Spring cleaning, a common tradition in households worldwide, can be traced back to religious, cultural, and social roots. On a cultural level, Christian, Jewish, Iranian, and Chinese cultures all demonstrate traditions that can be compared to today’s practices. For example, the Jewish spring holiday of Passover includes the custom of ridding the house of all crumbs. Over time the tradition has grown into a more generalized thorough cleaning. Socially, humans are wired to have the urge to clean as the weather gets warmer and the sun is brighter. This is due to our biological increase in melatonin, a sleep hormone, in the winter months; when spring comes around, we naturally become more energized and search for ways to increase productivity.
As interesting as the history of spring cleaning is, many people strive to know why it’s so important. Psychological benefits of deep cleaning one’s surroundings—including increased focus, boosted mood, a reduction in overall stress, and better physical health (fewer pollutants and allergens to induce sickness)—beg its significance. Marie Kondo, a Japanese professional organizer, preaches these benefits and more to her clients. She has become well known for teaching people the most effective ways to achieve the most optimal state of cleanliness in both a mental and physical sense. Her tried and true method has 5 steps: commitment, envisioning the end goal, finishing discarding anything already set aside, cleaning by category, following her order (clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous, and sentimental items), and asking yourself if any unsure items “spark joy”.There are plenty of methods out there that you can use as a guide when you are not sure how to go about cleaning. Kondo’s, however, is easy to execute, straightforward, and proven to work.
9 simple tips for spring cleaning
1. Decluttering Those Closets
Whether you’ve grown out of them or they just aren’t your style anymore, everyone has those articles of clothing that are just rotting in the back of your closet. To combat this, we recommend a good old-fashioned deep dive on your closet! Find out what you want to keep, and what you don’t wear anymore. Depending on the piece of clothing, you can either completely toss it, or try giving it a second life! There are many videos on YouTube with a bunch of fun DIY upcycled that can help you spruce up your old clothes. If that’s not your style, you can donate your clothes to Goodwill. Clothes aren’t meant to last forever. Sometimes, all you need is a little closet refresh!
2. Disinfecting Devices
Believe it or not, Researchers at ASU actually found that your cell phone has ten times more bacteria than your toilet seat does. With this being said, do you remember the last time you actually cleaned and disinfected your phone? If you answered no, this is probably your sign to get on that. You can do this by spraying some type of disinfectant spray (such as 70% isopropyl alcohol) onto a cloth and wiping down all your devices. This includes phones, laptops, ipads, and especially TV remotes! Don’t forget your headphones!
3. Deep Washing Sheets
The best way to give your life a fresh restart is with clean sheets and a good night’s sleep! If you’re feeling fancy, you can even purchase a mattress topper to ensure the rest of your Spring is filled with a full 8 hours each night.
4. Emptying Trash Cans
Time to stop pushing down all the trash in your bin to make more room. This is your reminder to take out all the trash compiling from the bins around in your house. Sounds simple, yet it makes a big difference!
5. Removing Coffee Stains from Mugs
Tired of those stubborn coffee stains ruining your white mugs? This is actually a super easy fix! With the help of some baking soda and a good scrub, those stains are sure to wash right off, restoring that pristine clean new look to your favorite mugs once again.
6. Destinking your Sneakers
It’s no surprise that shoes can get pretty smelly after continuous use. A simple and efficient hack to getting rid of that sneaker stank is using sneaker balls or Fragrance spray. These will get your shoes smelling fresh in no time and also allows you to choose what kind of scent you want your feet smelling like.
7. Checking Crevices
When cleaning, it’s easy to miss most of the corners in your room and house. However, this is where most of those dust bunnies and spider webs will be lurking. The next time you decide to do a deep clean or swift of your house don’t forget to check up on those deeper crevices.
8. Organize your Junk Drawers
Everyone has that one drawer, cabinet, or bin in their house that has become your family’s self-proclaimed “junk drawer”. Junk drawers have the word junk in there for a reason. The first step to decluttering these types of drawers is tossing out all the trash. Receipts, random loose stamps, and expired gum can all go. For the rest of the items, plastic organizers work wonders for straightening up drawers!
9. De-clog your Drains
Calling all my readers with long hair! We know better than anyone how easy it is for strands of hair to get caught in the shower drain and clog those water pipes. It’s crucial to clean those drains out before your shower starts looking more like a bath. A simple hack for this is adding vinegar and baking soda down the drain.
Conclusion
Overall, spring cleaning is a practical way to cleanse your surroundings—and, in turn, your mind—of anything serving as a distraction. Doing things like de-clogging drains and organizing drawers can end up being the switch that increases your productivity and peace of mind. While cleaning an entire space seems like a daunting task, remember that starting small, completing your work in organized sections, and finding ways to make it fun can all lead to a less overwhelming experience. Now that you know how to effectively declutter your life, we hope you can carry our tips with you into this year’s spring cleaning session.
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