Undoubtedly you've heard about doing a spring clean, but what about fall? Sure, spring is a great time of year to give your house a clean up ready for the warmer months ahead – and yes, it's definitely a catchier phrase than a fall clean.

But we're missing a trick. Fall cleaning should be just as important.

In fact, I'd argue that fall cleaning is even more pressing than spring cleaning. After a busy summer, our homes are begging for a deep clean (at least mine certainly is), and it's also just the perfect time to prepare your house for longer, cozy nights in, as well as setting up for all that Thanksgiving and Christmas hosting.

I also love to fall clean, declutter, and tidy up my busy household, ready for any new items that might arrive over the festive period.

Ultimately, adding fall cleaning to my seasonal list of chores has been a game-changer, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to hear it.

As a homes writer, I've found a lot of handy tips over the years that I now put into action specifically in fall. Here are my top 5 tips I want to share to make your fall clean the ultimate reset.

Earlier this year, I tried 'chaos decluttering' to spring clean my home – and I liked it so much, I'm using it for fall.

Essentially, as Kim Jones of Lock and Key Home coined the method, you create chaos in your home by pulling everything out of a messy area (and I mean everything) before sorting, organizing, and putting it away.

The idea of making more mess might make you cringe, but trust me, it works wonders when you face your clutter head-on.

You don't have to carry out this method for your entire house, but I'm using it to tidy up my baking cupboard and my wardrobe to sort through the summer clothes I know I didn't wear this year and won't wear next.

Fall is a popular time for hosting, whether it's Thanksgiving with all the family or a cozy night-in with friends. But, with more people coming and going, there's also a lot more muddy boots from the fall weather and a lot more clutter – especially in one area of your home, the hallway.

While I've previously encouraged Toms Guide readers on why you should clean your hallway in January to begin the New Year with a fresh start, it's definitely ready for another deep scrub in fall.

First, I tackle the amount of shoes that have gathered over the year, then the bags and coats ready to accommodate the larger, bulkier coats for the winter and then I streamline the amount of general clutter and overwhelming storage.

It might seem like a good idea to have boxes of items in your hallway for you to grab from, but it'll quickly turn into piles of mess meaning guests haven't got anywhere to put their things.

Alongside a good clean of your entire kitchen (and home) during fall, you should pay close attention to your oven.

It's going to get a lot more use over the fall period, especially for making hot meals to enjoy during the colder weather. But you may have accidentally neglected cleaning it over a busy summer.

Fortunately, I tried an oven cleaning hack using two household items I already own, and it worked wonders. Not only is it really simple, but it's also super budget-friendly. All you need is a bottle of Cif Cream and some cling wrap.

You apply the Cif Cream to your oven door, leaving it open and covering it in cling wrap. Then, leave it for around an hour (though I had to leave it a fair while longer for stubborn stains) and wipe it off.

Then, popping all those finger foods for hosting and those tasty leftovers for an easy fall night meal can all happen in a lovely clean oven.

If you've found you've given your house a lovely clean, but you're still concerned about the amount of clutter filling the rooms, you might need to get a little more ruthless – and that's where the 'moving out' decluttering method comes in.

I moved last fall, and I wouldn't want to do it again anytime soon, but it was a really excellent way to make me cull my household items and something I'd seriously recommend incorporating into any fall cleaning routine.

You go from room to room looking at what you own and asking yourself whether you'd box up certain items if it was time for you to move.

If the answer is no, then it's not something you need to keep. It basically asks you to reframe your mind rather than just living with something because you're used to having it around.

Finally, while I'm a sucker for the pine-scented candles of the festive period, I also like to make my home smell like fall – and it's super simple and cost-effective.

Thanks to @elnazhamai on TikTok, I've been following one of the many amazing hacks she shared to her over 500k followers for the last few years to make the ultimate fall home deodorizers.

All you need to do is mix two cups of baking soda with 3/4 cup of water. Then, scoop this mixture into cupcake cases on a baking tray. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

After they're fully cooled, add drops of essential oils to the ones you want to use. Each one lasts around three months, and you can keep the others in an airtight container. You can also reapply the oils to boost the scent.

Essential oils I like to choose for fall include cinnamon, cedarwood, ginger, vanilla, and blood orange, but you can use whatever scents you like. And then your home will be clean for fall and also smell just like it.

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Grace is a freelance journalist working across homes, lifestyle, gaming and entertainment. You'll find her writing for Tom's Guide, TechRadar, Space.com, and other sites. If she's not rearranging her furniture, decluttering her home, or relaxing in front of the latest streaming series, she'll be typing fervently about any of her much-loved hobbies and interests. To aid her writing, she loves to head down internet rabbit holes for an unprecedented amount of time.