Erica Rudnick Macalintal
Spring has sprung! The equinox in mid-March makes it official, but Floridians know that spring begins in late February when the powdery-yellow cast begins to coat cars. Given that the air is full of allergens, now is a good time to clear it with spring cleaning. While this can be overwhelming, here are some hacks for making it easier:
Do a good purge.
Some people call this decluttering, but really what you are shooting for is a bigger-than-usual effort to get rid of stuff that has accumulated over the year(s). It may or may not spark joy, but if you haven’t touched or looked at something in over 6 months (and it’s not an heirloom) put it in the to-go pile. Bonus tip: Donate gently used clothing or other items to local charities like The Salvation Army and keep the receipts for tax purposes.
Don’t clean room by room.
This is usually where people get trapped and discouraged; they hyper focus all their energy on one space and lose steam before they can get to the others. A better way to clean is by task. Tackle all the surfaces, then the beds, then the floors, etc. This way, you have incentive to move from one room to the other and if you run out of time, at least each room has gotten some attention.
Wash your linens
A good way to cozy up any home is by including throw blankets, rugs, and pillows, but these can also become dusty and dirty over time. Washing them is a good way to spruce things up. Bonus tip: If your shower curtains are cloth, you can wash them AND your bathmats to give your bathroom an inexpensive facelift (however, please make sure you check the tags on any linens for cleaning instructions to avoid damage).
Open the windows (ALL of them).
Pollen can travel from outdoors into your home via your shoes and clothes, where it then gets trapped circulating through your air-conditioned space. Open the windows to get the oxygen flowing through your home and make the air a little fresher. This also helps in eliminating odors that may have occurred that year from burnt popcorn, pet accidents or other smell-causing events.
Don’t forget about the kitchen
An entire article could be written about properly cleaning kitchen appliances, but this tip focuses exclusively on the consumables in your fridge and pantry. It’s not unusual to chuck shelf-stable products in there and then, well . . . forget about them. Check foods for expiration dates and make sure that you have updated stores of canned goods and water stocked for the upcoming hurricane season, which is right around the corner.
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