topic Re: Spring cleaning in Community Chat

Spring cleaning

Shorty2U — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 03:51:33 GMT

Spring (and or Fall) cleaning, does anyone do it anymore? I remember when my kids were young (and I was younger) I used to houseclean (in the Spring AND the Fall) every inch of the house, including woodwork, windows, ceiling tiles, floors, furniture, curtains, bedding, the list goes on.

Since im older (with a very bad back) I do lighter housecleaning on a regular basis. (DH helps some with heavy stuff).

But it was driving me crazy not to Spring or Fall clean extra good. SO in the "Summers" my grand kids helped me when I watched them . Now they're older and 1 is working ready to go to colege yada yada.(and I don't watch them anymore b.c my daughter left her job to stay home for now).

Sooo I asked my middle granddaughter to come over today over night till tomorrow to do the upstairs and I will insist she take some spending money (heavy duty housecleaning as in wood work, windows, curtains, moving some furniture, bathrooms you name it everything) and I helped do cleaning too (within my reach/limit). We got 2 bedrooms done and 1 bath. We will do 1 more bathroom and DH and my bedroom tomorrow.

Shes 17 and shes really is doing a great job, BUT she isnt as fast as I was back when, so I stood 3/4 of the day doing light stuff and kind of leading her along, so tonight my back is in bad pain.

(We will do the downstairs on a weekend in May after I get some shots in my back).

So anyway Im rather frustrated and upset thinking tonight all I used to do and can no longer do and IS this deep cleaning worth it at all anymore? lol. I said to DH I would LOVE to have a 1 floor, 2 bedroom, 1 bath house (like my best friend and her husband have). But that's not going to happen. So I guess one day as the grandkids move on in life, the house will just be tidied up and cleaned lightly year round, which will drive me crazy.

PS) Understand, I don't want anyone to think we are slops, I'm talking deep cleaning granddaughter and I are doing (not weekly regular cleaning that DH and I take care of).

I was just wondering if anyone does this deep cleaning anymore? Or maybe I have OC that this "Spring type cleaning" has to be done or I obsess!. lol.

Re: Spring cleaning

SisterGoldenHair — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 04:04:14 GMT

@Shorty2UYes, I do deep cleaning more than twice a year.

Re: Spring cleaning

granny me — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 04:22:30 GMT

I am compulsive so I clean every day.

Re: Spring cleaning

Mz iMac — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 05:18:19 GMT

I can't be bothered w/house cleaning. Spring cleaning included.

The 2 girl cleaning crew do too good a job for me to intervene. Worth every $$$

Re: Spring cleaning

Pruett — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 08:56:10 GMT

We clean throughout the year.

Re: Spring cleaning

Pook — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:15:28 GMT

I never understood the total cleaning a couple of times a year. If you don't allow a complete dirty mess to accumulate anywhere why is it needed?!! I hate housework but break it up in smaller tasks all year and everything stays nice with no need to take the whole house apart. I don't like spending a whole lot of time doing housework so I usually do something every day very early as I'm an early riser. I don't do a whole room at one time very often but by doing a bit each morning I accomplish more without really taxing myself much.

Re: Spring cleaning

goldensrbest — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 10:43:08 GMT

I think in a way it is a time in which we older people grew up,you spring cleaned ,like you said curtains,woodwork and ect.Sounds like it is too much for you ,maybe time to sell.

Re: Spring cleaning

AuntG — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:10:37 GMT

I deep clean over the course of about four weekends in Spring. It's actually kind of fun. Then, until Thanksgiving, when I do another deep cleaning, housework isn't a big priority.

Now, it sounds like your house is far bigger than mine. We have just two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Do you think about downsizing?

Re: Spring cleaning

NickNack — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:09:00 GMT

I started having problems with my back several years ago and have just done basic cleaning since then. After I clean I'm in bed for the rest of the day with a Salon Pas hot pain patch on my back and taking Tylenol Arthritis. I should have done this at the time, but finally decided to hire housecleaners that came highly recommended.

The two of them came yesterday. I didn't expect them to do nearly as much as they did. They even cleaned my baseboards without my asking. They moved all of my furniture and cleaned behind it. They did a great job. I'm going to have them come once a month and try to keep up with it myself between times. It will be so much easier.

I have several projects for this summer. I'm going to try to clean out all of my closets and put everything I don't want in my garage. Then I'm going to hire someone (maybe like Junk Bee Gone) to come and take everything from my garage except what I plan to donate. Then I will call someone to come and take my donated items. I'm so glad to be getting this done.

Re: Spring cleaning

LindaSal — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 12:33:22 GMT

I still do spring cleaning and fall cleaning. In the spring I wash down all my kitchen cabinets and appliances etc. I wipe down the woodwork with the mop when I'm washing floors. In the fall I wash all of my windows. Throughout the year I do try to keep a pretty tidy house........however there is so much more to life so I try to stop and smell the roses too! It's a balancing act.

Re: Spring cleaning

Shorty2U — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 05:11:18 GMT

Sorry I took long to reply back I had to recouperate one day (since my granddaughter left lol.). Thank you for the replies and the upstairs looks amazing. I just have some pictures to go through, to give my kids their older child hoood pics once and for all. And I have to go through and get my warm weather clothing out and pack away my Winter clothing. Anyway I think you have a point here, for the deep cleaning maybe take 1 room a week or something instead of how we crammed 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms into 2 days of heavy duty cleaning. (Because even my granddaughter said her back hurt and shes young and she does yoga! lol).

