Though spring is a time for warmer weather, flowers blooming, and longer days of sunshine, it’s also a good time for cleaning out clutter and bringing freshness into abodes that have been closed up for winter. Spring cleaning traditions may have different meanings for different people, such as being a part of Passover in Jewish households or the Chinese New Year in Chinese households, but, at its core, is the theme of cleaning out one's home.
Spring Cleaning is easier said than done, though
It’s way too easy to prepare and get all ready for Spring Cleaning, such as buying $50 worth of cleaning supplies only to get overwhelmed with them all before getting anything done.
Instead of taking dinosaur-sized steps, perhaps it’s best to start with regular-sized steps that are attainable and straightforward. Here's a few Hacks to help you along the way.
7 things you can do
First thing's first, you need to purge, so grab a couple extra-large trash bags and walk throughout your entire home, throwing things away that you do not need. Don’t focus on any specific area, that’s how you get overwhelmed. Rather, be generous as you go everywhere. Ask yourself common sense questions like: Do I need two drawers full of tupperware? Is it necessary to keep magazines from three years ago? Am I ever going to use the black lights I had hanging in my college dorm room?
In a similar vein to the above one, this hack is about ditching all your expired products.
It’s amazing how easy it is to keep things over the years without realizing how much time has gone by. So why not grab another large trash bag and get rid of everything that's past its prime and only replace the essentials? The three main home areas that products with expiration dates like to hang out are the following: bathroom, kitchen and utility/cleaning supply closets.
Maybe at some point, you’ll find yourself not wanting to throw away things that could still serve a purpose, but here's the thing. Does that mean these things have to stay with you? Why not donate to charity, have a garage sale, or give away things to friends? As you Spring Clean, have a box set out to put donations aside and then devote a whole weekend to getting rid of it all.
Go to a dollar store and buy $10 worth of drawer organizers in several different sizes. You will use each and every one of them because drawers are often the most messy, disorganized areas in one’s home. When you tackle spring cleaning, go at these guys first and you will likely feel satisfaction immediately as you insert drawer organizers and put similar items together.
Wash your pillows. No, not the pillowcases, but the actual pillows. It will not only make your sleeping experience better with the freshness and clean smell, but it will help kill bacteria, dust, and mold that's likely living inside them. Do a Google search for the best ways to clean whatever type of pillows you use and spend a couple hours doing just that.
It will be worth your time. Seriously. Research it.
Everything should have a place. There's no better time than Spring Cleaning to look around you. Are things where you don’t want them? Is it because you don’t have the space or do you not know what to do with them? Take a treadmill, for example. Is it being used or just taking up space? If your things don’t have a place in your home and a purpose, ask yourself why exactly you have them and be honest with your answers. Get rid of what you don't need.
Question your collections. We all have them and most of the time, we don’t even realize it. So, come on. What do you collect? Do you have a dirty drawer full of rarely used takeout menus? Or a large Ziploc bag of matchbooks dating back to smoking/non-smoking restaurants?
Or do you have more travel-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner from hotels than you could ever need? Maybe your medicine cabinet is filled with ten half-used deodorants? Whatever you're collecting, question it and liquidate it during your Spring Cleaning spree.
