Last Updated: November 4, 2025
Ah, spring! The time of year for bountiful blossoms, rapidly greening landscapes and deep cleaning. For many, spring cleaning is a way to shake away the winter blues and refresh the home.
When the time for spring cleaning rolls around, we put extra elbow grease into our cleaning routine. At CIP Communities, we believe a clean and organized home is a happy home. But, with all that cleaning, some areas tend to get overlooked.
Here are some of our favorite spring cleaning tips for getting those often-forgotten about places squeaky clean.
Top 10 Overlooked Spots to Spring Clean
1. Air vents/registers
Air vents and registers can quickly build up with dust particles, cobwebs and hair. Easily remove buildup by wiping down the vent with a damp washcloth with soap. For air registers on the ceiling, use a vacuum with an attachment for easy access. You may want to consider wearing a face mask to prevent breathing in falling dust. An added benefit of keeping air vents free of dust is less strain on your HVAC, leading to lower energy usage.
2. Pet hair on the floor
Do you have a furry family member in your apartment home? A rubber broom is indispensable when removing pet hair easily from your carpet. Simply push the rubber broom over your carpet or floor and watch the fur accumulate.
3. Under the stove
You may be thinking: how can my stove possibly get dirty underneath? Carefully remove the bottom oven drawer and prepared shocked. Thankfully, it’s usually not as bad as it looks. Sweep up any food or dust that has been hiding, and take a damp washcloth with soap to the floor to remove any grease that may have accrued.
4. Garbage can
Have you ever taken out the trash only to discover it wasn’t the trash that was causing an odor, but the trash can itself? No matter how careful someone is by using a liner, mystery liquids and food crumbs manage to make their way to the bottom. Get your wastebasket in tip-top shape by first dumping any loose items into a bag. Next, use a stiff brush and warm water with soap to clean the inside and outside of the can.
5. TV remotes
We touch TV remotes daily, but they're often something overlooked when cleaning. Before cleaning, remove the batteries from the device. Then, take a cloth dipped in isopropyl alcohol and wipe down the remote. After that, take a cotton swab dipped in alcohol and clean between the buttons.
6. Refrigerator gaskets
You likely have cleaned the inside of the refrigerator, but be honest, how many times did that include the gasket? To wipe down the gasket, all you'll need is a rag and gentle soap. Avoid abrasive soaps and bleach as they can dry out the gasket and cause it to break down over time.
7. Garbage disposals
We’ve all been in the situation where we’re surprised that we have a phantom odor, only to discover the garbage disposal is the culprit. Pour a cup of vinegar and a half cup of baking soda into your garbage disposal. While that’s working on the inside of the disposal, and make a vinegar-baking soda paste by slowly adding drops of vinegar to baking soda until a spreadable paste is formed. Use that paste with an old toothbrush and scrub down the rubber parts on the outside entrance of the disposal. For added freshness, you can run citrus peels through the disposal after you've cleaned it.
8. Reusable shopping bags
Reusable shopping bags can be unsuspecting collectors of dirt and bacteria. If you're using a canvas bag made from cotton, simply turn your bag inside out and throw it into a washing machine on the gentle cycle. If your bag is made from plastic or nylon, wash it by hand in a warm soapy water.
9. Toothbrush holder
If you have been using your current toothbrush holder longer than a few months, you likely now have an accumulation of toothpaste on the sides or bottom. To clean, soak the toothbrush holder in hot, soapy water until the caked-on toothpaste becomes dislodged. Then use soap and a pipe cleaner to clean the toothbrush holes and the bottom.
10. Coffee maker
It’s scary to think about how little the coffee maker gets cleaned, but it’s one item that shouldn’t be neglected. Fill your water chamber with equal parts vinegar and water. Next, brew the half water-vinegar solution. Halfway through the brewing process, turn off your coffee maker and let it sit for an hour. After an hour, turn your coffee maker on to brew the rest of the solution. Discard your brew of water-vinegar and fill your reservoir with only water. Finally, run a brew cycle with plain water and continue to brew until you can no longer smell vinegar.