Maximize Spring Cleaning: A Three-Question Test for Letting Go

Celebrate Spring with a Deep Clean—and Declutter

Time to beat the dust out of your rugs and become best friends with your microfiber towels, spring cleaning season has officially arrived.

If you’re one of the 80% of American households that participates in spring cleaning every year, there’s a high chance you’ll make a springtime declutter as well. After all, spring is the season for fresh starts, and what better way to pave the road to summer than to offload all the excess you’ve accumulated through the previous winter.

Getting your spring cleaning done can provide a whole host of benefits from improved focus to deeper, more restful sleep at night. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can start reaping the rewards.

There’s one problem: The dread and anxiety you feel as you stare at your full household of items.

Why Spring Cleaning Feels Overwhelming

Kitchen countertops piled with unopened mail. Boxes crammed in the back of the closet and pressing into your coats. A packed junk room where your guest bedroom used to be.

About 22% of Americans say they put off spring cleaning because the whole process seems overwhelming. It’s no wonder, modern American households hold more stuff than any other society in human history.

“People aren’t failing at spring cleaning,” says Nicole Turturici, CEO of Junk.com, “They’re simply trying to manage more stuff than before.”

According to the American Cleaning Institute, 45% of Americans say spring cleaning takes three or more days, with 22% saying it takes at least 5 days. That’s almost a full work-week of dusting, scrubbing, and sanitizing. The more items you own, the longer it will take to sort, organize, and clean.

Junk.com recommends using one simple tool, a three-question test, to help make decluttering decisions quick and painless.

The Short Mental Checklist to Make Decisions Easier

Cut through hesitation by testing every item you own against this three-question checklist.

If you answer ‘no’ to any of the three questions, it might be time to let the item go.

1: Have I used this in the past year?

This question invites you to evaluate how often you use what you own. When considering items you put on display, think about how often you admire the item or show the item off to guests in your home. Items that are not getting much use or admiration get a mark against them.

Take careful stock of your closets, garage, attic, and basement spaces. Anything that has been sitting in a box for more than a year, out of sight and out of mind, is a candidate for the cull.

If you haven’t used an item in the past year but you anticipate using it again in the future, try to pinpoint an exact date or scenario you’ll definitely use the item before you mark it as a keep. Don’t hang onto items for a nebulous ‘someday.’

2: Would I buy this again today?

Considering the use your item does or does not get, would you pay fair market value for the item again? This is a great question to pose when you’re evaluating items that are broken or dysfunctional, because you will likely have to spend time, money, and energy getting them fixed. If you would not buy the item again today, you’re not likely to value it enough to have it fixed.

Pose this question for heirlooms and sentimental items as well. Some items are important to you because of the memories and the people you associate with the item, but given the choice you might not have picked the item for yourself.

You can preserve memories without keeping the actual item, either by taking a picture of the item or just keeping a piece of the item.

3: Does this item earn the space it takes up?

Some items bring you joy to keep or display, while others might as well be a part of the wall. You could have duplicate items in your household, and one earns its keep while the others don’t get enough use. Large, bulky items that are difficult to maneuver around will make spring cleaning difficult. Ask yourself if a smaller or more efficient item do the job just as well.

Spring Cleaning Done—A Clear Space and Clear Mind

For busy households, the goal of spring cleaning might not be total organized perfection. Cleaning out just one space—such as the garage, living area, or junk room—can drastically improve how a home functions. Start your spring cleaning by taking baby steps toward the home of your dreams. Use the three-question checklist to evaluate items in your problem areas like garages, closets, spare rooms, and storage spaces, then watch your space open up as clutter disappears.

To help you spring into action, Junk.com is offering 10% off spring cleaning in the month of March. Get rid of old furniture, broken appliances, outdated electronics, and more. Junk.com even performs property cleanouts and whole-room cleanouts for those seemingly unsalvageable garages, basements, and attics. Concerned about what happens to the junk? Junk.com cares too, and prioritizes sustainable disposal methods like donation of usable goods and recycling salvageable materials before responsibly taking out the remaining trash. Allow us to help with spring cleaning, and your space could be clutter-free as soon as today.