Not Your Grandma’s Spring Cleaning

I spent my childhood visiting their home for a week every summer. After two days on the road, I crawled out of the way, way back of my family’s brown Oldsmobile station wagon and raced up the steps to greet my grandparents on their porch. In the cool evenings, I ran barefoot in the soft green grass of their Pennsylvania yard, chasing lightning bugs with my siblings.  

PapPap and Grandma’s old home was always clean with nary a dust bunny or window smudge. Even their basement was spotless, every item in its proper place, the concrete floor gleaming where the sunlight hit just right. Both of my grandparents worked hard to create a tidy, well-kept home that felt warm and welcoming but it was Grandma who managed the cleaning. And boy, did she.

Spring cleaning, a process that looks like regular cleaning on steroids, is The Deep Clean most of us do sometime between winter and summer. It usually includes purging excess or completing seasonal chores like washing curtains, wiping down walls, dusting those hard-to-reach spaces, or decluttering a closet, a room, the garage, attic, or basement. 

My grandma was queen of The Deep Clean. Think Mr. Myagi with a dust rag, Pledge, and a broom tucked behind his black belt. I could see my face on the sleek glass tops of my grandparent’s 1970’s wooden side tables. While Mr. Rogers asked to be my neighbor, I sat at Grandma’s feet, her strong fingers weaving French braids into my wild mane. Even as a 7 year-old on her living room floor, I remember thinking, “This carpet sure is clean and where’s the TV dust?” 

Maybe Grandma inherited her penchant for The Deep Clean from her mother. 

Maybe her scouring skills spanned generations. 

Maybe she felt nearer to God whilst on her knees, a bucket of clean water and vinegar in tow. 

Or maybe she lived by the shame-inducing adage ‘cleanliness is next to godliness.’ 

I don’t really know.

What I do know is that I’m a branch grown from the same roots of her family tree but I seem to have bent in a slightly different direction. You won’t find those immaculately clean windows and spit-shine floors in our home. In fact, the bookshelf behind me could use a good dusting right about now. But Fridays are for dusting and it’s only Wednesday so dusting will have to wait (maybe another week because this week is already off the rails).

Like many of you, I deep clean once or twice a year. Rather than follow in the footsteps of my dear grandma however, I’ve bushwhacked my own path toward The Deep Clean. 

For the past several years, I’ve had neither the time nor the energy to dedicate to the hard core cleaning of Grandma’s, even Mom’s, era. While I’m grateful for their spic ‘n’ span example and value the rhythms they modeled, I’ve had to chart a different course that serves the current needs of my family and home without leaving me wracked with guilt over not meeting a certain standard. 

We all lead different lives with varying responsibilities, schedules, levels of tolerance, and roommates. While there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to spring cleaning, we can all agree that it needs done. 

So, rather than hand you a detailed list of what to clean and how and when to clean, I’m sharing 3 simple steps to take when The Deep Clean feels overwhelming and you need a basic plan.

1. Start small. Most of us don’t have time to clean every nook and cranny in our homes in a week or a month, much less a day. Pick one room / drawer / cupboard / closet to tackle within the time that you have and then move on to the next space when you can. If you’re feeling stuck on where to start, begin with the area you use most frequently or whichever space feels like the biggest frustration right now.
2. Set a schedule.  Make a list of what needs cleaned or decluttered, then prioritize your list. My spring cleaning includes washing windows, scrubbing the upstairs floors, and cleaning out books / toys / clothes / cupboards / closets. It’s been a rainy spring here in MD, so I worked on indoor tasks first before finally getting to the windows. (And a few jobs are on hold until the kids are done with school. Whatever.) The point is, you get to decide what works best for you. No shame. 
3. Find help.  Maybe you like to work alone–I get that. But if you need help, take time to consider what that looks like in this season. Are your kids old enough or able to assist? How can you include a spouse or friend? Could you hire a sitter? Is it cost effective to find a housekeeper for the lighter jobs while you clean out what no longer belongs? Whatever you decide, remember that help is always available–sometimes you just need to ask for it. 

The Deep Clean doesn’t have to mirror your grandma’s or your parent’s in order to be effective. This process has to fit your home, your life. You’re not spring cleaning just for the sake of cleaning but to give your family and guests a clean space where they can feel at home–where they can belong without feeling overwhelmed by dirt and excess stuff. And when it’s time for The Deep Clean, simply start small, set a schedule, and find help. 

If you’d like more specific guidance on how to move forward in this, you can email me at kateecarper@gmail.com. I’d love to work with you.  

Featured image by Alex Lrvs at Unsplash