Spring cleaning in Quebec City: room-by-room practical checklist

Spring in Quebec City arrives late (officially mid-May with the thaw) but we feel it from April. That’s the right moment — before summer hits and you’d rather be outside. Here’s our honest method, tested on hundreds of Quebec City cleanouts.

Before you start: the big sorting principle

Every object you look at gets 1 of 4 labels:

• KEEP (you use it in the last 6 months)
• DONATE (in good condition, someone else would use it)
• SELL (value > $30)
• TOSS (broken, unusable, no resale)

No other category. The “I’ll see later” pile is how people redo the same cleanout every spring forever. Decide now, move on.

4-week schedule (realistic)

You can’t do a Quebec City house in one weekend. Plan 4 weekends:

Weekend	Focus
1	Basement + garage (+ kids’ items)
2	Bedrooms + closets + seasonal clothing
3	Kitchen + pantry + bathrooms
4	Living areas + home office + final hauls

Week 1 — The basement (most important)

Why start here

• It’s where 80% of your clutter is hiding
• Winter tools are coming out (snowblower, boots) = you see what can go
• Going from “crowded” to “clear” sets the motivation tone for the whole project

What we see in typical Quebec City basements:

• Old paint cans (average: 8-12) — if over 5 years old, drop at Vanier RDD centre (free, residents). See our hazardous materials guide.
• Cardboard boxes of papers from the 90s — shred and recycle
• Sports gear the kids outgrew — donate to Friperie Sports or sell on Facebook Marketplace
• Winter tires on rims, one set too many — sell to a garage ($50-80/set) or Kijiji
• Damaged Christmas decorations — toss without guilt
• BBQ from 2015 — if rusted, ecocentre (metal section)
• Skis / boots the whole family outgrew — Renaissance accepts, but only if they’re in skiable condition

Method:

1. All items out in the middle of the room — you literally empty the walls
2. Apply the 4 labels (KEEP / DONATE / SELL / TOSS) piece by piece
3. Put KEEPs back on shelves labelled by category (tools, Christmas, winter gear, camping, etc.)
4. Bring DONATEs to charities the same week
5. Post SELL items on Marketplace the same evening
6. Schedule TOSS pickup (us) or book an ecocentre trip for Saturday

Tip

If you haven’t touched an object in 2 winters, donate it. It’s not coming back.

Week 1 (in parallel) — The garage

In Quebec City with our winters, the garage gets abused: sand, salt, thawed snowblower leaks, rusted tools.

What to inspect:

• Tires without rims: ecocentre (4 max/visit)
• Tools rusted beyond repair: scrap metal → ecocentre
• Old car batteries: Canadian Tire or auto garage (often buys back)
• Half-empty antifreeze containers: NEVER in the trash — Vanier RDD centre
• Neighbour’s snowblower that hasn’t worked in 3 years: return it
• Gardening pots, broken: plastic, but often not recyclable — ecocentre

Week 2 — Bedrooms and closets

The “one season” rule

Every winter garment: have you worn it at least 3 times this winter?

• If yes: KEEP
• If no: sell, donate, or think hard about why you still own it

Typical closet inventory after 1 hour of honest sorting:

• 30-40% of clothes you haven’t worn this year
• 10-15 hangers unused
• 3-5 boxes of shoes worn once, maybe
• 1 drawer “misc” full of t-shirts from old events

Specific to Quebec City:

• Summer gear stored in the back of the closet: resort it now, before July when you’ll need it
• Winter coats in poor condition: don’t donate, Renaissance refuses visibly damaged ones. To the trash (natural fibres = rotting, synthetic = incineration).
• Boots hardened from salt: toss. Salt stains don’t come out.

Method for clothes:

1. Take everything out
2. Piles: keep / donate (minor flaw OK) / toss (stained, holed)
3. Fold or hang what remains by category (underwear, socks, T-shirts, etc.)
4. Enjoy the visible 40% extra space

Week 3 — Kitchen

Specific to kitchens:

• Expired canned goods: check dates. Foods past date → Moisson Québec accepts non-expired canned goods up to 1 year over. Otherwise: compost (not us, but your green bin).
• Expired dry spices: toss (no taste anymore)
• Duplicated utensils (3 can openers, 2 whisks): keep one, donate the rest
• Old Tupperware without matching lids: toss the orphans
• Chipped mugs: toss

The “12-month” rule for appliances:

An appliance you haven’t plugged in this past year: deep-tester before keeping. If it still works but bothers you, donate. If it doesn’t work, ecocentre (electronics section).

Pantry:

1. Everything out on the counter
2. Check expiry dates
3. Group by category (grains, cans, spices, snacks)
4. Put back in labelled bins

Week 4 — Living areas + last haul

This week is final sweeping + scheduling our pickup (or your ecocentre trip).

Common forgotten zones:

• Under couches and beds (boxes, dust-bunnies, forgotten toys)
• Top of closets (old suitcases, boxes of pictures)
• Entryway drawer (broken keychains, keys without lock, useless papers)
• Home office (cables without device, outdated documents, broken pens)

Last haul:

• All your TOSSes are in one place (basement, garage)
• Your DONATEs are bagged
• Your SELLs are listed or sold

Call us for the TOSS: we take it all. Or rent a cube van for a Saturday at the ecocentre.

Specific Quebec City traps in spring

1. “I’ll sell it at the June 30 garage sale”

In Quebec City, July 1 is moving day — garage sales are rare and attended only by other movers. If you haven’t sold an item by mid-June, it’s not selling. Donate instead.

2. “The ecocentre is free, I’ll go often”

True, but only 4 visits/year < 2 m³. Beyond: paid. Plan 1 big visit, not 4 small ones, to stay under the free limit.

3. “I’ll donate, but later”

Charities are overwhelmed in April-May. Call immediately to book pickups. Otherwise, they can’t come before June.

Our services for spring cleaning

If you want to go fast, we do this service often:

“1-day spring cleaning” pack

• We come 1 morning, 9 AM to 1 PM
• 2 movers + truck
• You tell us what goes, what stays
• We load, we distribute (donation / ecocentre / dump)
• All-in price: $499 for 1/2 truck, $769 for full

Enough for most 3-4 bedroom houses.

Pro tip: “rolling cleanout”

Instead of 1 big sorting day, do a “rolling cleanout”:

• Every Sunday evening, 1 hour
• 1 specific zone per week
• 4 weeks = complete cleanout

Mentally less heavy, better for multi-person households (everyone chips in).

Final checklist (to print)

• Basement
• Garage
• Kids’ rooms
• Parents’ bedroom
• Walk-in / closets
• Kitchen + pantry
• Bathrooms
• Living room + dining
• Home office
• Attic (if accessible)
• Donations dropped / scheduled
• Ecocentre visit booked
• Marketplace items posted
• Final pickup scheduled (us or cube van)

Ready? Call us for a spring cleaning quote: 418 506-0077. Firm quote, tax-included price, service guaranteed within 48h.