You need to clear before you can clean

Spring Clearing Week: 24-30 March 2018

No, I haven’t misspelt that: I do mean Spring CLEARING week!

Spring is a wonderful time of renewal and growth; the days are getting longer and many of us enjoy an increase in energy levels and have a spring in our step! It’s a great time to take stock of what you want to achieve in the coming year.

In many cultures, it is also a time when people carry out an in-depth clean of their homes, and shake off the winter blues with a spring clean.

Origins

Historically, spring cleaning has been linked to several religious celebrations:

• The Iranian practice of “khooneh tekouni” (which literally means “shaking the house”) just before thePersian new year
• The ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in anticipation of the springtime festival of Passover
• Traditionally, the Catholic church thoroughly cleans the church altar and everything associated with it on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday
• In Greece, and other Orthodox nations, it is traditional to clean the house from top to bottom either just before or during the first week of Lent

And there are some more practical historical reasons too:

• During the 19th century, prior to the advent of the vacuum cleaner, March was often the best time for dusting because it was getting warm enough to open windows and doors but it wasn’t warm enough for insects to be a problem
• In industrial areas, spring was often a time of year when coal furnaces wouldn’t run so you could wash away all the soot which had built up over the winter

Times are changing

However, it seems that people are no longer carrying out an in-depth domestic clean every spring. In 2017 MoneyMagpie undertook a survey of nearly 1,000 people to learn more about current attitudes in the UK towards spring cleaning. The results of the survey revealed some very interesting facts:

• 14% of respondents said they had abandoned the traditional yearly task simply because they didn’t have time, citing work and office pressures, but also family commitments at weekends
• 30% said they didn’t need to carry out a deep clean as their houses were kept ‘clean and tidy’ all year round
• 6% said they didn’t need to carry out a deep clean as their houses as they employ regular cleaners
• 11% admitted they simply “couldn’t be bothered” with a spring clean, and that a tidy, de-cluttered home was not a priority for them
• However, more than 80% said they still carried out at least one deep clean a year, with nearly one in five conducting four or more, but that they were no longer done specifically during the Spring.

Time to take stock

However, APDO Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers is keen to ensure that this valuable opportunity to take stock and clear the decks of any physical (and consequently mental) clutter is not abandoned. They want to emphasise the benefits of at annual review of our ‘stuff’ and they have launched Spring Clearing Week in 2018 to raise public awareness.

APDO members believe you need to clear before you can clean. If you can’t move in your own space, then cleaning it is quite difficult!

How can APDO members help?

The task of tackling clutter on your own can feel overwhelming. This is when an expert can work with you and clear a path through the mess, and the stress it causes, to reveal a calmer life and home.

Working in partnership with you, a professional organiser can suggest ways of making the most of the space you have. You’ll be able to find everything you need, whenever you need it and you will find it easier to keep control your belongings.

APDO members have helped thousands of people all over the country save time and money by sorting out their stuff. Find inspiration and motivation via the guest blogs on the News & Media page or on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google Plus.

Spring Clearing Week aims to inspire people to think about the clutter they are living with and encourage them to do something about it. Of course, APDO members provide one-to-one support all year round. You can find a local organiser here.

Carefully Sorted is proud to be a member of APDO The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers.

https://www.apdo.co.uk