Fall cleaning?

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

So often I hear of Spring cleaning and realized in my family its very much the opposite lol.

To us Fall is the time to hunker down and start getting rid of things we have accumulated over the past year.
We go through all the food and toss things that are expired, we get rid of random cardboard boxes, we clean out the hair and body products we have bought and decided we don't like, go through clothes and donate items etc.

Anyone else do Fall cleaning instead of Spring cleaning or do you kinda just do "season changing" cleaning multiple times a year?

 

[LuvOrlando]

I aim for seasonal but after emptying the family home to move I realize I was not doing as great a job as I thought and renting a dumpster every now and then is amazing.

I never thought I could fill one but I filled four dumpsters, live and learn.

 

[hertamaniac]

I do a winter cleaning. It's really the only time where I can attack my garage and not have it feel like a sauna. I did it last year and was amazed at how much junk I don't use; I'll repeat it again in January.

 

[mistysue]

We haven't done any dramatic cleaning before, but after 20 years in one place, 3 homeschooled kids and being people who go through a lot of games and toys... we're on our second dumpster this week. I'm wondering why a lesser version of this hadn't ever been something we do before. We hadn't been able to use the dining room in years because we had so many old bins in there and it's like we have our house back finally. I refuse to admit how old some of the worst offending expired food was.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I clean as needed. Have ongoing box for donations. I don't do any specific seasonal cleaning.

 

[slo]

I’m a winter cleaner.
January 2nd starts wall washing season for me and after that I start with other things. I’m already dreading it - LOL!

 

[MGMmjl]

We clean as needed. But for the bigger projects, especially if it involves cleaning out the garage, it is usually fall or winter. Being in the South, we don't want to touch the garage in the summer when it's so hot. Even the spring and fall is sometimes too warm to comfortably clean out the garage.

 

[easyas123]

Outside of regular weekly cleanings I often find myself in a purging mode in the fall.
It's a time when I'm moving some clothes in & out of the closets so I usually toss a lot of things and wonder why I bothered to keep them last spring! I usually replace the rug in the sitting room yearly and the fall seems as good a time as any to do that.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My Spring cleaning (mostly for HOA purposes) starts in March, sometimes sooner. AC goes on here in April and gets hot here fast. I like to do the power washing first. We have a neighborhood garage sale every year and a lot has be cleared out.

 

[TippyThomas]

I pretty much deep clean when it's needed. Probably 2 to 3 times a year. I've never associated it with a season or specific time of year.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I refuse to admit how old some of the worst offending expired food was.

Oh don't worry I'm sure I've seen some of the same dates haha.
Our fridge quit in October 2020 and we were tossing things from the freezer from 2003...
And I just cleaned a cupboard last week that had granola bars from 2017 and fruit snacks from 2013. IDK how some things get lost back there lol.

 

[mistysue]

Oh don't worry I'm sure I've seen some of the same dates haha.
Our fridge quit in October 2020 and we were tossing things from the freezer from 2003...
And I just cleaned a cupboard last week that had granola bars from 2017 and fruit snacks from 2013. IDK how some things get lost back there lol.

There were items from before we renovated the kitchen, so someone moved EXPIRED food from an old cabinet to a new one. I've never understood how that even happens.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Oh don't worry I'm sure I've seen some of the same dates haha.
Our fridge quit in October 2020 and we were tossing things from the freezer from 2003...
And I just cleaned a cupboard last week that had granola bars from 2017 and fruit snacks from 2013. IDK how some things get lost back there lol.

I guess having teens in the house helps as we don't have expired food sitting around lol.

For the amount we spend on groceries not much goes to waste. Nothing in the freezer is expired, etc. We just buy according to our planned meals. We don't have tons of food sitting in the bottom of a freezer.

Only expired food I ever throw out is like salad dressing or sour cream that recently turned. Or occasional veggie that didn't get eaten in time.

 

[cabanafrau]

Change of seasons does light a bit of a fire under me to square things up again. Usually things get a bit off track by the time fall rolls around because the summer season requires a lot of attention and time be spent on yard work so some areas indoors don't get as much attention.

 

[Jsharp13]

I completely agree! I have always said it should be fall/winter cleaning instead of spring cleaning! In Michigan, spring and summer are the few times that most of us can go outside and enjoy the weather and outdoor activities. The last thing I feel like doing in the spring is going through boxes of stuff in a basement, or deep cleaning a kitchen, when we'd rather barbeque anyway!
In the fall and winter, we are stuck inside anyway. It cold, dark at 4 pm... what else is there to do but clean and organize? I try to tackle a few decluttering / organization projects that time of year, as well as some deep cleaning projects too.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We're in the Midwest and usually do fall / winter cleaning inside the house and spring cleaning on the exterior of our house, yard and in the garage. And we also do random decluttering when the mood strikes.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We do both but what gets done varies.

We typically clean and organize the garage in the spring and then in the fall, we'll sweep and then wash the floors among other things, swap out the lawn equipment meaning the lawn mower goes in the basement (although that usually isn't until late October/early November depending on when the last cut of the season occurs) and the snow throwing comes up, look at if we need to get ice melt or seed or fertilizer, are the hoses still in good condition.

Then for the backyard it usually occurs a few times a year where we'll sweep off the patio and power wash it. We have a black hickory nut tree that often stains the concrete.

Inside I most often get the bug to go through paperwork in the spring but the winter I'm often more motivate to reorganize stuff. I think being stuck more inside due to the weather makes it easier to get annoyed at how something is organized in the house lol.

Spring time is when we'll do landscape work either edging or mulch or replace or prune plants if needed (though some plants are better replaced and pruned in the fall).

 

[disneyseniors]

I pretty much deep clean when it's needed. Probably 2 to 3 times a year. I've never associated it with a season or specific time of year.

Me too, pretty much. However, In the fall I clean all the windows inside before our harsh winter starts.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We haven't done any dramatic cleaning before, but after 20 years in one place, 3 homeschooled kids and being people who go through a lot of games and toys... we're on our second dumpster this week. I'm wondering why a lesser version of this hadn't ever been something we do before. We hadn't been able to use the dining room in years because we had so many old bins in there and it's like we have our house back finally. I refuse to admit how old some of the worst offending expired food was.

It is shockingly freeing isn't it? I actually get a little surge of joy when I get rid of stuff now. I rehome things to places like Habitat for Humanity or Goodwill because there are so many people in need but I certainly do not need the bajillion plates, utensils and random winter gloves for upstart snowball fights I had when the kids were in HS and my home was a revolving door of humans. I'll keep the memories and ditch the stuff.

 

[mistysue]

It is shockingly freeing isn't it? I actually get a little surge of joy when I get rid of stuff now. I rehome things to places like Habitat for Humanity or Goodwill because there are so many people in need but I certainly do not need the bajillion plates, utensils and random winter gloves for upstart snowball fights I had when the kids were in HS and my home was a revolving door of humans. I'll keep the memories and ditch the stuff.

I was putting a lot of energy into trying to donate, and much of what we have nobody seems to want, but then I was holding things incase someone would need it... and it's pretty much how we got where we are. After this I hope it will be easier to donate little bits here and there because I hate how wasteful this feels, but nobody wants the broken down 15 year old boardgames or half dressed barbies with missing hair.