"There was a strict tradition of spring cleaning in our house," writes America's most popular homemaker, Martha Stewart. "The process began as soon as the buds on the maple trees that lined the street began to show signs of leafing out. It was the unspoken duty of every homekeeper to thoroughly prepare for the advent of spring by dusting, washing, and polishing just about every square inch in each and every house."

There must be something about cleaning to welcome spring that dwells deep within our human instincts. Spring cleaning seems to be a time-honored tradition in cultures around the world--and for purposes beyond simply removing dirt. In China, the agriculturally-based springtime New Year's celebration is preceded by a thorough housecleaning, both to remove accumulated grime and to rid the dwelling of any evil spirits that have taken up residence so they don't come into the new year.

Cleaning is associated with spring in other ways, too. In colonial America, women made soap every spring from stockpiled winter ashes, tallow, and lard. Soapmaking is fun and easy — if the idea appeals to you, now is a good time to do it.

Clean Your Home From Top to Bottom

Spring cleaning is a major project that will revitalize your home and your health. It's a time to make everything new by eliminating clutter and items that are no longer being used, removing dust and dirt, making sure everything is in good repair, and putting things in order so that you will have everything in your household in working condition for the coming year.

I like to start by opening all the windows and airing out all the rooms.

Here are some cleaning tasks that are traditionally included in a major spring cleaning:

• Put away winter clothes and take out spring and summer clothing.
• Sweep and vacuum floors, walls, and corners; move furniture if needed to vacuum underneath.
• Wash floors and carpets; remove area rugs and beat them outdoors to remove dust.
• Wipe down walls and ceilings with a damp mop.
• Clean window panes, sills, and frames. Replace thick winter curtains that keep heat in with light summer curtains that allow breezes through. Remove storm windows, hang up screens.
• Brush or vacuum stuffed furniture and remove spots.
• Remove books from bookshelves and dust.
• Wash every surface in every room that has accumulated dust or grime.
• Clean objects sitting on open shelves.
• Polish silver, copper, and brass items.
• Wash, iron (if necessary) and organize table, bed, and bath linens.
• Remove light fixtures and clean them; dust lamp shades.
• Clean out and organize storage areas such as junk drawers, junk rooms, closets, garages, and basements.

And this is a fine time to rearrange the furniture or accessories, or add some touches to make everything look new.

I like to finish a spring cleaning by bringing in loads of spring flowers and placing them in vases in every room.

This can be a lot of work, so spread it out over several weeks. And remember, "many hands make light work," so get everyone in the family involved, or offer to help a friend with their spring cleaning if they will help you with yours.

Clean Without Toxic Chemicals

With so much cleaning going on, it is important to use cleaning products that are simple, safe, and sustainable.

When choosing a cleaning product for a specific job, use the least-toxic effective products, in the smallest effective amounts.

The real safety or danger of cleaning products is difficult to assess because manufacturers are not required to list exact ingredients on the label. Hazardous ingredients are required by law to be listed on Material Safety Data Sheets (also called MSDS, available from the manufacturer and now often posted on the Internet), but I have found that some ingredients I wish to avoid, like artificial colors, are listed neither on the label or the MSDS.

Cleaning products are the only household products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under the 1960 Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act, which requires products that contain hazardous chemicals to carry warning labels. In general, it is best to avoid using products that say "Danger," "Poison," or "Warning," on the label. Many safer products carry the "Caution" label, even though they are acceptable to use. Fortunately, I have found that many of the least toxic products voluntarily disclose their ingredients on the label, so you can determine for yourself the safety of the product.

Just choosing products that are nontoxic or less-toxic also helps the environment, as it eliminates or lessens toxic chemicals used in manufacture and toxic waste. In addition, you can help the environment by choosing products that are multi-purpose (so fewer different products are needed), biodegradable, concentrated (saves on packaging and fuel used in shipping), effective in cold water (again, energy savings, and with minimal packaging made of recycled paper or recycled/recyclable plastic (1 or 2 HDPE).

Nontoxic cleaning actually requires very few specialized ingredients. I do all of my cleaning with a squirt bottle of fifty-fifty distilled white vinegar and water, liquid soap, and baking soda. For laundry I use a natural soap powder and chlorine-free bleach. Other substances I have on hand for occasional cleaning needs are salt, lemon juice, borax, and chlorine-free scouring powder. Formulas for combining these ingredients into cleaning products can be found in my book Home Safe Home, but the best resources for homemade cleaning formulas are Clean & Green and Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond. Both books are packed with hundreds of simple, nontoxic do-it-yourself ways to clean almost anything you can imagine.

Reduce the Need to Clean

While scrubbing away at your spring cleaning, there are two things you can resolve to do in the coming year that will make cleaning easier. These will also reduce the amount of cleaning products you use, saving resources and money. But the most important thing to me is that they save time and reduce the amount of cleaning needed.

First, incorporate preventive maintenance into your life. Putting a cookie sheet on the rack under a casserole that is likely to spill over, for example, pre-empts the need to scour baked on food from the oven. Instead the cookie sheet can be effortlessly soaked clean in a few inches of water in the kitchen sink.

Also, remember the adage "A stitch in time saves nine," which means if you take that first stitch to fix the tear before it gets bigger, you'll save having to make nine stitches later. In cleaning, this translates to wiping up the spill when it happens, cleaning surfaces before they are caked with dust and grease, just cleaning as you go while there's not much to clean. It's only when we don't clean that we need harsh chemicals to tackle what would have been an easy job earlier.

The Spirit of Cleaning

Though I clean physically with mops and buckets and soap and sponges and brooms, for me, cleaning is a spiritual act. It is an opportunity for me as a spiritual being to bring more order, beauty, and harmony to the physical environment in which I dwell. With this viewpoint, cleaning is never a drudgery and is always a joy.

"Clean your room well," say the Shakers, "for good spirits will not live where there is dirt."

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