I don’t know why they call it spring cleaning. It makes more sense to do this type of work in winter when you can’t get outside.
While you’re wishing spring would hurry up and get here, maybe this would be a good time to do some spring cleaning.
If you’re like me, you’ll like your house a whole lot more when it’s clean. While you’re at it, purge all the things you planned to do something with someday. Then when nicer weather arrives, you’re all set to go out and enjoy it.
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Cleaning
The price of groceries is going up, so save money on cleaning products. Choose ones that perform multiple jobs. Many people have a cupboard full of cleaning products they thought would work but discovered they don’t. Your grandparents had the right idea when they used common household products for double-duty tasks.
Ordinary baking soda is low-cost but amazing, not only for baking but also to remove soap scum and grease in either the bathroom or kitchen. Just sprinkle the dry baking soda on the surface and wipe away with a damp cloth. Most times, you won’t even have to use pressure.
Another great feature of baking soda is it rinses away in a flash, leaving no odour. In fact, it’s used in many places to remove odours. A two-kilogram box can be purchased for about $5 and lasts practically forever. Keep some in a jar in your kitchen for baking and some in a shaker container for cleaning.
For more on baking soda, see “24 surprising uses for baking soda” at bakersappliances.ca.
Vinegar is also an effective cleaner and saves money. A five litre bottle costs about $9 and has no expiry date. I mix a quarter cup in a two-cup spray bottle with water and use it to clean windows, mirrors, and everything in the bathroom.
Here’s a great tip for removing hard-water film: lay a square of toilet paper on the hard water film and soak it with the vinegar-water solution in your spray bottle. Let it sit for 20 minutes, then wipe away.
Vinegar isn’t the answer to all cleaning chores, however, so understand what you’re using. Don’t use it full-strength and don’t mix it with other cleaners. A great article on vinegar is called “All the household items you can clean with vinegar — and a few you can’t”. It can be found on the Global News website.
Purge unwanted items
If anything good can come out of the pandemic, it’s that people are sprucing up their homes. While stuck at home, they’ve looked around the space where they’ve now spent most of their time and decided to finally get those to-do jobs done. They have also noticed the stockpile of surplus stuff in their cupboards and decided to purge them out.
People sometimes shop for reasons other than a physical need. Sometimes it’s to satisfy an emotional need, whether it’s to calm the fears of running out, like toilet paper, or for what we term therapy shopping — shopping for the satisfaction of mingling among people and treating themselves to something new.
Others will buy something because they can’t pass up a sale and buy more than they can reasonably use before it expires or buy clothes they’ll never wear. For all these reasons, a stockpile will gather in closets and basements, never to be used.
It’s a great feeling to clear out those piles of stuff you don’t want but be responsible while getting rid of it. We’re becoming aware that the environment is taking revenge on us for our foolish use of products. In every garbage dump, there is a gargantuan pile of functional products thrown away unused.
In a Wired.com article, Jaime Stathis says, “if you’ve never been to a dump, I recommend it, if only for the eye-opening experience of witnessing the obscene number of usable things that get thrown out, starting with furniture.”
So, if you care about our world, what are you going to do with that closet full of stuff you’ll never use but you want it out of the house?
If you don’t use it, you could at least recoup some of your losses by selling it. Online places like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace are common shopping centres for second-hand buyers. EBay is also an option but you may have your own favourite online shopping place.
You can ask a higher price if the tags are still on or it’s still in its packaging, so think twice about that if you get a gift you’ll never use, for example. Sometimes cash would have been the better gift.
Treat potential customers the same way you want to be treated in a store. Be honest, be friendly and be willing to negotiate. If the clothing is stained or ripped, say so and show it in a photo. If you prefer payment by e-transfer but someone offers full price in cash, be flexible. Show your business-like attitude. Don’t try scamming someone by selling articles that are too damaged to be useful to anyone.
Donate
You may not want to be bothered trying to sell and decide to donate instead. Again, let me say don’t give away garbage. Look at those items with a critical eye.
Development director of Missoula’s YWCA, July Maturen, says in a Wired.com article, “speaking for every thrift store in the world, people feel guilty about throwing away things that are stained and ripped, thinking that someone else can use them. They can’t, and this burdens the thrift stores with people’s trash.”
The breakdown of donation is generally: a third is trash, a third is recycled, and a third is sellable.
You’re not required to be conscientious about where to donate, but realize that once you donate, you’ve supported that company. You may want to consider which companies are non-profit and which are for profit.
YWCA and Salvation Army Thrift Store are non-profit businesses whose sole intent is providing good, usable products at a reduced cost. Donating to a for-profit company is better than throwing it in the dump, however.
Buying in bulk isn’t always a good thing. Reasonable and considerate shopping benefits you as well as others. Now that you’ve gone to all the work of clearing out those piles in your closets, don’t repeat the same mistake and accumulate another pile of unused and unwanted goods. Make next year’s spring cleaning easier.
We’ve learned from our recent history of buying in bulk that we need to consider others. In 2020, a rush on toilet paper, for example, by people who piled their shopping carts high meant that none remained for others. Leave some on the shelves for those coming in the store behind you.
Other reasons for not buying in bulk are a shelf life that expires before you can use it up. Spices lose their flavour over time, so don’t buy those giant bottles unless you own a restaurant. Beauty products have a shelf life, as well.
