Spring Cleaning, the good, the bad and the ugly!!
Have you ever wondered where the term Spring cleaning came from? Some of us can remember when we were kids two things that would take place in the spring. 1- The time changed to where we can all stay outside longer, yippee more fun! 2- Our parents would do a big cleaning that we couldn’t escape, not fun! So where did this “spring cleaning” idea ever originate? According to some of the research available online it seems that spring cleaning could have come from a few ancient traditions. The Persian new year called Iranian Norouz would bring a thorough cleaning and organizing of their homes in expectation of the new year which for them lands on the first day of spring. They are not alone in this tradition. The early Jewish practice of purifying and cleansing their homes before the start of Passover which falls in April was another reason for the spring cleaning. The Iranian new year and Jewish Passover were not alone on their cleaning customs, the Chinese would also clean their homes to prepare for the Chinese New Year in the spring. These long lived traditions have spread all over the world including our beloved North America.
Here the bad news is we are not cleaning to anticipate a new year but we clean because by now most of know we need to get rid of some winter items and make room for the beautiful sun to shine through our homes! Is cleaning the most joyful thing to do with your free time? The ugly truth is that we can think of a thousand more things to do with our spare time! Spring cleaning is important and changing the way we view it can make a big difference. Pump up the radio, put on a smile and know that a clean, organized home brings about a joyful spirit no matter what! Get clutter free today!
Here is a list of 10 ways to get your spring cleaning complete:
Find a starting place – A bedroom is a good starting point and move from one end of the house to the other.
Get rid of items that you forgot you own – Remember the phrase out of sight out of mind? Do not be afraid to get rid of things you don’t need or use on a daily basis.
Clean or organize the closets – Reorganizing your closet will help make laundry chores easier and more enjoyable. Get rid of clothes that don’t fit, are super old and you never wear anymore, are outdated, and shoes that you skip through as if they are not there. If you don’t use them get rid of them, less is more sometimes.
Dust under the beds – You won’t believe the amount of dust that is collected underneath your bed. Rather you have tile, wood or carpet flooring, I guarantee you have an enormous amount of dust that you didn’t know existed under there. This dust is being breathed in while you sleep and helps trigger allergies and slows down your immune system when you are trying to get better if you suffer from sinus and allergy problems.
Go through your chest and dresser drawers – Once again if you don’t use anything in these drawers get rid of them and feel free of clutter.
Clean the refrigerator and freezer drawers – Pull out expired food, containers and old veggies that you forgot where hidden inside the secret places. When you clean the inside of your refrigerator it will look brand new!
Wipe the inside and outside of the kitchen cabinets – When is the last time you removed the grease and residue from the inside and outside of the cabinets? In addition, get rid of expired food, containers you don’t use, broken or old dishes. Make room for organization.
Pull out that stove – Wow the stove is one of the main everyday appliances most of us use. But, can you imagine what has fallen between the stove and cabinets and underneath? As scary as this may seem, food particles can be an invitation to bugs! Clean under, around, and inside the oven and the burners. A little trick of the trade, I use Bar Keepers Friend powder cleaner and it cleans the stove and oven in an instant without the strong smell of Easy Off.
Clean underneath the couches and other furniture items – Just like the bed and the stove, furniture accumulates dust and a lot of other items. Vacuum or sweep underneath and remove the cushions and vacuum what is collected in between them. You never know what treasures you will find.
Clean the garage out – Why is it that most Floridians use their garage for storage and I am not talking car storage here. We accumulate so many items throughout the years that soon our garages look more like a warehouse of junk. Go through your garage and once again clean out what you don’t use. Roaches love card board boxes and places to hide. The less hiding places the less bugs can infiltrate.
Think of the positive, when you moved in you paid a deposit on a clean rental. When you move out and have a clean well maintained home, you’re going to get that deposit back. Start cleaning and start living a clutter free life.
Happy Renting!
Jessica Cloward