Clean Sweep
Spring cleaning made a lot of sense for centuries. When homes were heated with wood or coal, the winter heating season brought a build-up of soot and ash on walls, furniture, and fabrics. Spring cleaning marked the end of the heating season, when the entire house was aired and scrubbed clean, when windows could be opened and the winds of spring would blow through the house, refreshing it.
In modern times, there usually isn’t the need to air out the rugs and mattresses, to scrub the soot off the walls or beat it out of the furniture. So the whole concept of turning your house upside down in this modern world just isn’t going to happen with most of us. Trying to organize it, plan it, and execute it will simply cause more stress in an already stressful life.
If you maintain a cleaning regimen that is custom-suited to your household and that allows a deep, thorough cleaning of each room on a regular basis, then there is no need for spring cleaning. What would traditionally have been accomplished during spring cleaning will actually be accomplished regularly for you.
If you do not maintain a cleaning regimen, now would be a good time to create one. With the dawn of spring, longer days, more energy, sunlight on our skin brightening moods and outlooks, you can take this time to get a handle on the things around you. Start by making the beds and doing the dishes every day and grow from there, creating a list (actually create one on paper) and a schedule that will work for you and your family.
Despite the modern move away form the traditional intense spring cleaning, there are still some things that need to be accomplished on a seasonal basis. So, as you go into your housework this week (or this month, depending on how your household runs), and you see some of these things haven’t been done yet, now might be a good time to do them:
- Replace your shower curtain liner. I replace mine at the beginning of every season. This time, I’ve purchased a fabric liner. We’ll see if washing it seasonally will work or if I’ll go back to simply replacing it.
- Wash your shower curtain
- Vacuum out your heating vents.
- Vacuum out your dryer vent.
- Dust those baseboards behind the furniture (because you’re dusting the baseboards that are out in the open already, right?)
- Flip your mattresses over
- Wash bed skirts and comforters
- Steam clean furniture and rugs
- Wash your curtains
- Sweep out the fireplace
- Go through your medicine cabinet and discard old and expired medicine (this flu season was a rough one!)
- Clean your oven
- Clean out your refrigerator and wipe it down.
- Clean out, defrost, and wipe down your freezer
Happy spring! May God bless you this season.
Hallee
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Gregg & Hallee
I have started getting this going…I am doing a thorough cleaning then going back and discarding things we simply do not need anymore. I call it my binge and purge time. I love getting rid of things we don’t need, use or want. I donate it in hopes someone else can use it. I really can’t wait to get rid of alot of the kitchen things I have. I just don’t use most of them.
Thanks for the list, it will keep me on track :)
I got off my cleaning regime. I am going to do a spring cleaning using your simple, do able list and get back on my regime. Thanks for helping to make it do able.
hahaha I laughed about how people used to heat with wood because we do! We have a soapstone stove in our kitchen/dining area and that heats our whole house. Our oil tank is filled in the fall & spring and is only used to heat our water. Someday I hope to go solar and be off the grid for good. ;)
I move furniture, dust baseboards, etc. on a weekly basis because of the wood stove and our big, shedding dogs. I actually washed and line dried all of our blankets & comforters last week. Once the sun comes out again, I will work on the window treatments and the actual windows. So I guess I really do “spring clean”!
Having a tidy home really makes a difference in the way *I* feel which in turn makes me a better wife & mom. :)
I’ve started my version of spring cleaning this week. The fridge is next on my list, and one of the things I hate the most! Thanks for the shortened list. I’ll keep some of it in mind!
Thanks for the reminder those are all things that are easy to forget And now that you have reminded me I really need to go vacuum the dryer vent – it is probably disgusting.