By Terri Hahn
terri.hahn@theindependent.com

But why spring? Why not summer, fall or winter? Why ruin perfectly nice days cleaning your house, of all things?

The history of spring cleaning can be traced back many hundreds of years and has a spiritual connection. This practice takes place in cultures all over the world from the Jewish tradition of thoroughly cleansing the home in preparation for Passover to the Greek Orthodox festival known as "Clean Week." As spring is a season of renewal, it seems only natural to start fresh.

More recently, the practice of spring cleaning took hold in colder climates where a house's windows and doors were closed for the winter and furnaces and fireplaces generated dirt and soot that spread throughout the house and dirt was carried in from outside as well. Once warmer weather arrived it was time to open the doors and windows, air out the house and remove the grime. Hence, "spring cleaning."

And although modern heating methods are much cleaner, the tradition of spring cleaning still remains in many homes. And that means a thorough cleaning of a house from top to bottom.

But if the thought of cleaning your entire house is intimidating, just break it down. Concentrate on one room at a time. Don't think you have to clean the entire house in a weekend or even a week. Don't try to do it all by yourself if there are family members who can pitch in. Do check out some of these cleaning tips and hints from PageWise, Inc. and goodhousekeeping.com. I've thrown in a few of my own hints, just for good measure.

Closets and drawers

* Empty and clean all drawers, closets and cabinets: Wash the shelves and doors and throw out items you no longer use.

* Go through closets and remove clothing that hasn't been worn in a year. Switch out seasonal clothing (put away winter clothes and press and hang summer clothes).

* Throw out or donate to charity unused items: This applies to all areas of the home, not just clothes closets. Go through toys, games, kitchen wares, bookshelves and especially the garage. Your home will feel much roomier and less cluttered after this step.

Around the house

* Clean walls and ceilings: Many flat latex paints are difficult if not impossible to wash. If flat-painted walls are dingy, new paint might be a better option than scrubbing. If your walls are painted with semi-gloss or gloss latex paint, washing might be easier. Thoroughly vacuum or dust walls and ceilings before washing. Use a sturdy step ladder to get to the ceiling. Don't do the whole wall or ceiling at once. Just do a couple of square yards at a time and rinse it before moving on.

* Clean chandeliers and light fixtures: For ceiling fixtures, take down the glass part, wash them, shine them with window cleaner and put them back. Don't forget outdoor light fixtures; they're often littered with spider webs and dead bugs. Ceiling fan blades can be cleaned with special wipes or dampened paper towels.

* Clean lampshades: Use a vacuum cleaner attachment to clean your shades. If your fabric shades need additional cleaning, you can use a mild detergent on a clean cloth to remove stains.

* Wash window blinds and shades: You can purchase special tools for this job, or you can take them down and scrub them, making sure you thoroughly rinse and dry them before putting them back up.

* Don't be afraid: Move heavy appliances, such as the range, refrigerator, washer and dryer, and clean underneath them.

* Clean and polish silver, jewelry, brass, etc: You're much more likely to use and wear these items if they're kept looking nice.

* Don't forget basic maintenance: While in each room, check for loose cabinet or drawer pulls, door knobs, screws in wall shelves, etc., and tighten as necessary. Touch up knicked paint on corners, painted cabinets or furniture.

Fabric

* Fresh smelling: Wash the mattress pad, pillow coverings, and pillows from everyone's bed (all pillow types except foam can go into the washer, but check the labels for specific laundering instructions). Then do a second load with your bath mat, shower curtain, and even the curtain liner on the gentle cycle with color-safe bleach.

* Wash blankets, comforters, quilts: If you don't have a front-loading washing machine without an agitator, you'll want to take these large items to a laundromat or dry cleaner. An agitator can rip and ruin comforters and quilts.

* Shampoo rugs and upholstery: Rent a carpet cleaner if necessary; they often come with upholstery attachments. Wash throw rugs that are washable; gather up those that aren't and take them outside for a good shake. Then air them on a clothesline or railing for several hours.

Wash or dry-clean all curtains and draperies: Curtains and draperies accumulate a lot of dust over the year. Bathroom and kitchen curtains may need to be washed more often than annually or semi-annually.

