It’s okay to admit it, we all love spring cleaning! Normally, deep cleaning the house is a drudgerous chore but when the seasons turn and the sun decides to put his hat on, this once menial task takes on a new sense of purpose and significance.
The good old fashioned spring clean is actually a time-honored tradition going back centuries, echoed across a range of cultural and religious traditions. In Jewish customs, for example, the Passover represents a particularly special time for the Jewish community as it marked the end of their bondage in Egypt.
In various Christian traditions, including Catholics, who clean their parish churches altar the day before Good Friday. While those in the Greek Orthodoxy clean the house vigorously for the week before Lent.
Likewise, the Persian New Year celebration of Nowruz coincides with the first day of spring and traditionally involves a process of “shaking the house”, spring cleaning and spending more time with family and friends.
It’s quite telling that the spring cleaning instinct transcends barriers of culture, tradition, and geography.
Of course, it’s also human nature that the longer days, and the warmer and more hospitable weather would fill us with a renewed sense of hope and optimism. It speaks to something primal in our psychology, telling us that it’s okay to come out of our caves and start foraging for food now that the crops have begun growing on the trees for us to harvest and enjoy.
It’s a time when we cast aside the old and all the psychological and emotional trappings that come with it. We rid ourselves of clutter and the psychological barriers that it places upon us and invite in the new with a sense of newfound optimistic cheer.
But while the act of spring cleaning can be psychologically liberating, it also presents us with an opportunity to carry out some much-needed maintenance which will save us a lot of money throughout the coming year.
Thrifty households will find all sorts of ways to save money this season, and by incorporating some of the following activities into your spring cleaning regimen, you can ensure a year of prosperity without any unpleasant home maintenance surprises lurking around the corner:
Clean the pool
If you’re lucky enough to own your own pool, this is usually a symbol of wealth, prosperity and success… But this doesn’t mean that you’re above saving good money on pool care if you can.
Good maintenance is essential to maintaining a healthy and beautiful pool. But in the colder months when it sees little or no action it’s not surprising that many owners let their pools go to seed. Nonetheless, before you start using the pool again, get a professional like ABC Home and Commercial Pool Services to give it the once-over.
A pro will be able to clean and maintain your pool in a way that ensures you won’t have an expensive repair in the summer months.
This could mean something as simple as skimming out debris and ensuring that the water is pure and clear. It could also mean testing the pool’s pH, chlorine levels, alkalinity, calcium hardness and cyanuric acid to ensure that the composition of the water in your area doesn’t damage the intricate workings of your pump.
If necessary they can even drain the pool and wash it in acid to ensure a flawlessly clean look. Sure, this may require an upfront cost (unless you’re prepared to put the time and effort into doing it yourself), but it will give you a perfectly healthy and crystal clear pool that’s just perfect for the spring.
Clean out your AC
You’ll likely become a lot more reliant on your AC as the summer months approach. But if you don’t put the effort into ensuring that your AC is clean and well maintained now, it’s likely that it could cost you a great deal later in both repair costs and in unwanted medical bills.
Spring is a perfect time to carry out a deep clean and service of your AC unit to make sure that it’s functioning optimally and doing its job in filtering out pollutants and allergens. Replace the filters to ensure that harmful dust, pollen, and animal dander aren’t getting into the air in your home and interfering with your health.
Cleaning your AC unit will also help to rid the internal workings of harmful bacteria like the Legionella Pneumophila which results in Legionnaires disease. These nasty bacteria can enter your body through moisture particles in the air from an unclean AC unit.
While you can clean out your own AC unit; a pro will be able to tell you what you can do to make it as energy efficient as possible and make savings all year round.
While you’re at it, take some time to give your ductwork a thorough inspection as this too could end up costing you a small fortune in wasted energy (and even risk damaging your unit itself).
Turn the clutter into cash
Removing clutter is an essential and psychologically important aspect of spring cleaning.
Clutter is a surprisingly oppressive presence in the house and it can not only make concentrating difficult, it can aid depression and anxiety. But as tempting as it may be to throw it all straight into the trash, could at least some of it be turned into cash?
Clean and lightly worn clothes are pretty much always of value to someone on eBay as are your books, DVDs, and CDs. If you’re prepared to inventory them, post them online then keep them somewhere out of sight and out of mind until they’re all sold you can kill two birds with one stone.
Keep an eye out for unwelcome guests
It’s unlikely that you’ll be getting as comprehensive a look at your house as this in a few months, so while you’re cleaning and scrubbing every room of the house, keep an eye out for signs of unwelcome guests who could prove troublesome in later months.
Knowing how to spot signs of flea larvae, bed bugs or the early signs of termite infestation could save you a small fortune in professional exterminators’ costs later on down the line, while also giving you the peace of mind of knowing that only your family and guests will be enjoying the ambience of your home this season.
