Your Perth Spring Cleaning Checklist (Room by Room)

Spring in Perth means longer evenings and merciless mornings. The sun that was doing you a favour all winter suddenly shows up every fingerprint on the glass, every dust bunny behind the couch, and a fine layer of red dust that snuck in through the flyscreens sometime around July. It's the same home. It just got a lot harder to hide anything.

That's what a proper spring cleaning Perth checklist is for. Not redoing what your regular clean already covers, but the jobs that quietly pile up over the cooler months and only get noticed once the light comes back and shows them off.

We've put our full one below. It's the same thinking we take into clients' homes, laid out room by room so you can tick jobs off as you go — and print or save the whole thing as a PDF if you'd rather work off paper.

The Complete Perth Spring Cleaning Checklist

191 jobs across 10 areas. Tap a room to open it, tick things off as you finish them, and your progress saves in your browser so you can come back to it next weekend. Hit Download / Print to get the whole checklist on paper, with the ticks you've already made carried across.

The Complete Perth Spring Cleaning Checklist

Printed  •  enhancedcleaning.com.au  •  (08) 6493 6100

The Complete Spring Clean Checklist

Tick items off as you go — your progress saves in this browser, so you can spread the job over a few weekends. Print or save it as a PDF to work off paper instead.

Download / Print Reset

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Whole Home0/23 Kitchen0/26 Bathrooms0/21 Bedrooms0/21 Living & Dining0/20 Laundry0/17 Windows & Doors0/13 Outdoors0/19 Garage & Car0/13 Safety & Swaps0/18

Whole Home — Start Here

Work top to bottom, one room at a time. Dust falls, so ceilings and fans come before floors.

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Cobwebs cleared from ceiling corners and cornicesA microfibre duster on an extension pole beats a broom — it holds the web instead of smearing it. Ceiling fan blades wiped, top and bottomSlide an old pillowcase over each blade and pull it back towards you. The dust stays in the case. Ceiling fan direction switched to summer (anti-clockwise) Light fittings and dome covers taken down and washedDome fittings are where insects collect over winter. Wash in warm soapy water and dry fully before refitting. Downlights, pendants and lamp shades dusted Air conditioner filters removed, washed and fully driedDo this before the first hot day — a clogged filter makes the unit work harder and costs you more to run. Air con vents, returns and ducted outlets vacuumed Evaporative cooler pads checked and replaced if perished Skirting boards wiped along every wall Door frames, architraves and cornices dusted Every door spot cleaned, both sides Light switches and power points disinfectedTouched dozens of times a day and cleaned about once a year. Damp cloth, not a wet one. Door handles and grab points disinfected Wall scuffs and marks spot cleaned Picture frames and wall hangings dusted, tops includedThe top edge of a frame is the single most reliable place to find months of dust. Curtains washed or aired; blinds wiped slat by slat Curtain rails, pelmets and blind headers dusted Bins emptied, washed out and deodorisedNot just a new bag — the bin itself. Hot water, disinfectant, dry in the sun. Under and behind every piece of furniture vacuumed Rugs taken outside, beaten and aired in the sunA few hours of Perth sun does more for a rug than any spray. Carpets steam cleaned or booked in for a professional clean Hard floors mopped, edges and corners included Vacuum emptied, filters washed, brush roll cut free of hairA blocked filter halves suction. Wash it, then dry it for 24 hours before it goes back in.

191 jobs across 10 areas. Nobody does the lot in one weekend — pick two rooms at a time. If you would rather it was already done, get a free quote and we will handle the fan blades and the window tracks for you.

