Ten Tips For Relaxed Spring Cleaning

By Contributing Writer Marcia Wildwerding

If you know me at all, you know I have an aversion to housework. It’s not that I’m lazy; I’d just rather be doing other things. I do not hold to the noble view of cleaning house as a mission endeavor. I am no more righteous when my tub is free of soap scum than I am when it is grungy.  I view my spring cleaning accordingly.

To begin with, one may not ignore the fact there must be a time and season for doing the deep cleaning of a home. However, I must question whether that time has to be all at once and whether it must be in the spring.

Most people use gas or electric for cooking and heating, both being relatively clean energy sources. With a weekly dusting/vacuuming and regular changing of furnace filters, most homes do not have the layers of soot and dust our foremothers tackled in spring after so many months of heating and cooking with wood.

Nevertheless, there are chores which must be done at least once or twice a year. If you are limited in physical ability or have a busy home with children or elder care, you may not get to it in the spring or even all at once. Relax. All can be done a little at a time.

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Do you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Spring cleaning can be tackled the same way.

Ten tips for getting it all done….eventually.

 1. Inventory Tools and Supplies: Before you make any further move to begin your deep cleaning, it may be necessary to do an inventory of cleaning tools and supplies. Sort out what doesn’t work for you and purchase what you need. Once you get a chance to do the annual chores, having these items organized and in one place will eliminate wasting your precious time.

2. Make a Master List: Walk around your property and make a list for each room and outdoor area of what needs to be done once or twice a year. It will be much easier to see what needs to be done and what has already been done if you do so. This will be your master list from which you will check off items once they are accomplished.

3. Post the List: If you are blessed enough to have a husband and children who are willing to help with annual chores, this master list could be posted somewhere handy where anyone could do the job and cross it off.

4. Relaxed Scheduling: This list of items may be done in any order which suits you or which fits into your life schedule. I choose to do upstairs cleaning when it is cooler and the basement in warmer weather. Of course, the yard, garden, and unheated out buildings would most likely be done as weather permits.

5. Monthly Annual Cleaning: By doing annual chores all throughout the year, you might divide those sectors into ten or twelve items and do one each month. If your regular cleaning is done on a weekly schedule, you might reserve those extra few days in the month for deeper cleaning.

6. Trading Chores: Time is often a problem when getting these special tasks done. Consider trading an annual chore with something which is done on a regular basis. Think of something you could let go for another week. For instance, instead of dusting one week, pull out the furniture from the walls and clean under them. Seriously, no one will know!

7. Motivation: Sometimes the problem is not in doing the job but in getting started. Some annual cleaning tasks seem gargantuan compared with your weekly chores. However, it helps to break the job down into smaller parts and only concentrate on one aspect of it at a time. (Remember how to eat an elephant.) Setting a 15-minute timer and doing it in smaller time increments also motivates us to get going.

8. Set the Mood: What is your cleaning atmosphere? For some folks it is wearing special cleaning clothes or an apron. Our daughter cleans much better when she’s listening to her favorite music on her phone. Even lighting a candle with an energizing scent, such as citrus or mint, could help make your special cleaning chores even that much more special.

9. Put it Off: If the Lord sends you a unique trial whereby you simply cannot get to your annual chores, you may have to let it go for another six months or a year. Contrary to what some believe, having a clean home is not always the top priority. Even the Lord Jesus put it second to spiritual things (Luke 10:38-42).

10. Let It Go: If deep cleaning may never be done by you for whatever reason, by all means, seek the aid of your spouse, children, or nieces and nephews. Even children at church might be hired in exchange for a pizza party or ice cream buffet.

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Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a daunting task when you approach it from these different angles. Do you have any special ways you handle your annual cleaning which helps make the process more palatable or less difficult? I would be eager to hear them. Please share with us in the comments.

May the Lord’s blessing be upon your work and labor of love towards your household in providing a clean and lovely home for His glory.