As you’re looking outside at the snow and slush, spring-cleaning is probably furthest thing from your mind.

However, time flashes by and before you know it the snow will melt and spring will be here with two shakes of a lamb’s tail!

What is Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning is a ritual to cleanse your space from the mustiness of winter and prepare it for the upcoming year.

It differs from regular cleaning of your home as it entails a thorough deep cleaning of your entire home, room by room, from top to bottom, including areas that tend to be neglected including underneath the fridge, rugs, underneath carpets, curtains, etc.

To spring clean means to clean up dirt from your ceiling all the way to your floor.  It is indeed a broad definition – wiping and dusting off every surface and furnishing unit, decluttering and throwing away what you don’t need.

Origins of Spring Cleaning

The ritual of spring cleaning has origins in many ancient cultures including Persia, with the celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which falls on the first day of spring. To prepare for Norwuz, Iranians conduct the practice of khooneh tekouni “shaking the house” aka spring cleaning.

In addition, people living in colder weather tend to accumulate and trap dust, scents and other mustiness in homes due to overheated spaces and locked windows and doors.  It was even worse in olden days as people used coal, oil, wood, and everything was lightened by candles with all the dust, dirt and soot around. Allergy city!

Once it warmed up outside, that was the sign people had to ventilate, freshen up and clean their homes.

The time frame for spring cleaning tends to be from 1st of March and continue all the way until the end of April. However, you can spring clean anytime you want.

Spring cleaning can seem like an overwhelming challenge but if broken down into manageable pieces can be done over a day or even a weekend if you want to take it easier.

In the next post we will address the actual steps involved in a spring cleaning.