Enhanced Cleaning — house, office and vacate cleaning across Perth and Bunbury. Fully insured, police-cleared cleaners and a satisfaction guarantee. enhancedcleaning.com.au  •  (08) 6493 6100

How to Work Through It Without Writing Off a Whole Weekend

Nobody does 191 jobs in one go, and trying is the fastest way to abandon the whole thing by Saturday lunchtime. The version that actually gets finished looks more like this:

• Weekend one — the light and the air. Windows, tracks, flyscreens, ceiling fans, light fittings, air con filters. These are the jobs that change how the whole house feels, so doing them first gives you a reason to keep going.
• Weekend two — kitchen and bathrooms. The two rooms with the most hidden work and the most obvious payoff. Range hood filter, oven, fridge seals, exhaust fans, grout, shower screen.
• Weekend three — bedrooms and living. Mattresses, wardrobes, the bedding swap, under the couch, the rugs.
• Weekend four — outside and the admin. Alfresco, gutters, reticulation, the garage, and the safety checks nobody remembers until the alarm chirps at 3am.

Laundry, windows and the whole-home passes fold in wherever they fit. If you only have one day, do the whole-home tab and the kitchen: those two alone cover most of what people actually notice.

Start High, Finish Low

The single biggest time-waster in a spring clean is mopping a floor and then dusting a ceiling fan above it. Dust falls. Work top to bottom in every room — cobwebs and cornices, then fans and light fittings, then shelves and benches, then skirting boards, then floors — and you only clean each surface once.

Same logic room to room: finish one completely before opening the next. Half-done rooms are how a spring clean turns into a three-week mess.

Windows, Tracks and Flyscreens

Window tracks collect grit all winter, and it shows the second the sun angles in. Vacuum the tracks with a crevice tool first, then go over them with warm soapy water and an old toothbrush for the corners. Flyscreens can come out and get hosed down flat on the lawn while you're at it — soft brush, hose off, stand them up to dry before they go back in.

One tip that saves a lot of swearing: do the outside of the glass on an overcast day. In direct sun the solution dries before you can squeegee it and you'll be chasing streaks for an hour. Ten minutes per window, and the difference in the morning light is immediate.

Skirting Boards, Door Frames and Light Switches

These sit at exactly the height most cleaning misses: too low for a quick dust, too high for a mop. A damp microfibre cloth lifts months of grime off skirting boards and door frames in one pass. Light switches and door handles are worth a wipe too. They're touched more than almost anything else in the house and cleaned less than almost anything else.

While you're at that level, run the cloth along the tops of picture frames and the tops of doors. Nobody looks there, which is exactly why there's so much on them.

Ceiling Fans, Light Fittings and Air Con

Before summer arrives and the fans go from occasional to constant, give the blades a proper wipe. Slide an old pillowcase over each blade and pull it back towards you: it catches the dust instead of sending it across the room. Flick the little switch on the motor housing while you're up there so the fan runs anti-clockwise — that's the summer direction, and it pushes air down instead of pulling it up.

Check light fittings at the same time. Dome fittings are a favourite spot for dead insects to collect over winter, and nobody notices until the light's switched on and the shadows show.

Then the one people skip: pull the air conditioner filters, wash them, and dry them completely before they go back. A clogged filter makes the unit work harder for less cooling, and you'll be running it hard from November. If it hasn't been serviced in a couple of years, spring is when the technicians still have availability.

The Kitchen Spots the Weekly Wipe Misses

Pull out what you can and get behind and under the fridge, the toaster, the kettle. The range hood filter has probably gone from silver to sticky: soak it in hot water with a splash of dish soap for 20 minutes and most of the grease lifts straight off.

The fridge door seals are worth five minutes on their own. Crumbs and spills collect in the folds, and once the seal stops sitting flush the fridge runs constantly to hold temperature. Warm soapy water and a cloth pushed into the rubber fixes it.

Then the pantry. Empty it completely, wipe the shelves, check the dates, and group what's left by type — that last part is what stops you buying a fourth jar of cumin. Oven racks are easiest overnight in the laundry trough with hot water and washing powder, so start that on Friday night and the scrubbing on Saturday is half the job.

The Bathroom Reset

Vacuum the exhaust fan cover with a brush attachment, or take it right off and wash it: it's usually the dustiest thing in the room and the least looked at, and when it's clogged it stops pulling moisture out of the room at all. That's a mould problem waiting to happen.

Mix baking soda and water into a paste for grout that's gone grey, leave it 15 minutes, then scrub with an old toothbrush. For the shower screen, white vinegar on a cloth left to sit for ten minutes will do more than scrubbing harder. Bag some vinegar over the shower head overnight to clear the jets.

