Do You Really Need to “Spring Clean” Your Home

Do You Really Need to “Spring Clean” Your Home? Here’s What Experts Had to Say

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I live in the Northeast, and I am so over winter. The good news is that I have been using all this time indoors to quickly clean and declutter my home, and now I am looking forward to it being warmer. I’ve even promised myself that I would learn to love spring cleaning this year if it meant I would be able to open a window or a door without getting frostbite!

I’ve always found the concept of spring cleaning to be overwhelming. I tried bargaining with myself this year: If I clean and tidy up more often, the dust and dirt won’t have time to stick around, so there might not be a need to spring clean after all! A good plan in theory, but there really is something to be said for a deeper clean of your space as the seasons change

To get some inspiration for tackling this task, I spoke to a few pro cleaners about the long-standing history of spring cleaning. Turns out there are some really good reasons for this to be the season to do it. Even better? I discovered some new ways to make it easier this year.

Should You “Spring Clean” Your Home?

Spring cleaning was an essential time-honored tradition in which people would thoroughly clean their homes in the springtime after a cold winter. Back when everyone used a fireplace to keep warm in the winter months, spring cleaning was a necessity to get all the soot out, says Robin Murphy, president of Maid Brigade in White Plains, New York. Even with today’s more advanced HVAC systems, getting the dust out is better for our breathing, she adds.

It makes sense that spring would be a fitting time to want to get your home tidy. “It’s the time when people feel like cleaning,” says Logan Taylor, president and founder of The Dazzle Cleaning Company. “They want to freshen their homes.”

Aside from the return of warmer weather — at least I hope so — spring cleaning can also spring from preparation for hosting the religious holidays that take place this time of year, Murphy says. For example, those who celebrate the Iranian or Persian New Year take part in a tradition known as Khane Tekani, which is literally translated to “shaking the house.”

But if you’re not religious or you just so happen to live where it’s warm year-round, you don’t get a pass on a proper house cleaning. “Spring cleaning isn’t as vital as it used to be, but a deep clean is still important for getting to things we don’t clean regularly,” Murphy says.