5 DIY Spring Cleaning Hacks for Real Estate

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping—Spring has finally sprung! But it isn’t all fun and baseball games. With warmer weather comes the dreaded spring cleaning.

Real estate is largely weather dependent, and with the nice spring weather comes a more active market. As a real estate professional, you want to make sure all your listings are sparkling clean and ready for potential buyers.

But spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a pain, with these handy DIY cleaning hacks, your listings will be spring ready in no time!

1. Make blinds look new in less than 30 seconds

The worst thing to happen during a walk-through is when a potential buyer raises the blinds only to get covered in a cloud of dust.

You want to give your blinds a good cleaning, but it’s easy to get tangled up trying to reach both sides. Thankfully, there’s an easy solution.

What you need:

• Old sock
• Water
• White vinegar

Mix together half water and half white vinegar. Then slip your hand in the sock and dip it in the solution. Now just embrace your inner puppeteer and your blinds will be dust free in no time!

2. Put the shine back in your shower head

When giving your listing a good spring cleaning, you don’t want to neglect your bathroom— your potential buyers definitely won’t.

Most of us aren’t in the habit of routinely cleaning our shower heads. Luckily, there’s a quick and simple trick for restoring them back to their original glory.

What you need:

• Small plastic bag
• White vinegar
• Twisty tie

Simply fill a plastic baggie with white vinegar. Then use your twisty tie to secure it around your shower head. Leave it there for two hours. When time is up, remove the bag and wipe down the shower head with water.

3. Keep glass shower door sparkling clear

Another bathroom hack to remember—shower scum. It builds and builds, and it isn’t going anywhere. But with this simple trick, you can prevent soap scum from forming in the first place.

Trick:  Coat your glass shower door with a rain-repellent made for car windshields. The water will slide off without building scum residue. You’ll know it’s time to reapply when the water stops beading on the shower door.

Caution: Make sure to properly ventilate the bathroom after applying the rain-repellent.

4. Cheap & easy DIY carpet cleaner

Carpets and children are a deadly combination. If you have both, you know that carpets are no match for the mess and spills that come with raising a family. But if  you’re a real estate agent, you  also know what an eyesore those spills can be for potential home buyers.

With this cheap and easy trick, you can erase back the years and give your carpet new life.

What you need:

• White vinegar
• Baking soda
• White cloth

There are two ways you can clean your carpets. You can spot clean and overall clean.

To spot clean:

1. Mark all spots and stains.
2. Pour a small amount  of vinegar on the stain.
3. Sprinkle baking soda over the vinegar.
4. Give the vinegar time to bubble up and absorb the stain.
5. Rub away the stain with a damp, white cloth.
6. Let the spot dry and vacuum up.

And poof! Good-bye nasty carpet stain. Even if you don’t have a particular spot or stain you’re looking to get rid of, chances are, your carpets could still use a good general cleaning.

What you need:

1. White vinegar (for this project, you’ll want to splurge for the big bottle).
2. Water (yes, that’s all!)

For a good, overall clean, you’ll need a working carpet cleaner (if don’t have one already, you can rent one at a major retailers such as Lowe’s and  Home Depot).

Once  you have your carpet cleaner, mix equal parts hot water and vinegar into your carpet cleaner’s reservoir tank. Then simply clean your carpets per your cleaner’s instructions.  The benefit of cleaning with vinegar is that is leaves no residue while brightening and removing stains. While you might get a little bit that pickley-vinegar smell but it quickly disappears as it dries.

With a little work (and a lot of vinegar),  your listing will have a refreshed new look and feel.

5. Give your oven new life with a little bit of baking soda

Cleaning your oven just got simple. If you’re tired of the funky fumes from your oven’s self-cleaner (or if your oven doesn’t have one), all you need is baking soda and water. Simply add them together to make a paste, then coat the oven with it, and leave it overnight. Then wipe the oven down in the morning.

Potential buyers will have no clue of the messy horror that once was.

Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be difficult. With these easy DIY hacks, your listing will be buyer-ready in no time!