Spring in the UK rarely announces itself in one clean sweep. It arrives in fits: a drying breeze on a Tuesday, a stripe of sunlight across a wall you'd half forgotten had a colour, then a week of grey again. That is exactly why a spring clean works better as a rolling list than one heroic Saturday. Pick the jobs the brighter light exposes, work room by room, and you'll end up with a house that feels lighter without writing off a whole weekend.

Start with windows, because that's what you'll notice

Winter leaves a film on glass — condensation, cooking, traffic, the ghost of every candle you lit in December. Once the sun is stronger, that film becomes obvious, which makes windows the most satisfying first job on the list.

Choose a dry, overcast day if you can. Bright sun dries the glass before you can buff it, and that is how streaks happen. If the weather is against you, do the insides and come back to the outsides later.

• Dust frames, sills and track channels first, so you're not washing dirt into clean water.
• Wash inside and out with warm water and a small drop of washing-up liquid. A squeegee followed by a microfibre cloth beats any newspaper trick.
• Clear trickle vents and air bricks with a small brush; they matter more than they look.
• Take curtains down and check the care labels before washing. Many can go on a gentle cycle; heavier or lined pairs often do better with a steam clean.
• Vacuum blinds with a brush attachment, then wipe slatted blinds one slat at a time with a damp cloth wrapped round a finger.
• Wipe the handles and window catches — the parts everyone touches and nobody cleans.

Radiators and skirting boards: the dust you stop seeing

By April, most of us have stopped noticing the grey fuzz on the skirting. Guests notice it. So does the sunlight, unfortunately.

Radiators

Dust between the fins with a radiator brush, or use a vacuum with a brush attachment on low. A hairdryer on a cool setting will shift what's lodged at the back. Then wipe the front and top with a damp cloth and dry it properly — a wet radiator and warm water is a recipe for rust.

While you're there, bleed any radiator that's cold at the top but warm at the bottom. If yours need bleeding often, or the boiler pressure keeps dropping, that's a job for a heating engineer rather than a checklist.

Skirting, doors and switches

Work one wall at a time so you don't lose heart. A damp microfibre cloth along the skirting, dried immediately, lifts most of it. Scuffs respond well to a pencil eraser, and stubborn marks often come away with a little bicarbonate of soda on a cloth.

Then do the edges: door frames, architraves, the tops of doors, door handles, light switches and the light fittings themselves. These small surfaces carry more grime than the big ones, and cleaning them is what makes a room feel genuinely fresh rather than just tidy.

The kitchen: cupboards, filters and the fridge back

The kitchen rewards a bit of ruthlessness. Empty one cupboard at a time, wipe the shelves, and check dates as you put things back. Anything you haven't used since last spring is a fair candidate for the food bank or the bin.

Clean the places that get warm and damp: behind and under the fridge, the extractor filter, the dishwasher filter, the crumb tray of the toaster, the seal of the washing machine door. Defrost the freezer if it's built up a layer of ice — it will use less energy once it's clear.

Finish with the bin. Wash it outside, let it dry in the sun, and add a sprinkle of bicarbonate of soda before the next liner goes in.

The bathroom, where damp hides

Damp loves a bathroom in spring. Grout, sealant and the underside of bath mats all hold moisture long after the radiator goes off.

Scrub grout lines with an old toothbrush and a mild cleaner, rinse well, and dry the room out by leaving the window open afterwards. Descale the shower head by soaking it in a bag of vinegar solution overnight, wipe the extractor fan grille, and launder the shower curtain or give it a wipe if it's plastic.

Then go through the cabinet. Expired toiletries and anything open for months can go. Take old medicines to a pharmacy for safe disposal rather than flushing them.

Bedrooms and living rooms: soft furnishings first

Bedrooms

Strip the bed and vacuum the mattress on both sides, then rotate it if it's the rotating kind. Wash bedding and mattress protectors, and vacuum under the bed properly — pulling it out is worth the effort if the frame allows it.

This is also the moment to swap wardrobes over. Anything going into storage for summer should be washed or dry cleaned first, or it will come out with marks in October. Store it in breathable cotton bags rather than vacuum bags, and add a cedar block or lavender sachet.

Living rooms

Start high and work down. Dust the tops of picture frames and shelves, then vacuum upholstery with an attachment, including down the sides and under the cushions. Wipe remotes, games controllers and light switches — the real germ hotspots in any home.

Deal with the cable drawer or box while you're at it. Labels, ties and a single storage box will solve most of it.

Garden furniture and the outside bits

Once the weather turns, the garden starts earning its keep again. Wash plastic and metal furniture with warm soapy water and a stiff brush, and touch up any rust spots with a metal brush and a coat of paint before they spread.

Wooden furniture usually benefits from a clean and a fresh coat of oil. Cushions should be washed and dried thoroughly before going back out — a damp cushion stored over winter is a mould farm. Check parasols for splits, and clean the barbecue before the first warm weekend rather than on the day.

Don't forget the paths and drain covers. Sweeping them clear of winter debris takes twenty minutes and prevents the flooding you'd otherwise be dealing with in a downpour.

An order that keeps it manageable

1. Open the windows and start with the room you use most.
2. Work top to bottom, and dry side to wet side, so dust lands on floors you haven't cleaned yet.
3. Do one room fully rather than starting five.
4. Keep a basket for items that belong elsewhere, and put them away at the end of each day.
5. Save floors and vacuuming for last.

Then keep it light until autumn

A spring clean is not a test of stamina, and it doesn't need to be finished by Sunday evening. Two hours a week through April and May is plenty for most homes, and it leaves you with something better than a sparkling house: a short, repeatable list you can pick up again next year.

After the big push, spend ten minutes each week on whatever the sunlight exposes — a window, a skirting board, one cupboard. Small and regular beats heroic every time, and it means next spring you'll be starting from a house that never quite got away from you.

Photo: Polina Tankilevitch / Pexels