A fresh, neat home — this is what I want to accomplish with my Spring Cleaning! After living in a “cave” for the colder months of the year, it’s the perfect time to air everything out, get rid of the dust and grime, and let in all the newness of Spring!
To be honest, I haven’t actually had much time to do all the cleaning I’d been hoping to accomplish this Spring. Much of this already happened right before our newest baby was born last summer (during my “nesting” phase), and again when she was a few months old (I was feeling recovered enough to get something done about the messy house). Since then I’ve been gradually working on things as time allows.
However, I think it would be wonderful if I could tackle everything all at once. Well, it doesn’t matter. Whether all at once or little-by-little, it’s the doing something that counts! In this article, I’ll be looking at:
- Reasons why we clean in the Spring
- The two types of Cleaning we need to give our attention to
- My own home-refresh routine
- Four simple steps I use to tackle any cleaning job
- A handy room-by-room checklist you can use to make sure you’re covering all the necessary items
Spring Cleaning Traditions
According to Wikipedia, there is a reason we clean in the Spring. Different cultures have different customs:
-In Iran, to get ready for the new year (Spring equinox)
-Before Passover to search for and get rid of all leaven
-In the Roman Catholic Church on Maundy Thursday (before Good Friday) to clean the altar, etc.
-In the Orthodox Church in Greece and other Orthodox nations, before or during first week of Great Lent in preparation for Easter
-To clean house after the winter, when the air is warm enough to open windows, and the wood-burning stove is no longer in use
-As a way to remove the old and make room for the new, literally and metaphorically
Springtime itself is the ending of the winter season and the coming of new life.
Personal “Spring Cleaning”
We don’t have to think of Spring Cleaning only in terms of freshening up the house. It’s an opportunity to examine ourselves and see what’s hiding in the dusty corners of our soul.
We do our normal, daily cleanup of those things that are most noticeable. For example, we sweep in front of the couches — but may not normally get under them. Things appear “clean” but there’s gross stuff lurking in the shadows. In our spiritual lives, these would be things that aren’t super noticeable, but that need to be taken care of in the hidden spaces of our hearts.
Have I been shouting at the kids lately out of impatience? That’s an obvious daily clean. Have I been starting dinner a little too late every evening? Obvious daily clean. But have I been grating my teeth at having to “put up with” a “cramped living space” with a large family? Have I been seeing myself as a “victim” of being misunderstood or unnoticed by others (feeling sorry for myself)? These things need a total mindset shift: they’re a deep clean.
How can we refresh our spiritual lives?
We take the time to examine ourselves. We need quiet moments while going for a walk, watering the plants, cooking dinner, resting in the afternoon, etc. to be able to “read” our own selves clearly enough to see where we need to change. We need time away from our phones. As we read the word of God, we need to pray for Him to reveal to us areas that need to be cleansed by the sunshine of His grace and truth.
I know for me this doesn’t happen easily. One thing after another demands my attention, and my mind gets caught up in a whirl of urgent items I have to try and remember.
Life can be a real struggle! You know what it’s like: We get weary. We get stuck in a rut of poor thinking and habits. We wonder how long we’ll have to deal with all the “bad stuff” (hint: it’s God’s choice that we go through that stuff because we have important things to learn and crucial ways we need to grow). This is the perfect time to give it all over to the Lord.
Whenever I’ve taken an intentional pause to do something like go for a walk or enjoy being in the backyard with my children, it’s always been worth it. It’s as if I’m giving my brain permission to take a break and just be. And it’s in moments like these that breakthroughs often happen.
If you’re having trouble with feeling overwhelmed and like you can’t get anything done . . . I get you! I encourage you to take some intentional time to rest and reflect.
Here are a few verses for inspiration:
Acts 3:19 — “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Isaiah 40:31 — “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Jeremiah 31:25 — “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
Psalm 23:3 — “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
My Spring Cleaning Routine
I have provided a checklist you can use which details everything we try to clean in the Spring. You will see this further down!
The checklist does not include items that would normally get cleaned on a daily basis. It also does not include items that don’t apply to our living situation (for example: cleaning a wood-burning stove).
However, please note that life is conducive to a thorough Spring Cleaning on some years more than on others. If I can’t do everything, I don’t worry about it. Sometimes, I’m still doing my Spring Cleaning in the Summer! I might even tackle items throughout the entire year. I just take one room at a time, one section of that room at a time. That’s the best way to get any cleaning done.
4 Steps for Success
#1 First, assess what needs to be cleaned most urgently.
The whole house is not urgent. But which room is the worst? Start with that, and move on from there.
#2 Next, decide how you will do it. Create an action plan.
When I cleaned our school room recently, I divided the room into sections. One wall and everything on that side of the room would be cleaned per day. I quickly scribbled a schedule on a piece of scrap paper. Each day was for a different wall of the room, with an extra day for leftovers (there’s always leftovers — in other words, stuff you didn’t have time to finish!).
I assigned separate groups of children different tasks for the section of the room we would work on each day. I also assigned myself tasks. I wrote them down, and I explained to the children what they would do. I planned on taking no more than two hours each day cleaning. Two hours per day (or less), spread throughout the week, is what I calculated we would need to finish the task. And it worked!
This method was for cleaning an entire room in one week. To clean more rooms, obviously you would need more time. It’s okay to take things slowly. Also, remember, that you don’t really have to get an entire room done in one week. Focus on a section of that room at a time.
When cleaning & organizing, sometimes a “section” can simply be something as tiny as one drawer, one shelf, one cabinet. Just focus on what you have time for. Be consistent, and eventually you’ll have so much done!
#3 Set time aside for making it happen.
Don’t expect to be able to clean the whole house to perfection in one huge sweep. If you are waiting for the magic moment when your schedule will be clear and everyone is in a good cleaning mood — you may be waiting a long, long time. No. Just make it happen.
Decide that you will pause certain normal activities in order to have time for Spring Cleaning. It’s okay; those things will still be there waiting for you when you’re done.
Pick a week (or more), and just do it!
#4 Finally, get started!
Make a plan for what you will need, and gather your supplies:
- Trash bag
- Donation box
- List of things you will need to buy to replace broken stuff, or just to improve that area or room in appearance and effeciency
- Cleaning supplies
It’s best to have these items dealt with before you start, in order to streamline your efforts. But if you end up digging them up as you go, that’s okay, too.
Another thing: If you can’t get everything done that you had hoped to get done, that’s okay. You will have accomplished something, though, to improve your home, and that’s what counts. You will be enjoying cleaner, more organized areas of your house for months to come. And you can simply continue your Spring Cleaning at a later time!
My Checklist
If you want some help in deciding what you need to accomplish in each room, here’s a little cheatsheat I created for you. Print it out for your homemaking binder, if you want! These are the same items I work on during my own Spring — or anytime of the year — Cleaning.
Below the image is a link to view the PDF, followed by a button to download the PDF directly.
- Do you have any Spring Cleaning tips to share? Such as: where to find helpful cleaning tools and products, ways to organize a small space, money and time savers, etc.
- Also, I’d love to hear what you’ve discovered about how women in the old days used to do their Spring Cleaning!
- And any-time-of-year cleaning: how do you motivate yourself to get started? What are obstacles you’ve faced in accomplishing your goal of a clean, neat house and how have you overcome them?
~Jessica
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