You've probably heard of spring cleaning. Maybe you even do it each year. But fall cleaning? What's that?

We have to start with a little history lesson. Until the middle part of the twentieth century, spring cleaning was essential. When people heated their homes with wood or coal fires and used candles and gas lights, soot ended up everywhere. Since these forms of heat are relatively inefficient compared with the methods used today, the house was kept tightly closed to keep the heat inside. That just made the soot stick closer. Despite regular weekly cleaning, by the time spring arrived, everything in the house (including clothes and people) was covered with a layer of soot and desperately needed a good cleaning. Once the weather turned, windows could be thrown open, fabrics and furniture could be taken outside, and there was time for a good cleaning once the spring planting was done.

Today, we have cleaner and more efficient methods of heating and lighting our homes. But, during the summer months, we tend to spend more time outside — gardening, doing yard work, grilling, playing, and just relaxing. We also tend to track more dirt inside with us. Things get even worse in the fall when every trip outside brings the fallen leaves into the living room.

Before we shut ourselves in for the winter, and before we open our homes to guests at the holidays, it's a good idea to do a good deep clean. Once the major cleaning is done well, it will be much easier to keep things tidy through the new year.

So that's why. The rest of this week, we'll look at when and how.