Give your home the 'as new' feel with these spring cleaning tips!

House-holders might inwardly groan at the thought of spring cleaning, but it’s amazing the difference that it can make to a home.

With spring now officially here, leading housebuilder Taylor Wimpey South Midlands is offering a host of handy tips to make blowing the cobwebs away quicker and easier, and without the need for costly cleaning products!

The spring clean is also a good time for owners of older properties to check whether they need to carry out any repairs to their home – something that residents in a low-maintenance brand new house won’t need to spend time worrying about.

But whether you want to keep your brand new home feeling like new, or are looking to rejuvenate an older property, there are some clever tricks of the trade to make light work of the annual deep clean.

Work from the top. Start from the top of a room and tackle the ceiling cobwebs and walls with a feather duster, then dust the shelves and furniture surfaces. Then you can get out the vacuum cleaner for the skirting boards and floors.

Pull out freestanding appliances to clean behind them and shift furniture you’ve not moved in a while to vacuum underneath – it’s amazing (and slightly horrifying) how much dirt can accumulate there.

Clean your windows – it makes such a difference to the room! Wipe the inside of the glass horizontally and the outside vertically, as this makes it easier to determine if streaks and smears are on the inside or outside.

Remove stubborn rings around the bath tub by using half a lemon sprinkled with baking soda. As well as being cheaper than bathroom cleaners, it won’t scratch the surface.

Get your kitchen and bathroom grout looking white again using a homemade solution of half bleach and half water. Leave it to sit for 20 minutes and then wipe it over with a damp cloth.

Give your washing machine a clean by removing the detergent drawer and giving it a thorough wipe, then remove the filter and clean it with hot soapy water. To refresh your dishwasher, run a cup of distilled white vinegar through your empty dishwasher to remove soap scum and grease.

De-frost your freezer – but don’t even think about using a scraper! Instead, stand bowls of hot water on towels to steam ice off the freezer walls and change the bowls regularly as they cool. Once the ice has melted, wipe the inside with soapy water.

Get your oven sparkling by mixing some bicarbonate of soda into a thick paste, then smear it inside your oven – including the door – and leave it for a few hours or (ideally) overnight. Then wipe it away with a damp sponge.

Don’t forget those baked-on food splatters in the microwave! To make it easy to get them off, fill a cup with water and microwave on high for a few minutes – the steam will loosen any baked-on food before you wipe it clean.

Taylor Wimpey South Midlands is currently building high-quality brand new homes at its prestigious Steppingley Gardens development in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, where there’s a choice of two-bedroom properties on sale from £245,000.

Prospective purchasers can discover the benefits of a low-maintenance new-build home at Steppingley Gardens by visiting the Sales Centre, located off Steppingley Road, Flitwick, MK45 1AR, and open daily from 10am to 5pm (1pm to 5pm on Mondays).

Further information on Taylor Wimpey developments across the region is available by visiting taylorwimpey.co.uk.