It's time to get serious and evict dust googies from the remotest corners of our homes! Removing dust and dirt is an important, healthful exercise for everyone in your family, the right time to check for needed repairs, and to reorganize for better living in the new year.
Spring cleaning rituals go back centuries, but in the last couple of centuries, spring cleaning has always looked like this:
Put away winter clothes and take out spring and summer clothing.
Sweep and vacuum floors, walls, and corners.
Wash floors and carpets.
Clean window panes, sills, and frames.
Freshen all organic bedding and woolens out of sunlight, outdoors.
Replace thick winter curtains that keep heat in with light summer curtains that allow breezes through.
Remove storm windows, hang up screens.
Brush or vacuum stuffed furniture and remove spots.
Wash every surface in every room that has accumulated dust or grime.
Finish a spring cleaning by bringing in loads of spring flowers and placing them in vases in every room (Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a mandatory act of Springtime celebration and self-congratulation!).
I know the first whiffs of warmer air can inspire you to get your cleaning project started with gusto, but Arctic natives (like Chicagoans and New Yorkers) should wait until temps are in the 60's and 70's so windows can be thrown open for the CRUCIAL Spring Cleaning ingredient of fresh, marvelous, springtime air flowing through your personal spaces!
Oh, OKAY. City air isn't exactly pristine. And yes, some apartment windows don't open, so um, when you're done cleaning your spaces, go for a walk to the local florist. Or, if you have a balcony, why not plant some pots of herbs or flowers?
And if your hip city spaces are airtight, the last thing you need is chemicals off-gassing into your tight environment. Do not delay... fill your spaces with chemical free organic bedding and organic cottons, and keep the dust googies on a fast track out through the vacuum!
NONTOXIC & NATURAL CLEANING
Do pay attention: Disinfecting is an important advantage of modern Science and Health, which cannot be addressed with organic products. Absolutely seek out cleaning products that are simple, safe, and sustainable, but bear in mind that germicide absolutely requires chemical intervention. Science has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Be realistic.
That said, cleaning products that are nontoxic or less-toxic inflict far less stress on our fragile environments, and help to reduce toxic chemicals used in manufacture and toxic waste.
Multi-purpose natural products are a sensible choice, but biodegradable products return natural substances to the ecosystem from which they came.
Nontoxic cleaning doesn't require unusual or specialized ingredients. In fact, much of your cleaning can be beautifully done with a squirt bottle of fifty-fifty distilled white vinegar and water, liquid soap, and baking soda. Window washing should be done only with fifty-fifty clean water and white vinegar, with newsprint wipes to remove streaking.
Prevent oven cleaning problems by keeping the lower rack lined with foil, changed frequently, preventing greasy spills that would require heavy chemicals to remove.
Baked or broiled recipes that will obviously spatter grease throughout the oven should be routinely covered to prevent spattering. Better yet, dump the foil and use old fashioned covered roasting pans and casseroles, with large cookie sheets on lower racks to catch spills and spatters.
While all this seasonal work and new routines may seem daunting (and nearly impossible for the lazier loves in our families), clearing away the old and prepare for fresh and new life, is what Spring is all about, whether we are cleaning our homes, or clearing a garden for new planting.
