When the Chinese New Year is approaching, it is a common practice among Chinese families to initiate an extensive house cleaning process before this important day. This action marks the start of the holiday period and is fondly known as spring cleaning.
So, why do we do spring cleaning prior to Chinese New Year and what does it symbolise? Well, some people believe that by doing spring cleaning, we are cleaning away the dust from our house which would help to garner good luck to the family. The rationale is that our house attracts lots of energy and the presence of dust in the home would then attract negative energy. Therefore, by removing dust from our house, it will help attract positive energy.
Not sure where to start for spring cleaning? Fret not as we share with you a list of items to get you started!
Plan your schedule!
Before you start doing any cleaning, it is important to plan your cleaning schedule and spread the cleaning over a few days to avoid tiring yourself during the spring cleaning process. By planning your intent of cleaning over a few days, it helps you to organise your cleaning process, making it easier for you to focus on the various areas of cleaning.
Discard the unnecessary stuff
Look around to discard those unnecessary items and tidy up the areas before commence cleaning. This will help to ease the headache of cleaning your place. One way to decide if you should keep or discard your stuff is to ask yourself if the item still serves its purpose to you and if you really need the item. The more items you discard, the easier it will be in the later stage during the spring cleaning.
Start from the personal spaces
Start cleaning from bedrooms, study rooms which are smaller areas and more private to personal usage. A smaller private area can be first cleaned as it is easier to maintain the tidiness of a private room as compared to an area that is commonly accessed by family members. Closer to the Chinese New Year period, a touch up cleaning of simple dusting and wiping would then be sufficient to get you all ready for the festive season!
Cleaning the common spaces
Last but not least, the common area should be the last place in the house to be clean for your spring cleaning. It is advisable to arrange for the cleaning of the common area just a few days before the Chinese New Year to ensure the cleanliness of the area to welcome the festive season.
With a high traffic flow on the common areas, a daily low maintenance cleaning of dusting and mopping would be ideal to maintain the cleanliness and tidiness of the area.
With a hectic and busy lifestyle, spring cleaning can be intimidating and bothersome. You may be happy to know that there are cleaning companies that you could engage to help with your pre-CNY spring cleaning! Do not miss out on the promotions that they are running during the festive season!