Clean the basement and garage: Take plastic garbage cans outside for a quick hosing out, and leave them upside down to dry. Then sprinkle the bottoms with baking soda to keep cans odor free.

Books, papers and electronics

Vacuum books: Books collect a lot of dust while they sit on your shelves. Using the crevice tool on your vacuum, run the vacuum over the exposed edges of your books. This helps preserve them.

Computers and TVs:Wipe down your computer screen with a lightly dampened microfiber cloth. Do the same with the mouse pad. Don't forget your TV screen and other electronic items. Dust carefully.

Easy to find: Organize CDs, photos, and videos and DVDs so they will be easy to access. Get rid of any you don't (or can't) use any longer.

Personal records: Organize household business papers and throw away ones you don't need anymore. If your homeowner's insurance requires an inventory, make sure you've added items that have been purchased in the last year. Is your insurance still adequate? Are you overinsured? It's good to review this once a year.

DROP-INS:

Spring cleaning and organizing the bathroom

Organize your medicine cabinet: Make your medicine cabinet a repository of things you need and use regularly, which means chucking any outdated medicines and relocating excess to another location. Keep like items in their own labeled storage bins underneath the sink or in the linen closet. When you need to use something, slide the whole container out for easy access. You might choose to move medicines into the kitchen, because moisture can ruin them. By creating "active" storage in your medicine cabinet you'll minimize time spent in the bathroom, giving you more time to organize another space in the house.

Control hair product clutter: For quick organization, buy a plastic tub for under the sink and load it up with your supplies. As you place them in the tub, evaluate whether you use the product often. If not, donate it to a friend or to charity.

Add creative towel storage: If your towel rack isn't big enough to hang the family's towels, add hooks to the bathroom. Towel hooks are inexpensive, easy to mount and create a space for each member of the family to hang their towel.

Divide and conquer your makeup: Drawers in the bathroom tend to be catch-alls for lots of different containers, most of which badly organize their contents. An expandable cosmetic drawer organizer fits in a shallow drawer and takes the place of bulky cosmetic bags.

Reassess the shower caddy: It's your best friend when you're in the shower, but is it working for you? Shower caddies that are too small or too large can be a pain, both for cleaning you and your shower. There are plenty of options: from over the showerhead to suction shelves to corner caddies.

Caren Baginski, Home and Garden Television; Scripps Howard News Service

Tips for organizing your laundry room.

Corral all weather gear: Hats, gloves, sunglasses and scarves usually end up all over the house or shoved in the coat closet. First identify what's important and group similar items. Then purge any glove missing its partner. Assign by corralling all your cold- and warm-weather essentials and containerizing with labeled baskets for each member of the family. Store these where your family normally takes them off after coming indoors.

Contain your cleaning supplies: A common source of frustration in the laundry room is finding a place for all those cleaning supplies. Solution: Store cleaning supplies in a carry-all caddy. The caddy is ideal for wire shelves because it prevents bottles from tipping over.

Create a pet zone: If your pet's possessions are slowly taking over the household, consider creating a pet zone in the laundry room. Things to put in the space: a bed or crate; a peg rack for leashes and collars; and food dishes on a non-skid carpet or in an elevated dish. Be sure everything's placed out of the flow of traffic for the room.

Go vertical to dry clothes: The too-small laundry room often suffers from a serious lack of hanging space, resulting in clothes draped over the dryer, cabinets and doors. Vertical space is often the most overlooked area in these rooms. Install a retractable clothesline or buy an inexpensive freestanding drying rack.

Pre-sort dirty clothes in hampers: Cut down on laundry time with an organized method for pre-sorting clothes. If space is available, add three laundry hampers for whites, lights and darks.

Create a laundry room "lost and found": More than socks go missing in the laundry room each year. Add a mug or basket near the washer to contain items found in pockets. For those elusive socks, keep another basket handy for strays. Reunite all items with their owners each week.

Caren Baginski and Julie Morgenstern's, "Organizing from the Inside Out;" Home and Garden Television; Scripps Howard News Service