Happy Leap Day! Here Are 29 Ways to Put Your Bonus Day to Good Use.

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
updated Feb 28, 2020
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One of the biggest obstacles for most of us, when it comes to cleaning, is just finding the time to do it. If we could all pause time and find an extra hour or two, then sure, we’d clean our baseboards and wipe down the inside of the oven, no problem! (There’s also the whole thing about getting in the mood to do it, but that’s another post.) Of course, that’s just not possible, but we have good news: You’re getting an entire extra day! Because it’s a leap year! That means that February has 29 days this year instead of the measly 28 it usually has. And it happens to fall on a Saturday (that’s today!). Celebrate the bonus day by doing at least a little bit of cleaning. We won’t ask you to do it again for another four years, promise.

Here are 29 things you could clean or organize today to make the best use of your bonus day!

  1. Clean out your fridge. It’s rare that any fridge couldn’t use a good clean out and clean up. 
  2. Organize your junk drawer. You don’t even need to buy anything in order to get it under control.
  3. Wash your garbage can and recycling bin. Take them outside and hose them down. Use a detail brush to get to grime lodged in cracks and crevices. Let your bins dry in the sun. 
  4. Organize the cabinet under your kitchen sink. Declutter what doesn’t belong there and then try one of these smart tricks to keep it all organized. 
  5. Disinfect your sink. As you probably know, the kitchen sink is dirtier than the toilet seat when it comes to germ counts. Help solve that problem with the directions outlined here.
  6. Organize your pantry. Not only will it be so much easier to see what you have and what you need, but you’ll enjoy looking into it every time you open the door. 
  7. Clean out your dishwasher. Do it by hand or toss in a cleaning tablet. 
  8. Go on a decluttering spree. Grab a trash bag and fill it with at least 10 things you can donate. 
  9. Go through your cookbooks. Pull out anything you haven’t/will never cook out of and put it aside to donate. Then, organize what’s left by color. Those rainbowtized shelves are sure to make you smile. 
  10. Run a lint roller over your window screens. It’s a painless way to clean them, just before spring cleaning window-washing time!
  11. Wipe down your switchplates, handles, and knobs. Use a disinfecting wipe to clean and sanitize these germy, rarely-cleaned spots that are touched by many hands throughout the day. 
  12. Take everything off your countertops and wipe them down. You might wipe your counters down every night, but you probably just clean around what’s on there, right? Take everything off and then wipe.
  13. Declutter your kitchen counters. Speaking of kitchen counters! Find everything that doesn’t belong and put it away. Then take it a step further and see what items you can store somewhere besides your countertop. 
  14. Run vinegar through your coffee pot. All those inner workings could use a good flush-out. Here’s what you need to know.  
  15. Clean your kitchen floor mats. Take them outside and scrub with a soft-bristled brush and a baking soda paste. Or a take a pressure washer to them. 
  16. Dust your plants’ leaves. Not only will you remove dust from your breathing zone and help make your plants look their best, but removing dust also boosts your plant leaves’ photosynthesis capabilities.
  17. Wash your water bottles. Find detailed instructions here.
  18. Repair your scratched dinnerware. You don’t have to resign yourself to those subtle but unsightly scratches on your plates. Here’s how to fix them. 
  19. Clean your dining room chairs. Raise your hand if it’s been a while! We’ve got directions that can help.
  20. Clean out the crack between your stove and your counter. Running a credit card through the crack will dislodge the gunk that’s collected there. 
  21. Take control over your food storage containers and all those lids. One of these ideas is sure to work for you.
  22. Clean the glass on all your picture frames. Chances are, this task isn’t done frequently. Wiping down the glass in your picture frames makes everything seem squeaky clean. 
  23. Tackle your oven. It won’t take all day. Especially not if you’ve read this post.
  24. Wipe down your baseboards. You can clean your floors all you want, but your space will never sparkle if your baseboards are dirty. This inexpensive tool will help you make quick work of the chore.
  25. Soak your faucet. If you have hard water where you live, it’s probably time to soak your faucet to de-gunk all the holes in your aerator.
  26. Degrease your kitchen cabinets. Grease builds up over time and you may not even realize how dirty your cabinets have gotten until you actually clean them.
  27. Get your cabinets organized. Tired of having to pull out 800 things every time you want your blender? Here are 53 brilliant ideas to help you get started.
  28. Reorganize your spices. While you’re at it, give things the sniff test to see what’s still potent and what is past its prime.
  29. Rethink how you store your small appliances. Maybe it’s time your Instant Pot got a special cart to sit on? Or maybe your slow cooker needs to be stashed on a plant stand?

What are you planning on doing today?