Fall Cleaning - let nature do the heavy lifting for you

As the days grow shorter and the weather starts to get a bit crisper, you instantly know that fall is here and the holidays are just around the corner.    With the holidays comes family get togethers, dinners, parties and parties.  Most of us feel the intense need to have a sparkling clean house for those family gatherings and parties.  

For those of us in the south, as this weather cools off, we throw open the windows and let that autumn air in. But now that we have that supposed extra hour, with the time change, and the cooler weather, why not put those two to use?  Along with throwing open the windows to air out the house, put that "extra hour" to good use by getting a jump on that "deep cleaning" for the holidays.

Why not put mother nature to use for you?  Instead of using the dryer and heating up the house, why not hang the laundry to dry in the crisp fall air?  You'll get that fresh clean smell without having to use synthetic dryer sheets or smelly scent extenders.  Plus the sun, which is the original solar dryer, will help to kill bacteria that you don't even know is there hanging out on your clothes.  And the windows open helps to air out all the musty smells that have accumulated all summer.  You know those smells, the ones that have just been hiding - wet dog smell in the carpets, towels or sofas, stinky shoes and socks that just stays hanging around in the closet smelling up the clean clothes, and let's not forget the smelly clothes hamper that accumulates the damp towels, smelly gym clothes, etc.  Let nature come in and remove many of these "hiders" out of the house for you. You don't have to do anything but open some windows and doors, provided you have screens. You won't have to spray any chemical sprays or plug ins to get that fresh clean scent blowing through your house.

If you start now at the beginning of November, with doing one deep clean item a day/week; when it comes to Thanksgiving, your house should be clean and smelling great for when family and friends arrive.

For those up north, you know Colorado, Massachusetts, N. Dakota, etc., it's different for you guys.  What we southerners call "Fall Cleaning" is what ya'll call Spring Cleaning.  But the concept is still the same just a different set of seasons.  You do it for the big spring holidays of Easter and Mother's day.  There are other holidays around the same time, but those are the biggies in the spring, like Thanksgiving and Christmas are in the fall/winter.  The spring cleaning has one big drawback that the fall doesn't..... and that's the loss of an hour instead of the gain of an hour.

Just a little something to think about as the seasons change, and the holiday hustle and bustle begins.  Take a few minutes to throw open those window and drink in the sun.