{Making My Home Sing Challenge} Deep Clean Your Home in a Month

Let me get this out of the way. I wanted to title this something else. I wanted to name/make this a part of the 31 Days to Clean challenge that has been all over the web. But I'm not Christian. I'm converting to Judaism. And even though I bought the ebook, I didn't buy it for the Mary challenges. I bought it for the Martha challenges. Because they make sense to me. Something clicked in my brain when I read the ebook and saw the challenges.

I don't have to be a martyr to have a clean home. I don't have to nag. I don't even have to expend a lot of effort. It doesn't even have to be perfect. You just have to start doing it.

So, I'm devoting July to my second go-round with the Martha challenges. I would love for you to come along. I'm willing to take before and after pictures, but I don't think you will see too much different, since there has been such a dramatic change that happened during the entire month of June.

I have adapted the challenges to work for our home and spaces. I've also changed some things because it made more sense for me. Because it is copyrighted information, I won't write too much about the challenges listed in the book (I mean the Mary challenges; the Martha challenges are listed in convenient calendar form on the website). I am happy with my purchase, I just think that the author could have widened the appeal of her ebook if she had made it secular. At any rate...

For Day 1 the ebook tells you to look over all your cleaning supplies and make sure you have what you need. While this is valuable, I think it is an unnecessary waste of my time since I already know what I have, so I made the task for Day 1 to be:

• Throw away any expired cleaning products or bottles.
  
• Throw away any expired food or medicines.
  
• Throw away expired spices.
  
• Make a list of things needing to be replaced (And then replace them).

Let's get into the tasks a bit at a time.
Throw away any expired cleaning products or bottles.

Did you know cleaning products expire? Some do! You can find a handy guide to expiration dates to many things (not just cleaning stuff --household products are toward the middle of the page) at this link. When you replace your expired products, you may want to write the date you bought it (or alternatively you could write the date you need to replace it) so that you won't ever wonder again.

Throw away any expired food or medicines.

One night you make an especially large batch of chili and once dinner is over, you place what is left into a Tupperware container and place it in the refrigerator. You fully intended to eat it for lunch the next day, but when your friend called you with an auto emergency, you rushed to their aid, leaving your poor lunch forgotten. Soon, it slowly is pushed to the back of the fridge; left to languish until it achieves moldy sentience and plots its escape.

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit too dramatic, but expired food happens. Unless your fridge is super packed, it won't take too long to just go through there and get rid of everything that should no longer be there. And that goes for all those different flavor salad dressings that you bought but only tried once. (I've been guilty of this.) If you can't remember what year you bought it...OMG toss it!

Take a look at your medicines. It has always been hard for our family to get rid of expired medicines. I think the notion of "Oh, it hasn't been expired long, we could still use it" was really entrenched in there. But it just isn't doing anyone any good, and some medications can even become toxic over time. So that leftover antibiotic you were saving in case one of the other kids needed it...you could make them even more ill. Trash it. Your family's health isn't worth risking. (Side note: You may want to also take the time while you do the medication purging to make a list of those meds that need refills.)

Throw away expired spices.

Many spices have expiration dates. This is because they start to lose their flavor and oils as soon as air hits them. You may not notice that the flavor has gone, but you'll have to use more and more in your chosen dish. This is different with things like baking soda and baking powder, where you'll definitely taste that it has gone bad.

Honestly, though...if they were expired you weren't using them. So why replace them? I've taken the approach that I'll buy small quantities as I need them. My once overflowing spice cabinet is now almost bare. It gave me space for our teas which used to be strewn all over our kitchen counters. We drink a lot of tea.

How long should they last? McCormick shares these guidelines for how long spices can be expected to last.

• Seasoning blends: 1-2 years
• Herbs: 1-3 years
• Ground spices: 2-3 years
• Whole spices (such as cinnamon sticks and peppercorns): 3-4 years
• Extracts: 4 years (except for pure vanilla, which lasts indefinitely)

If your spice bottle is missing an expiration date, you can check it online with the manufacturer.

Make a list of things needing to be replaced (And then replace them).

This is pretty self-explanatory. Practically, if you tossed something you actually use, REPLACE IT! The entire month is going to be filled with cleaning of one area or another, and it is really inefficient to have to drop everything and head to the store because you forgot you threw out the bottle of pine-sol that was empty. Even worse if it was a medication that needed a refill.

I hope my journey to making a peaceful home is as helpful to others as it is to me. Be blessed.

Photo credit: Spices: La Times blog
Expired Food: Google Image Search