Imagine living in New York or Wisconsin before the modern inventions of electric heat, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners. It would have been quite a different life than what we enjoy today! These hardy folks brought their whole lives inside for four to six months while the cold weather raged outside. During that time, they would have had to adjust and modify their normal, warm-weather cleaning habits. Instead of carrying all of the dirty clothes and linens outside on “wash day” to launder in a big cast iron pot over a fire, they would wash their clothes in small batches in the kitchen and hang them to dry beside the wood stove or fireplace. They would leave the sheets and blankets unwashed through most of the winter. Heating with wood meant that the floors and rugs would constantly be covered with stray wood chips and pieces of bark, and by spring, everything in the house would be coated with a fine layer of ash. And the lack of light in winter would have made it hard to see well enough to clean in a detailed way.
So as soon as the days lengthened and the weather grew warmer, families did their “spring cleaning”. They spent a few days or a week cleaning everything that had grown dirty and neglected over the long, harsh winter.
One of the most important, time consuming, and labor-intensive tasks in the spring cleaning regimen was beating the rugs. People didn’t have wall-to-wall carpets back then, but they did have large, room-sized rugs woven of wool or reeds, and smaller rugs woven of old rags. These heavy, dirt-covered rugs would be hauled outside, hung up on a line in the sunshine, and beaten with sticks until no more dust remained. Then they would be left to hang in the sunshine and air out for a day or so, before being brought back in.
Thankfully, today, we have access to miraculous appliances like vacuum cleaners and washers and dryers. Though it still gets cold and dark in the winter, we no longer have to suffer through months of dirty living conditions and poor air quality just because it’s cold outside.
But, even though we now live in a time of comparative luxury, spring cleaning is still a tradition that many people uphold. Since spring is a time of renewal, it is nice to spend a few days tidying up, getting rid of the old, and making room for the new. And it’s as good a time as any to see to those household chores that only need to be done once a year. Like cleaning behind the refrigerator, changing your air filters, and, yes, treating your rugs and carpets to a thorough, professional cleaning.
Your rugs and carpets still need occasional, detailed cleaning, but nowadays you don’t have to spend all day hauling them out to the yard and beating them with sticks. Instead, you can just give Five Step Carpet Care a call. We’ll come and clean your carpets, or even pick up your area rugs, take them to our facility and return them back to you, impeccably clean and vibrant!
If you’d like our help with your spring cleaning this year, give us a call at 828.772.1824 or get in touch via our contact form today!