One honest note: if the mould has grown inside the silicone seal rather than on it, no product will get it out. That seal needs replacing. We say the same thing to clients — it's not a cleaning job at that point, it's a five-dollar tube and an afternoon.

Wardrobes, Linen and the Spring Declutter

Swap the heavy winter doona for something lighter and give the summer set a proper air outside if the weather allows. Wash the winter bedding, dry it completely, and pack it away — damp linen in a storage bag over summer is how you find mould in March.

It's also the natural moment to sort through wardrobes: keep, donate, gone. Handle every item once. If it didn't get worn last summer, it isn't getting worn this one. Vacuum the wardrobe floor while it's empty, since it's one of those spots that never gets touched otherwise, and rotate or flip the mattress while the bed's stripped anyway.

The Machines That Clean Everything Else

The washing machine, the dishwasher, the dryer and the vacuum all get cleaned about once a year, and this is that once.

Run the washing machine hot and empty with a machine cleaner or a cup of white vinegar — before you wash the doonas, not after. Pull the front loader's door seal back and wipe out the folds, because that's where the smell everyone blames on the machine actually lives. Drain and clean the filter behind the bottom panel with a towel and a shallow dish ready.

Clear the dryer's lint housing, not just the filter, and check the vent runs clear — a blocked one is both a fire risk and the reason a load takes two cycles to dry. Rinse the dishwasher filter and run it empty and hot. Wash the vacuum's filters and cut the hair off the brush roll, then let the filters dry for a full 24 hours before they go back in.

Getting the Outdoor Areas Ready

Perth spring means the alfresco area starts earning its keep again. Wipe down outdoor furniture and give cushions a sunny airing, sweep cobwebs from the eaves and verandah, and hose down the paving where winter grime has settled in.

Clear the gutters while there's still a chance of rain to test them, not after the first summer storm. Clear the leaves away from the air conditioner's outdoor unit too — it needs about 30cm of clear air on every side to work properly. And run the reticulation station by station now, so you find the broken sprinkler in September rather than in January when the lawn has already gone.

The Safety Checks Everyone Skips

You'll already be up a ladder at the ceiling fans, so do these in the same trip:

• Test every smoke alarm and replace the batteries. If it's a ten-year sealed unit, check the date printed on the case — those get replaced, not re-batteried.
• Press the test button on each RCD safety switch at the board. They should trip instantly.
• Check the fire blanket and extinguisher are still in date.
• Restock the first aid kit and clear out expired medication. That goes back to a pharmacy for free disposal, not into the bin or down the sink.
• Refresh ant and cockroach baits before the weather warms up. Baiting early beats spraying in January.

What You Actually Need

You don't need a cupboard of specialty products. Almost everything on the list is covered by:

• Microfibre cloths, a good handful of them, plus a dry one kept for screens only
• A vacuum with a crevice tool and a brush attachment
• An extendable duster for cobwebs and fans
• White vinegar and bicarb soda
• Dish soap for anything greasy
• An old toothbrush for tracks and grout
• A squeegee for the glass
• A bucket and a mop you'd actually be happy to put on your own floor

What's Worth Handing Over

Some of the list is genuinely better outsourced, and not because we'd like the work. Carpet steam cleaning needs equipment you'd have to hire anyway. Second-storey windows and gutters are a real fall risk. Air conditioner servicing needs a licensed technician. And the oven is the job most people start, regret, and abandon halfway.

The rest of it is very doable with a free weekend and a plan — which is what the checklist above is.

Don't Feel Like Doing Any of It?

None of this needs to happen in one exhausting weekend. Tackle a room or two at a time and it's done before the weather really heats up. But if spring's arrived and the calendar hasn't left room for any of it, that's exactly the kind of reset we handle for house cleaning clients across Perth and Bunbury, fully insured and backed by our satisfaction guarantee.

If the thought of doing all of the above yourself sounds like more spring than you signed up for, get a free quote and let us take care of the fan blades and window tracks while you enjoy the season instead.