Modern Spring Cleaning Tips

I remember stories of Spring Cleaning at my Grandmothers’ house; keep in mind, told by Mom, Aunts, and Uncles responsible for most of the labor. All the closets were emptied, every piece of clothing taken outside and beaten free of dust. Next went the furniture out into the yard, rugs and curtains too. The walls, trim, and floors cleaned spotless, then everything wiped down or beaten again before it came back inside to be laundered or carefully placed back in its place. On a bad year, Grandpa decided this was the most opportune time to paint! Today I wonder how many of us actually have the time to move a bed or the stove once, at a time of the year, and clean under it thoroughly. How about he coils on the refrigerator? I confess… mine is two years old and I do not know where they are hidden back there. The young unemployed “techie” across the street recently helped me put more memory in my computer tower. In the process he suggested we take it outside and blow the dust out of. I vacuum the screen on that thing every month, yet I have never seen a cloud of dust as big as the one that came out of that machine. So how do we keep up? What do we need to do help loved ones with allergies breathe easier… or prevent them form developing allergies? I say divide and conquer! Here are some tips that may keep the task from being so overwhelming: -Never dust with a dry cloth unless it is designed to attract dust with moisture. Same goes for floors, dry brooms are for when the cereal gets knocked over, not for routine use on large surfaces. Suction from a vacuum and dampness are the answers. -Many folks decorate for at least four major holidays. These are good times to wipe pictures, window sills, shelves, and nick-knacks. Open the windows and vacuum the outside part of the dills too. Beware of lead dust in houses built before 1978! -Do one or two rooms a month! Pick the first Saturday or what works for you and move all of the furniture around. Look at the bottom of it, use a flashlight if necessary. Get all the dust you can, and always look in the corners of the rooms and around the windows for early signs of mold. -LOOK in your vents or radiators. Air flows through both types of heating devices. My new favorite trick is to use the camera on my cell phone and stick it where my head will not fit, taking a picture of the dust or radiator bottom to see what is in there. -Change you air filter. Base the frequency on run time hours if possible, but for most of us it is just easier to do this the first of every month. Ignore the propaganda on the filter packaging, if it is 1″ thick it does not last 3 months under continued use! -Involve the whole family, teach them how to keep their indoor environment clean and healthy, share the work and talk. These strategies will develop good habits and will become more customized to your own house as you go. It will also help to keep a consistently low dust level as opposed to having a spotless house for one week each spring, then slowly building back up to intolerable levels.