Health Benefits of Spring Cleaning
As mother nature goes through a cycle of rebirth and renewal, spring cleaning allows us to follow her lead byfreshening up and decluttering our home.This time-honored ritual not only helps keep your home in tip-top shape but is also good for your health.
According to a well-researched article by healthline.com, some of the health benefits of spring cleaning include:
- Strengthening your immune system – Purge pollutants and allergens.
- Reducing depression and stress – Bubbly spring mood, anyone?
- Helping prevent illness – Curb the spread of bacteria and viruses
- Reduced risk of injuryfrom falls, bumps, trips, and slips.
- Setting you up for healthy physical and eating choices – A decluttered home equals a decluttered life.
The health impact of spring cleaning is clear. But scrubbing your home from top to bottom can be time-consuming and overwhelming.
Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Home
To make this year’s spring cleaning seamless and productive, we’ve rounded up our favorite deep cleaning tipsto get your home sparkling.
Planning for an all-hands-on-deck deep cleaning weekend marathon? Or perhaps you can only find time to sneak in spurts of dusting here and a little scrubbing there along the week? Whatever your schedule, you should find these tips helpful.
Start with a Plan – Get Your Priorities Right
Spring cleaning can be daunting.It goes a step further from your typical scrubbing, vacuuming, and dusting routine. To avoid overwhelm, consider committing pen to paper before breaking out the mop. Having a deep cleaning plan may sound like another chore on your to-do list, but it may save you hours in the long run.
“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent return on energy!”
―Brian Tracy
Walk around the house and create a checklist of cleaning tasks in every room. Not sure how to go about it? You can use online spring checklists such as this one for inspiration. When you have a list of what needs to be done, break down the tasks into manageable chunks—leaving some room for breaks to avoid burnout.
It’s also important to understand your cleaning personality—or the psychology behind your housekeeping habits. Do you tend to procrastinate chores? Are you a stress cleaner? The idea is to create a spring-cleaning plan that works for you, not against you. This may allow you to do things better and faster.
Stock Up on Supplies
Do you have all the cleaning supplies you need? Spring cleaning may not be the most thrilling undertaking, but it can be particularly frustrating when you don’t have the right tools and products for a thorough deep clean.
Stocking up on supplies well in advance not only saves you from the headache of repeatedly driving back and forth to the store but also adds to your efficiency. Also, inspect your tools (mops, brooms, etc.) to make they’re in good condition.
Consider going green this spring. Use cleaning supplies that are gentle on mother nature. Also, keep an eye on products that contain pollutants.
Organize and Declutter
Scrubbing and dusting every corner of your house can feel like a mammoth task, but things can become much more manageable by getting clutter out of the way.
One way to go about decluttering is using a systemic approach; identify problem areas, determine solutions, and get rid of the clutter. Consider sorting your belonging into three categories: keep, donate/sell, and toss.
But decluttering should not be a one-time activity. Have a system in place to continually keep your space organized. Know what to let go of and what to keep.
Go Room by Room –Divide and Conquer
Bring some order into the spring-cleaning chaos by approaching your house room by room. This ties into the first point on having a plan. Use the checklist to guide your efforts and tackle each room from the top down.
Enlist the Household – Spring Cleaning is Family Time
You have a clear spring-cleaning plan and stocked on cleaning supplies; it’s now time to break a sweat. At this point, deep cleaning the entire house can feel overwhelming. But remember that you don’t have to bear the whole burden alone.
Get the household involved by assigning everyone age-appropriate tasks. This will not only help clear your cleaning checklist faster, but it can make spring cleaning more fun. Consider adding a celebratory reward as an incentive to boost morale.
Spring Cleaning is Not Just About the Interior
We tend to associate spring cleaning with dusting and scrubbing our living spaces (i.e., rooms in your home). But there’s more to it than that. Has the harsh winter taken a toll on your roof? Is your patio in good shape? How are your exterior walls? What about your lawn? Your entire home deserves some attention this spring.
Get Your Clean On!
It’s time to rejuvenate your inner and outer world. With the fresh spring air floating outside, transfer the same vibe to your home.
Kick-off the season of renewal with spring cleaning. It may be an arduous undertaking, but it’s worth it. Those weekends spent scrubbing, decluttering, and dusting every nook and cranny in your home have silver linings.The spring-cleaning tips discussed above should give you a decent head start.
Closing Tip: Make your spring cleaning more manageable by regularly tidying up year-round.
