A Cleaning Schedule

We have an article about spiritual house cleaning, but I thought I'd share one for the practical side of it all . . . I have my usual house cleaning pattern, but for Passover, it's a whole different ball game. Chametz or leavening is "air borne" so that means house cleaning from top to bottom and best in that order . . . Since there are four kinds of people, I'm going to share the basic 4 different approaches I am aware of. Keep in mind, although I can be amazingly obsessive at times and a bit on the compulsive side on occasion, organizational cleaning is not my long suit, especially in the spring. But this is when YHWH says "clean house," and so I shall.

Plan A. Hire a professional kosher cleaning crew two days before Passover and stay in a hotel until the day of the 13th. Then take in only the proper groceries to prepare for the Passover seder, and the following day. Remember, at Passover, you can eat all night, but no leftovers by morning!
I'm guessing this plan only works for a very few.

Plan B. Find "the list" published by Reform Judaism or Messianic Judaism. They have a special perspective as to how much is really not chametz or leaven. This plan is looking popular this year.

Plan C. This is my plan, because I really can't just rearrange a couple of days for house cleaning only, so I do as I go. I start in the rooms that don't get used too much, and I begin at the new moon, then I close the doors as I go. The guest room is unlikely to be used before Passover, so the deep cleaning is underway. I wash windows while the curtains are washing, vacuum, dust and all that goes with a good cleaning so that includes closet,drawers, and shelves. I use disposable dusting cloths, so I can wash my regular one with rugs and mop heads and not have any dust on it when Passover arrives. I wash my mop heads before and after the deep scrubs so I'm sure to get new clean when I clean! At any rate, every day or every other day is a room or two. Enough curtains, etc. for a load of laundry and the deep clean. So far, the guest room and the guest bathroom will be finished tomorrow and I'll move on to my inventory room. I don't do extra Passover cleaning on Preparation Day, because I will run out of daylight, but Sunday will begin more cleaning and sprucing. You get the picture. Once the rooms are clean, the doors are closed and all I'll need to do is dust and mop lightly the 12th. I, of course, do the laundry room and kitchen last. For those with septic tanks, the last of the yeast is a great activator to keep the septic working properly.

Plan D. You people know who you are. You are always organized and you could have glass doors for your closets and use your junk drawers for centerpieces.

A reminder for all. The last three things for thorough cleaning. Make sure you empty the toaster, toss the sweeper bag away outside the house, and do one last walk through to empty waste paper baskets!