You know who you are: The prospect of housework appeals to you about as much as a colonic, and the last time your home saw a good deep-cleaning someone else owned it. But there are pluses to a seasonal spruce up—and a few secrets to making it painless for those of you who are more mess-maker than homemaker.
With a few multi-purpose cleaning sprays, a roll of paper towels and a bit of elbow grease, you can do serious spring-cleaning damage. Focus on large appliances, as they tend to be the most neglected spots. The key to easy cleaning is making sure you’ve got one hefty-duty product that will work on built-up gunk and another for multiple kinds of gunk.
Bonus points if one disinfects as well, as you can use it on trash can rims, countertops, the fridge door and handles, etc. For baked-on messes in the microwave, wipes that heat up in the microwave make cleaning a snap. Just heat, wipe down, and you’ve got a clean microwave in the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn.