turn off the power, pop it off, and wash it in soapy water.

• Baseboards

• Cabinet fronts

• Drawer interiors

• Under-sink storage

• The shower curtain or liner. Wash it in the washer on warm with a couple of towels, or replace it.

Toss the empty bottles and expired products. If you keep seeing mold, the fix is ventilation: run the fan during showers and for 20 minutes after. (For a full reset, see Bathroom Cleaning and Organizing and Bathroom Mold Removal.)

13. Clean the Outdoor Furniture

If outdoor season is starting where you live, get the furniture ready. Check:

• Chairs and tables

• Cushions

• Umbrellas

• Outdoor rugs

• Planters

Hose off the loose dirt. Then wash plastic, metal and resin furniture with warm water and dish soap, and rinse. Scrub wood with a soft brush and soapy water, and let it dry in the sun. Most cushion covers unzip and can go in the washer on cold. Hose off and scrub the rest, then stand them on their edges to dry completely, so they don't mildew For the full cleaning routine see How to Clean Patio Furniture.

Then sit down for five minutes. This step is essential quality control.

14. Give the Garage a 30-Minute Reset

Notice that this says 30 minutes, not “organize the garage.” Set a timer. Focus on:

• Trash

• Empty boxes

• Anything blocking the walkways

• Winter equipment

• Gardening supplies

• Tools left out

• Things waiting to be donated

Put the obvious things where they belong. Don't open the mysterious boxes from 2007. Those boxes have waited nineteen years. They can manage another afternoon. (For a bigger project, see Garage Cleaning and Organizing.)

15. Get One Bag of Clutter Out of the House

Spring cleaning gets dramatically more effective when some stuff actually leaves.

Fill one bag or box with the obvious donations. Not sentimental things. Not complicated decisions. Look for the easy ones:

• Clothes you don't wear

• Duplicate kitchen tools

• Books you're finished with

• Decor you don't use

• Outgrown toys

• Household things you no longer need

When the bag is full, put it in the car right away. Do not leave it by the front door until June. (For bigger decluttering projects, see the Decluttering Guide.)

Your Quick April Cleaning Checklist

Save this version:

• ☐ Wash more windows

• ☐ Wash the window screens

• ☐ Clean the doors, frames and handles

• ☐ Dust from the top down

• ☐ Clean under the furniture

• ☐ Reset the bedroom

• ☐ Declutter the clothes closet

• ☐ Clean inside one appliance

• ☐ Clean behind one appliance

• ☐ Deep clean the living room

• ☐ Clean the rugs and carpets

• ☐ Refresh the bathroom

• ☐ Clean the outdoor furniture

• ☐ Spend 30 minutes in the garage

• ☐ Get one bag of clutter out of the house

If You Only Have One Hour

Time

15 minutes

Job

Dust the high spots in one main room

Vacuum the upholstery and under the furniture

Clean one neglected kitchen or bathroom spot

Fill a donation bag with obvious giveaways

Done. That's an hour of actual progress, instead of six hours of moving possessions from one surface to another.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I clean in April?

Go a layer deeper than March: the window screens, the doors and frames, the high dust, under and behind the furniture, inside one appliance, the closet, the rugs, and the outdoor furniture.

How do you clean window screens?

Remove them, lay them flat, hose them off, scrub both sides with a soft brush and soapy water, rinse, and let them dry completely before putting them back.

How often should you clean refrigerator coils?

At least once a year, and twice a year if you have pets. Unplug the fridge, then vacuum the coils on the back or behind the bottom grille.

What's the difference between spring cleaning and regular cleaning?

Regular cleaning handles the surfaces you see every week. Spring cleaning goes after what you skip: behind the furniture, the high dust, inside the appliances, the screens and the closets.

April Is for Going a Little Deeper

March woke the house up after winter. April goes one layer deeper. Behind the furniture. Inside an appliance. Above the cabinets. Into the closet. Out onto the patio.

But there's no prize for finishing every spring-cleaning job this month. Choose the jobs that will make the biggest difference in your home. Finish them. Enjoy the improvement.

Then go outside. You have the rest of spring to deal with whatever is lurking in the garage.

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