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Taming the Chaos ~ Fall Cleaning

9:46 AM, Oct. 6, 2009

In ages past spring was the most practical time to deep clean. Homes were heated through the winter by burning coal or wood, and while cozy and quaint it was a bit sooty. Even today spring inspires us to enjoy a breath of fresh air in many ways, but no longer is spring necessarily the undisputed time to deep clean. For most of us fall is equally logical.

Personally, I like to know that the house is clean before we shut ourselves in for the winter, so I do my biggest deep clean in autumn, then do a slightly lighter round in the spring.

Our fall scrub-down includes taking every book off every bookshelf to clean each dusty ledge and binding, cleaning upholstery, washing the window panes (inside outside and in between), evacuating the dead moths from summer out of the light fixtures, and wiping out each drawer and cupboard. We clean the carpets, flip and air the mattresses, and wash the comforters, bedspreads and pillow shams.

Through the course of my adult life "autumnal deep cleaning" has taken two days, two weeks, and most recently two months. My time frame for this cleaning has altered through the years, and will vary greatly in different households depending on several factors:

size house
amount of clutter
age of helpers
other commitments

As newly weds my husband and I would work together and deep clean everything over 2-3 days. A solid weekend was sufficient to scrub out every crevice of our two bedroom apartment.

Later, with a couple of small children in a medium sized home, it took a little longer--about 2 weeks (usually two weekends and fitting in what we could through the work week in between.) Now, although we have five small helpers, our days are pretty busy, and I'm looking at 2 months.

This year it seems important to keep school as top priority and not push aside our regular routine for cleaning (schooling had already been pushed aside earlier in the year for sickness, and then further derailed by several fun excursions). This year cleaning has to fit in around the edges of life. (I'm a month in and half done, and so far have been able to keep the schedule I set for myself in early September!) Years from now, with more mature helpers we may be able to get back to the 2 weeks, or better yet, 2 days, but for now, we are talking months. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Whatever time frame is realistic for your life at the moment, I suggest breaking down the cleaning into smaller, more bite-sized chunks. Most of my break-downs are room-by-room. One week is the master bedroom and bath, and another week the living room/dining room. The kitchen had a week all its own. There are a few jobs that are best to do by type of chore instead of location--windows for instance. I like to do all the windows at once (and we did ours just this past Saturday!) I like to only lug the ladder out once for all the outside windows, and it seems to go faster once we get a rhythm to it.

My task this coming week is the master bedroom. It holds special excitement for me because I have a new bedding set I'll put on when I finish my tasks.

What will your fall cleaning entail?

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.

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10:45 AM, Oct. 6, 2009, posted by Anonymous

Dell, I have a confession. I've never deep cleaned (gasp). Yes, I know. Never.

Is there a Deep Cleaning for Dummies book or website? I don't even know where to start.

You amaze me!

Dawn (HK)

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