We’re in the midst of spring cleaning over here, but our spring cleaning tends to flow into other seasons as well. I’m not a fan of clutter, so if an item no longer serves a purpose in our home, it goes into the donation/giveaway pile pretty quick. I usually drop off items to various places about once a month.
Here are some of the things we have on our list this season:
•Clean out the towels and linens
This is a great opportunity to turn old towels into rags to use around the house. Also, check with your local animal shelter, they often collect towels and/or bedding.
•Go through our closets. With the change of seasons and two growing kiddos, I know there are things they have outgrown. Our neighbors are foster parents, so they get a lot of our hand-me-downs. It feels good to have less in the kids’ closets, feels like it may be easier and less overwhelming for them to get dressed each day. And I feel the same! I have a tendency to reach for the same things, so I take spring cleaning as an opportunity to weed through my closet and find new homes for the pieces I’m no longer reaching for.
•The pantry is next. I gather up the snacks the kids decided they don’t like anymore, the impulsive items I purchased at the grocery store that have just been staring back at me from the shelf (just like those clothes I don’t wear), or things I don’t think we will eat before their expiration date. Some items go to my daughter’s teacher for her snack cabinet, some items to neighbors and a lot goes to the food collection bin at our church.
•One place I’ve also overlooked is my bathroom. Time to look through the cabinet for expired medications (most drug stores have a bin inside where you can drop medicine safely). I’m also planning to look through my make up bag for items past their prime. Some brands have in-house recycling programs or will even refill products at a lower cost. Be sure to check, I know I will!
•This time of year, we set aside a weekend morning to re-mulch the beds in our yard. We had help from some neighbor kids last year and they found a frog in our front garden bed! I nearly jumped to the street, but they swooped in and enjoyed playing with him for the day! We like to add fresh new mulch to help our trees retain moisture for the hot Texas summer months.
And a few of the ongoing things we do around the house include:
-dust the top of the ceiling fans
-vacuum out car seats
-wipe down the shelves in the fridge
-clean filters in the dishwasher and washing machine
And it’s important to remember that “clean” doesn’t have to smell like bleach or toxic chemicals. If it smells toxic, it probably is toxic. Chose a cleaner clean.