Spring Cleaning

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Covid-19 has us all shut indoors doesn’t it?  So people are cleaning out areas that hitherto have been ignored, or at the very least put off.  I have to admit, it’s no different in my household.  I’ve been cleaning out nooks and crannies, and generally getting things into shape again.  Spring cleaning is well underway! 

What is Spring Cleaning?

Spring cleaning differs with every household.   For some, it is giving every room of your house a deep clean.  Moving the furniture away from the walls to clean baseboards, washing walls, windows, vacuuming everything, cleaning the linens, flipping the mattresses and more.   Every room in the house gets done. 

For others spring cleaning is tackling those areas that rarely get done, rooms like the cold storage area, the basement, the garage, and the like.  This is called spring cleaning because they deep clean the main areas of the house regularly. 

The History of Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning varies according to a person’s culture but generally happens after a long period of shut-in has occurred. Coal and wood-burning stoves would spray soot and ash all over your home, making a thorough scrub-down imperative once the weather warmed up.   You simply can’t clean when it so cold out. Having the windows open so you can chase out the spiders, and beat out the carpets in the cold is uncomfortable!  You pick a lovely spring day to do that.  Get rid of the accumulated dust and mildew of the winter.  Beat the carpets, clean out the cobwebs and make everything all fresh and clean again. 

I remember my dad cleaning out the barn in the spring, and when it was all cleaned out, he’d get the whitewash man to come.  WOW, the barn would be SO very clean it was surprising how wonderful it could look. Sometimes it was so bright it almost hurt the eyes as you looked around doing chores.

Around the same time of the year, mom would have us girls busy in the house, pulling out loose carpets/rugs, washing walls and windows, and getting into every nook and cranny.  It’s not too hot yet since the summer heat has come up yet, and still not too cold with no snow on the ground. It’s that in-between time when crops are planted and the work that summer brings.   You may find this list helpful for tackling each room. 

My Methodology

I have to admit that I don’t spring clean like my mother did.  I really rather don’t like cleaning.  GASP eh!  🙂   BUT I do like organizing, and the process of organizing makes it much easier to clean as I go.   Ergo, if I want to clean a room I reorganize, much to my husband’s chagrin.   “What was wrong with how we had it?” is his oft-repeated query.   All the main rooms/areas of the house have me tackle them at least twice a year, so my spring cleaning gets done too often I think!  🙂 

This spring, since everything has been shut down, I’ve been working on areas that really needed to be addressed. 

My husband has a goal of building a beer-making room in the basement and to that end, I HAVE to move things around to make that goal work.  There are some things I can’t do on my own (like moving two rather large aquariums).  But most of it I can do, with the occasional help of a 14-year-old lad. 

A Job that Needed Doing

The above mess needed cleaning as it meant I could adjust shelving out of the chosen area.  Old electronics, sermon notes, hubbies old school materials and more.  Sorted and moved out.  It took me a while to decide where to put it until I remembered the back corner of our basement, the dark kinda icky part… hadn’t been cleaned out for a couple (or three) years.  I embraced the darkness (added lots of flashlights and worklights) and vacuumed up far too many spiders and cobwebs. The lad helped carry up boxes and materials that were just plain garbage.  Since the dump is closed (for shame) we are slowly putting it out in the weekly pick up. I had a whole shelf on which to store boxes, how absolutely wonderful!

Progress Made

I ended up storing quite a few more boxes there and even found room to keep the lad’s snowboarding equipment on top of them.  Those butcher’s boxes I get from the Foodbank are something I really like!  So sturdy and waterproof, I take home every one of them I can..  They are marvellous for storage and I’ve given many away to people who are moving.

I discovered a bunch of old camping equipment that got moved into our camping area (yet to be sorted) and a whole whack of electronic components.  My son got to use his muscles a lot!  🙂  He’s such a great help.  

Can you imagine my joy when I actually ended up with an empty shelf!  I was stunned!  I’m still delighted everytime I go downstairs and see it.  Empty shelves are excellent things!  In the meantime though… I still had all that electronic stuff to sort through.

It seemed I’d Never be Done

It seemed as though I’d never be done, shifting shelves, sorting through boxes.  I did have the joy of listening to more teaching on Deuteronomy, but the days were wearing on.  The end result:  6 bins/boxes for my hubby to sort through when he’s of the mind and energy to do so.  Getting rid of garbage is another reason to be delighted.  We’ll get the garbage out one of these days (won’t that be grand?)

I’ve tackled cleaning the book room, the fridge, my bedroom, and the upstairs pantry as well.  So it’s good to have things cleaned and organized.  EVEN IF my hubby has no idea were the tomatoes are now!  (Bottom shelf of the first bookcase in pantry). 

Free Checklist for you

Want my Spring Cleaning Checklist?   It’s here for you to pick up. 

The Challenge

The crew has issued a challenge.  Can we find a way to post on social media, or on our blogs about an idea?  This week it’s on Spring Cleaning.   I invite you to share your posts below. 

What have you tackled lately?   What are your future goals?  Do you spring clean and if so how?