With the official start of Spring being only a month away, spring cleaning has been on my mind … alot! I’m trying to figure out what sort of spring cleaning our new home needs. And this lead me to wonder how many people actually do a spring cleaning, and is it different for everyone? So this week’s WWFY post is all about different ideas on spring cleaning.
What is spring cleaning? And why do so many of us do it? Well, this post on the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog has some insight into the answers. The part that I really liked was the third paragraph where they talk about what the trade-off is for modern living compared to the days before natural gas furnaces and electricity. Aside from practical means, there are also many cultures where “spring cleaning” has spiritual significance. Here is a fabulous article from TLC’s How Stuff Works, which explains these so much better than I can. This article left me feeling as though spring cleaning could have a more meaningful application than simply cleaning the house for cleanliness sake, which appeals to the side of me that always seems to be seeking a “good” reason for doing something.
After getting a better of idea of where the idea stemmed from, and some reasons why spring cleaning is a good thing, I started looking at what others do for this season spruce up. I found this awesome post on Imperfect Homemaking where Kelly shares her detailed, room by room, spring clean list. I was awed and inspired. Some of the items she has listed, aren’t items I normally think to clean. A similar post over on A Bowl Full of Lemons caught my eye too. Toni not only shares her spring cleaning to do list, but also how she prepares for her spring cleaning. I really liked that part, because honestly, I’m really bad at preparing for my cleaning tasks. I fully admit, I waste a lot of time having to go grab something I should have had with me from the start. Martha Stewart’s site has a great slide show article called Spring Cleaning Basics. There are twelve items on this list and the first thought that popped into my head was this must be “Spring Cleaning Lite”. But again, there were some things in that article that I wouldn’t have thought to clean … like my light bulbs!
Aside from articles and posts with spring cleaning to do lists, I also stumbled across a few links that has tips, tricks, and how to’s, like the Spring Cleaning Series on Ask Anna. Goodhousekeeping.com has a slide show article called 12 Spring Cleaning Tips. This article over on LiveGoDo.com has some suggestions for shortcuts to help make your spring cleaning go a little faster. And if those weren’t enough for you, Canadian Living has a group of links if you’re looking for more reading material on this subject.
Maybe a big seasonal clean isn’t your thing, or maybe you just don’t have the time for it, but you still want to make sure your not forgetting to clean items that get forgotten most of the time. Well, there is this great website called SpringCleaning365.com. They take the massive job of spring cleaning and break it down to one daily task. That way you don’t have to spend a huge chunk of your time doing it all at once. I have to admit, I really like that idea. If spring cleaning doesn’t float your boat; if you think it’s not something you need to do, you’re not alone. FlyLady has an interesting article where she explains why, with a good year round, everyday cleaning routine, you shouldn’t have to worry about spring cleaning…. ever! An intriguing idea, and one I think I’m going to ponder over for a bit.
I still don’t have my own answer yet. I figure that’s ok because spring hasn’t even started. There was a lot of information that I sifted through, some didn’t make the cut for this post, but you can always check out my Spring Cleaning pinboard for a few that didn’t find their way into the post.
What about you, are you spring cleaner or a non spring cleaner? Or do you fall in the middle? Do you have a system for spring cleaning? I’d love to hear more!
I do Flylady and I do a spring cleaning and a fall cleaning and so do all my kids who are in their late 20s or early 30s. I I combine the practice of my faith with it…yeah I confused my hubby when we were dating about it also…
I take a month to spring clean, sometimes 2 months depending on how bit the house is we are in at the time. When I am in the Flylady Zone’s I do the spring cleaning in that area that week. I pray and bless while cleaning. I open windows even if it’s snowing outside to “freshen the breathe” of the room. I start on the ceiling and work clock wise , ceiling and anything on it including vents and lights ( I dust my lightbulbs weekly been flying for over a decade with Flylady) then the walls and everything on it , then furniture, then closets if there is anything and then the floor. I might take one day for each wall which can drag it on out.
Hi Juls,
Wow! That sounds incredible! And it sounds like you have a great approach and groove to how you approach cleaning. I want to get to that point, I’m really struggling in our new home. In our old one I had it to down to a fine science, but I’m still trying to find the right groove in this one. I like the one day per wall approach. I did that when we were getting our old house ready for sale. I would pick a few of the more ‘fun’ things to do, and wouldn’t start them until I got at least one wall washed that day, lol. Sounds dumb now, but it helped keep me going.
I like that you allow yourself time to get it done. I think that’s what’s holding me back this year, I used to take a week in our tiny little two bedroom, and there’s no way I could do it in a week in our new home, not without sacrificing family time or allowing messes to build up in other areas.
Thanks so much for stopping by,
I hope you’re having a great day,
Alli
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