How to Make Cleaning for Passover Enjoyable

This is something that most people dread each year. The cleaning, dusting, rearranging furniture, vacuuming, making the kitchen kosher, switching over to Pesach dishes, cooking, cleaning, storing, more cooking, washing the dishes, serving, hosting, leading, singing, more cooking, more cleaning, and so on. If you are not in the financial situation to go on a Passover program this year, know that you are not alone. You still deserve to enjoy Passover and make the entire cleaning process more enjoyable for yourself and for your family. Continue reading for some tips on how to make spring cleaning more pleasurable.

Tip #1: Start slowly. Now is your time to shine and slowly begin cleaning step by step. It doesn’t have to be something huge so that you get overwhelmed. Choose something small that takes anywhere from 5-15 minutes so that you feel productive without getting exhausted. It can be anything from emptying a certain cabinet, going through your children’s closet, or throwing out some stuff. Once you start small and do something each day, you won’t be stressed feeling like you did nothing.

Tip #2: Play some music! This is extremely helpful for me. I find when I have my earbuds in and a good playlist, I can work and clean for a couple hours. It’s honestly very motivating and distracts you from how much you are doing. With that being said, make sure you are stopping to take a break, have a drink, or eat something. You can get carried away easily. If you are not a music fan, tune into a podcast or shiur. You will end up being entertained and getting loads of stuff done without noticing.

Tip #3: Buy the proper equipment! This makes cleaning so much easier. Buy that mop and that spray. Don’t try to take shortcuts because it will just make your work ineffective. Once you use the equipment that is recommended and proven to work, it’ll make cleaning so much simpler. You are also avoiding the double headache of cleaning twice. Do it once and get it over with. We are all busy and have things to do. If there is something out there that speeds up the process, take advantage of it.

Tip #4: Facetime or call friends and family. You know when you are on a walk with a friend deep in conversation, you don’t even realize you’ve been walking for an hour? The same applies with cleaning. Once you Facetime your sister or mother and have their voice to listen to, you will clean faster. It’s like having background noise. Or you can call up an old friend and talk on the phone while you’re dusting the bookshelves or mopping the floors. Realize how doing enjoyable actions with actions that you dread, makes the original action more enjoyable.

Tip #5: Don’t do everything yourself. If you can afford cleaning help, use it. Ask your children or your spouse to help you clean as well. Even if what they are doing is considered small in your eyes, it is still help. It is still something that you do not need to do or think about. You can check it off from your mental list because it is now covered. Even if you feel like you can do everything yourself, it doesn’t mean you should. Give other people work sometimes, take it easy on yourself.

By incorporating some of these tips, Passover cleaning will become less dreadful and more delightful. Say goodbye to Passover cleaning scaries and hello to something that you can look forward to!