Spring cleaning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spring cleaning is the period in spring time set aside for cleaning a house, normally applied in colder climates, where the house is difficult to clean during winter.
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[edit] Usage
The most common usage of spring cleaning refers to the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year typically in spring, hence the name. However it has also come to be synonymous with any kind of heavy duty cleaning or organizing enterprise. A person who gets their affairs in order before an audit or inspection could be said to be doing some spring cleaning. So spring cleaning can also meaning the covering up or removal of incriminating and long standing evidence of wrong doing.
[edit] History
The origins of spring cleaning date back to the Iranian Norouz, the Persian new year, which falls on the first day of spring. Iranians continue the practice of "khooneh takouni" which literally means "shaking the house" just before the new year. Everything in the house is thoroughly cleaned, from the drapes to the furniture.
Another possible origin of spring cleaning can be traced to the ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in anticipation of the spring-time holiday of Passover (Hebrew: פסח pesach). During the eight-day holiday, there is a strict prohibition against eating anything which may have been leavened, in remembrance of the Jews' hasty flight from Egypt following their captivity there. However, not only are Jews not supposed to consume leavened foodstuffs (known in Hebrew as חמץ chametz), but they are expressly commanded to rid their homes of even small remnants of chametz for the length of the holiday (Exodus 12:15). Therefore, observant Jews conduct a thorough cleaning of the house, followed by a traditional hunt for chametz crumbs by candlelight (called bedikat chametz [Hebrew: בדיקת חמץ]) on the evening before the holiday begins.
[edit] Cultural references
In Greece, and other Orthodox nations, it is traditional to clean the house thoroughly either right before or during the first week of Great Lent, which is referred to as Clean Week.