Re: Spring cleaning

Snoopp — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 12:53:39 GMT

I can't find a cleaning lady (not a crew), so I do it year round, but I plan to downsize a little when I move. I know I'll feel better with less to keep clean. The baseboards alone are impossible to keep up with.

Re: Spring cleaning

151949 — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 14:56:27 GMT

I used to always have a lot of comp time when I was working. Once a year - in the spring - my DH would have to go to his jobs convention for a week. I would take that week off from work and clean like crazy. I even washed the walls, cleaned every cupboard , drawer etc in the house. Cleaned every window and all the window treatments.Somehow I managed to get it all done , all by myself, in that week. I literally cleaned from morning til I went to bed every day.

Now I fall house clean here in Florida when we get home from Pa. and I spring houseclean when we get up to camp - but that is much simpler than cleaning a house. My DH does have to help me now so it goes slowly. You are so lucky to have grandkids available to help you.

Last fall I did a major purge of all the storage places in this house, so this coming fall it should be fairly light work.

Re: Spring cleaning

151949 — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 14:59:01 GMT

@Pook wrote:
I never understood the total cleaning a couple of times a year. If you don't allow a complete dirty mess to accumulate anywhere why is it needed?!! I hate housework but break it up in smaller tasks all year and everything stays nice with no need to take the whole house apart. I don't like spending a whole lot of time doing housework so I usually do something every day very early as I'm an early riser. I don't do a whole room at one time very often but by doing a bit each morning I accomplish more without really taxing myself much.

So your moving your furniture and cleaning behind it everty day? And pulling the contents out of cupboards and drawers to clean them , and washing your walls? That is the cleaning this OP is talking about.

Re: Spring cleaning

RedTop — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:15:04 GMT

No, I am not into routine spring cleaning. However, in light of my upcoming knee surgery, I have cleaned several areas of my home that I know I won't be able to do for awhile. My house is much easier to keep clean with ceramic tile, and wood floors, instead of carpet.

Re: Spring cleaning

Lucky Charm — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 01:40:23 GMT

I'm a glorified cleaning lady.

I do spring cleaning in three houses. From top to bottom and even lightly pressure wash the outsides and patios/pavement.

Four times a year. By summer it will be four houses.

DH helps, but most of it is done by me. You couldn't pay me to have someone else do it. No one does it like me.

I consider it a workout. It pays off in the long run.

Re: Spring cleaning

Nomorebirthdays — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 18:49:23 GMT

Yes, I like to clean but I can't do it all day. I do the big spring and fall cleaning a room at a time, and I have my adult sons or husband move the furniture. I clean something most everyday so nothing gets ahead of me.

Re: Spring cleaning

MaRina — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 22:10:00 GMT

YES!

I'm a cleaning machine LOL. I clean everyday and deep clean spring and fall. Not just a good deep cleaning but also the time to change smoke alarm and carbon monoxide batteries.

I clean blindes and ceiling fans often they seem to be dust collectors. This spring has been easier because we had to move EVERYTHING to have our new wood floors installed!

Re: Spring cleaning

Mominohio — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 00:12:27 GMT

Spring and deep cleaning are alive and well at my house.

I can't do it as fast as I used to, and I have come up with a system that works for me to spread it out in the winter months, but I personally couldn't live in my house if it didn't get done at least once a year.

I start in January by cleaning out and organizing and purging every drawer, closet and cupboard in my home. This doesn't mean that I don't tidy up any one of those things at other times during the year if they get messy or too full, but beginning in late January every year, every single one gets trashed out completely many things thrown out/donated, washed and cleaned (along with the contents inside if necessary, like infrequently used dishes in the kitchen, or extra towels and sheets in the linen closets).

Then I move on to one room at a time being completely cleaned down. For bedrooms, that is all curtains and bedding removed, washed ironed (not sheets!) and replaced. All windows walls, baseboards and furniture washed (use Murphy's Oil soap for everything but windows). Carpets steam cleaned (some years I don't do this until later in the summer). Every lamp shade is swept, every lantern, candle, knick knack is washed and cleaned to a sparkle. Any upholstered furniture is steam cleaned. There isn't a surface or a thing in any room that isn't washed and cleaned.

I start in the smaller rooms and upstairs, and work my way to the bottom of the house. It takes me at least a week, sometimes two or three, depending on how I feel.

I do see why some people spread it out throughout the year, and deep clean maybe one room per month or something, but I prefer to have the whole house sparkling clean at one time, if I can continue to do it that way.

I think that this type of cleaning overwhelms some people, especially if they have a lot of stuff to clean around and move. I'll admit my house is full. I have lots of furniture to move and lots of 'things' that I use in decor that have to be cleaned. I have simplified some, and know that when the time comes, I will scale back more, but until then, I choose to go to the effort it takes to clean all the things, because I love the look of my rooms and enjoy my things.

I do a fall cleaning but much less intense, because we have lots of outside clean up in the fall to do, and I can't get to the inside as deeply (nor do I think that curtains need washed twice a year, or walls washed more than once either). I often steam clean the upholstered furniture again, and the main pathways of the rooms with carpet.

I have discussed cleaning with many women in the past and find that my weekly cleaning is what many consider deep cleaning. I do many of my windows weekly (because I have finally got those great tilt in easy to do kind!!), as well as ceiling fans, baseboards, cabinet fronts etc. I clean something every day, and I don't hate doing it. I actually enjoy cleaning and organizing. My big challenge is downsizing the amount of many things I have. I'm getting better at it, but still have a long way to go with that.

Re: Spring cleaning

september — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 01:05:49 GMT

I clean inside year round, but in the spring, add the following chores: window washing and scrubbing all the outdoor furniture.