Substack of the 6-Monthish Witchy Spring Clean: Handle (Yourself) with Care
Sometimes Cleaning Gets a Little Too Spicy
"No one enjoys a clean stove while suffering the effects of inadvertent chlorine gas."
This installment is part of the Substack of the 6-Month Witchy Spring Clean Series.
Previous posts include:
Substack of the Kitchen Witch: the Magical Home Audit (includes a worksheet for a home audit, also available for purchase on the Spirited Witch Patreon)
Substack of the 6-Month Witchy Spring Clean (includes a Kitchen Witch Materia Magica chart available for purchase on the Spirited Witch Patreon)
Substack of Spring Cleaning: from Clutter to Clarity
Greetings, Curious Spirits!
Welcome, new folks! At The Spirited Witch, I share my knowledge about witchcraft, animism, and spirit work, from lived experience and academic study.
Sometimes, I am a storyteller, and sometimes, I share actionable and useful knowledge. For the next few months, I am sharing some spring-cleaning practices. The series may go past six months, and that's OK. It's spring somewhere.
Aspects of cleaning are repetitive to write about. Any room may need dusting, washing, vacuuming, and, in some situations, mopping. Those repetitive processes shift to witchy when we start talking about spiritual formulas. (Floor washes, special incenses, sprays, and more.) Bathrooms and kitchens will always need a degree of disinfecting. Even water is a chemical, and different people interact differently with chemicals.
We also know not to mix vinegar, bleach, or ammonia and not to store them close together!
Good Housekeeping lists yet more household chemicals we should avoid mixing.
Good. No one enjoys a clean stove while suffering the effects of inadvertent chlorine gas.
Vinegar and ammonia are also used as magickal supplies. Knowing when and how they don't play well with others is best.
I'd rather organize all the information about cleaning supplies into separate posts. That leaves me free later to discuss get-down bedroom magick and more.
There Are No Rules, Only Recommendations
Except for the safety warnings above, nothing I write is ever "do it this way." I have readers with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Adaptation happens for reasons of disability or circumstance.
Note: There is no shame in hiring someone to clean if you have the means and can pay a livable wage for the service. Be respectful to the person who cleans for you; that's all I ask.
Before you begin, do a spoon check against what HAS to happen on x day. Unless you live in a small space, you may need to break up cleaning over non-consecutive days.
Even if you're not a spoonie, do a spoon check. Cleaning matters, and so does prioritization. Sticking to rest breaks is the single best way to prevent or defer becoming a fellow spoonie.
I already said it, but it bears repeating without ambiguity: There's no need to try to clean everything in one day. Pick a room. Don't have it for that much? Pick a surface.
Take a few moments to assess what needs to be cleaned and how. If you use the Internet, you may see many Pinterest posts about using baking soda and vinegar together. Read this post from Apartment Therapy about why the combo isn't effective.
If you have trouble staying on task, ask someone to body double with you.
Hate company? Make a playlist. Every cleaning playlist benefits from Jill Sobule's "Where do I begin?" [Include Cleaning Spotify Playlist here] Red Hot Chili Peppers prior to Under the Bridge still amps me up like five cups of coffee.
Getting Started with the Cleanup
Here are a few things to consider as you make sure you have all you need to clean your space. You can spend extra money on The Grove and Seventh Generation products. You can also DIY cleaning products. But if you have a $12 budget for what you can get at Dollar Tree, you're good—the prayer hits the same whether you got your cleaning materials from Erewhon or a dollar store.
Use the right tools for the job as best you can.
Baking soda is a great low-abrasive cleaner, but it is still too abrasive on some surfaces. Comet (a commercial cleaner that costs less than $2 per package) is a great no-damage option.
Dawn dish soap is as miraculous as advertised. My favorite use for it is to pre-treat laundry stains. Are you not from the US? Recommend your favorite house-cleaning items in the Chat!
Do you need sponges? Rags? A taller broom? An extendable duster?
Are you unsure about the right way to clean something?
Compare Resources When Looking Up Cleaning Methods
Here are some decent websites for cleaning directions. Note that much "common wisdom" about dishwashers actually damages them.
Note: all these publications are white-culture-centered. If you know of a great resource from a different demographic (English speaking is not required), please share in the comments or in the Chat!
Also, if you have a dishwasher, techs often say not to use vinegar for cleaning. However, I am finding differences of opinion, and there may be a right way to use vinegar to clean a dishwasher.
Your Budget May Be Absurdly Tight
Are you in a situation where buying cleaning products crimps your funds? Here are some workarounds:
Check Nextdoor and Facebook marketplace for free listings for people giving away cleaning supplies. Also, look in area Freecycle and Buy Nothing groups for the same. Note that these groups often require reciprocity. If you declutter first, list some of your donated items before you request anything.
If you're comfortable with it, ask friends if you can borrow cleaning supplies.
Old T-shirts and towels that are too hole-filled to repair work great as cleaning rags. If you need a dust rag that reaches high places, find a stick and secure an old T-shirt with hair ties on it. (Hair ties hold better than rubber bands.) You can then use it to clean the tops of ceiling fans, window frames, etc.
Save still-working spray bottles for reuse whenever possible.
Thrift stores sometimes carry old spray bottles, brooms, and new Swiffers. To reduce shopping time, call ahead and ask what they have in stock, or check their social media pages,
The Kitchen Materia Magica chart lists items excellent for DIY cleaning. The items perform many functions, both spiritual and practical.
Allergies
For my fellow allergy and illness sufferers, there's no good way around wearing a mask and gloves. Picking up a box of latex or nitrile gloves and even a basic dust mask for scarfing over the face greatly reduces reactivity. I hate ending up knocked out for days after myself!
Thanks for hanging out! The next few posts in the series will give details on
Recommended cleaning methods and techniques to save labor
Magickal theory behind deep-cleaning and why Eris and Hestia both have a place in it
DIY Cleaning Supply Recipes
Cool folklore tidbits about cleaning and cleansing
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