In cleaning my home, I have made an investment
As we climb into the car after a long flight and an even longer wait for our luggage, all I can think is, “I’m ready to be back in my own home, in my own bed”. The hours pass in the car, and we finally arrive. We leave the bags in the car; we will deal with it tomorrow. Right now, we just need to rest. We unlock the deadbolt and enter our spotless home after a week of traveling. All results of home cleaning.
The floors are spotless and shiny. The couch is free from the clutter of daily life: blankets, game controllers, water bottles. I stop through the kitchen for a quick snack, opening the cupboards in search of a power bar and admiring the clean counters and shiny appliances. Our dining room table is free of clutter except for a few plants and a stack of mail.
Finally, my appetite satiated, we struggle to the bedroom. Our eyes are heavy, our limbs weary. We want nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep through the night. Our bedroom floor still looks freshly vacuumed and our bed is still made from the week before. We pull back the comforter and bury our faces in the pillows. Then we pull the clean sheets around us, inhaling the aroma of fresh lavender and orange. Finally, we fall asleep in meadows. It’s a wonderful feeling to come home to a clean house after a week of living out of a suitcase.
Here is why
However, the reward comes from a few days of struggle before we left for vacation. I split the tasks over a few days, beginning with the rooms we use the least and ending with the spaces, we used the most. I tackled the spare rooms first, changing the sheets and vacuuming the carpets, airing out the closets and Fe-breezing each room before closing it. Next, I focused on the glass in our home, polishing and cleaning all mirrors, windows, and doors with glass cleaner and a coffee filter. Using a filter instead of a towel or paper towel leaves the glass sparkling instead of lined with smears and smudges.
My last step for this day of home cleaning consisted of cleaning the bathrooms. I scoured the tubs and toilets, cleaning hair from drains and stains from porcelain. The knobs and fixtures shone from the lemon-vinegar mixture I used. I wiped out the sinks and organized my beauty products. Finally, I swept and mopped the floors, careful to reach into the corners with a scrub brush. This will remove any debris my regular mop may have missed. Although we still had a day left to use the bathroom, I made my husband promise to aim carefully every time he used the bathroom!
During our final day before leaving (our plane left at midnight), I finished by cleaning the areas we used the most. I began with our bedroom, washing the sheets, doing loads of laundry, and packing our suitcases for our long journey. Then I vacuumed the carpet of our bedroom, focusing on the corners for sneaky dust bunnies. I used my long attachments to sweep cobwebs from the ceiling. I replaced the sheets with clean ones and sprayed a natural, organic orange spray through the room. Then I closed it as I had the guest rooms.
When your mind is full and cluttered, your kitchen table should not be
I focused on the kitchen next, scrubbing counter tops and cleaning out the fridge, emptying it of any food that might spoil after our trip. Then I prepared a meal using most of this perishable food for our drive. Though I threw the rest in the compost bin before sealing it. I moved to the dining room and living room. Then I recycled any scraps of paper or cardboard that may have been left on the kitchen table.
I dusted the coffee table and bookshelf, shook the rug, and vacuumed the couch. Finally, I swept and scrubbed these floors as I had the floors in my bathrooms. However, these three open rooms share a hardwood floor. So I finished with a wood varnish that made them gleam in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. I gave every room one last spritz of orange spray before loading our suitcases into the car.
The result of home cleaning
As I closed the door to our house, I looked forward to a vacation, but more than that, I looked forward to returning home afterwards. In having a clean house, I have made an investment. I decided that I valued the comfort of cleanliness and a clutter-free life. In the age of constant communication, constant availability, packed schedules, and stressful lifestyles, it is important to have something simple to come back to. My favorite cleaning quote is “When your mind is full and cluttered, your kitchen table should not be”. In the age of no time and even less money, keeping a clean house may be the least of your worries, but it can also alleviate some of the worst of them. And because I enjoy it, I have a mental note of my house cleaning list.
I find cleaning to be therapeutic, or even metaphoric. Like a long, hot shower to clear your head and clean your body after a stressful day, cleansing the home not only rids it of toxins and bacteria. I feel that it cleanses it of bad feelings, negative emotions, and adds positive energy to the space where you spend your time relaxing.
Here is to creating a safe and comfortable clean house, to ridding your life and home of clutter and dirt. Here is to taking fifteen minutes out of your day to wipe down a counter, to pick up the dog toys, to make the bed. Clear your home of unwanted messes and you can clear your life of them as well. It is not easy, but it is all worth it to return to a clean house. To enter your space that is free of clutter, unworried by germs or bugs or dirt. And fall into the comfort of a warm bed with clean sheets. To begin your life after vacation feeling refreshed and new, invigorated and ready to tackle even the toughest messes in your life.
For more on keeping a clean home here are Top 10 tips to keeping a clean house
— Sydnie Olliff
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