Spots you shouldn't overlook when spring cleaning this year

Have you ever vacuumed your mattress? Cleaned the coils behind your fridge? Washed your shower curtain?

With spring officially here, spring cleaning may soon come to mind. But if a thorough clean is what you're after, you're going to want to do more than washing the floors and cleaning toilets. To ensure every corner of your home is scrubbed, dusted and polished, we asked cleaning expert Kim Dunn, owner of the Molly Maid franchise in Aurora, Ont. and area, to point out the most easily forgotten spots in the home that need a good clean.

Couches

Your animals hang out on it, your kids hang out on it — and dirt and dust hang out on it too. To clean your couch, Dunn suggests starting by taking off any cushion covers and tossing them in the wash, along with any washable throw cushions. Then, give the entire thing a thorough vacuuming. Move furniture to make sure you get all the dust under the couch too, she said. If you want to prevent future spills and stains from soaking into the upholstery, apply a Teflon coating to the fabric.

Shower curtains

When in doubt, throw it out. If your shower curtain liner looks gross and grimy, toss it and get a new one, said Dunn. If you have a fabric curtain, put it in the wash for a thorough clean.

Refrigerator coils

What could be more fun than cleaning the coils at the back of your fridge?! This might be a painful one, but look at it as a necessary part of the annual spring clean that might even help your refrigerator run better. To clean coils, first unplug the fridge. Then, if you're able to snap the coils off the fridge, do so. Then, run an appliance brush over them and finish up with a quick vacuum, said Dunn. If they don't snap off, still follow the same steps. Plug the refrigerator back in when you're done.

Blinds

Wondering why it always looks so grey when you peer out the window? It could be the weather — or it could be the dust on your blinds. To clean blinds, remove them from the window frame and soak them in a bathtub, said Dunn. If you cannot remove them, take a wet cloth and wipe the blinds slat by slat.

Shelves

Just because you can't see dust doesn't mean it's not there. Move your possessions off your shelves and bookcases and give the surfaces a good wipe down, said Dunn.

Mattresses

You spend a third of your life on it, so it's probably a good idea to spend some time cleaning it. Dunn recommends flipping and rotating your mattress quarterly throughout the year. This will help prolong the life of your mattress, since your body is likely pressing into the same spots each night. She also recommends vacuuming the mattress, since it absorbs your dead skin, bodily oils and moisture. If that doesn't get you cleaning, nothing will.

Katrina Clarke is a Toronto-based journalist who writes about relationships, health, technology and social trends. Find her on Twitter at @KatrinaAClarke.