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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach

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amother

Bronze

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:07 pm

(Ducking tomatoes from immediate-reactioners. My reaction is also NOOOOOOO, not yet!)

Full disclosure: I am writing an article for a local magazine with tips, tricks, and scheduling for cleaning for Pesach.

I'd appreciate it greatly if you could share your tips - whether you're a plan-ahead type who's already cleaning now (guilty as charged), or a last-minuter who doesn't think about Pesach until the week before, or anyone in between.

I'm not looking for the standard dust-is-not-chametz or start-early-and-do-one-room-at-a-time type of advice - I want tips that really make Pesach prep easier for you and your family, easy to implement for most people, and not the type of advice that people will just skip over because they know it already.

(Too tall of an order?)

So if you have any thought-provoking, practical advice, please post here!

Thank you!

mha3484

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:12 pm

Two things help me starting R"CH Adar 1) Everyone eats all meals at the table. 2) Only kitnios snacks.
Makes me much less stressed.

I have all boys so once the cooking and cleaning is done I dont have the everyone needs new outfits stress and all the matching parts etc BH because it would put me over the edge.

amother

Plum

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:16 pm

Do the kitchen first. Thoroughly clean out the fridge and whatever cabinets you plan to use, then line surfaces with two layers of newspaper. Put everything back, and then just before Pesach, take off the top layer of newspaper and wipe down exposed areas.

Similarly, do the oven far in advance. Before Pesach, wipe up spills and self clean it (or however you kasher).

Finish off the kitchen this way, deep cleaning far in advance, so that you can just sweep and wipe up before yom tov.

Do the rest of the house after the kitchen. It's much easier knowing that the big stuff is basically done.

besty

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:23 pm

lists, lists, lists, and again lists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:31 pm

amother wrote:

What are you cleaning for Passover -- as opposed to spring cleaning -- that's going to stay cleaned for 3 months? If its apt to gather chametz from May through December, its not going to stay pristine from January through April.

In any case, we seal off all cabinets, and place Pesach groceries and cooking things on plastic shelves used solely for Pesach.

amother

Wheat

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:37 pm

Think of Pesach as 1 day before.
Try to finish EVERYTHING the night before.
Including setting the table.
Rest as much as you can Erev Pesach day.
You too deserve to be well rested for the Seder.

Nothing will happen to your family if they are eating chametz free a week or 2 before.

When planning your menu, plan Erev Pesach as well.

besty

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:40 pm

amother wrote:

last year I planned my pesach as a week before exactly what im going to do every day and what my cleaning lady will do for the few hours I get her every week and yeah she didn't feel good and couldn't come so I had like 5 hours of work with no time..........

amother

Slategray

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:41 pm

Clean your dining room at least 2 weeks before Pesach and eat in the kitchen after that.

little neshamala

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:42 pm

My friend's mother always turned over her kitchen 3 weeks before. The family would eat simple meals out of the kitchen during those weeks, while she calmly cooked up a storm.
She never stressed, and always had everying done days before pesach....the only drawback was the family knowing the kitchen was chametz free and having to accommodate her. Which they gladly did.

mha3484

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:48 pm

I have a small family but I have started a trend to be very low maintenance when it comes to meals. This many years later DH and the kids dont expect it. I dont make any recipes that have more then a few steps and I dont bake. We have fruit, ice cream, chocolate and I will buy a cake or two from the grocery store. I have winter babies and some other health issues so I cant make elaborate meals its too much.

marina

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:49 pm

this thread should come with a trigger warning

Cmon be nice

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 3:59 pm

We basically dont bring into the house any real chometz after Purim. For breakfast cereals we use corn flakes and rice krispies because we were told that its only kitniyos, which you are allowed to have in the house even on Pesach. For Shabos we use only a small amount of chala and by rosh chodesh time we start using non-shmura matza (obviously that wont work for those who dont eat matza after Purim/R'C Nissan). Obviously you still have to do a good cleaning but this minimizes the chance of finding real chometz around the house.

amother

Wheat

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 4:10 pm

besty wrote:

I meant that everything is done as if Pesach is one day earlier.
Not to start preparing the night before.

I do the same for Shabbos. Most Shabbos in our home is 2 hrs earlier.
Everything done. Including showers. Literally ready to turn the blech on and light.

besty

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 4:12 pm

amother wrote:

that is a very good tip!

OOTBubby

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 4:36 pm

Keep extremely detailed lists from year to year of everything you do & buy (include numbers of guests, meals served, quantities bought, quantities used, stuff kept from previous year, things you need to buy, etc.).

Tzutzie

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 5:11 pm

My mom was neurotic about pesach cleaning.

I did not want that adittude amd stress in my house.

My trick, do spring cleaning NOW till rosh chodesh nissen. Rosh chodesh you do real pesach cleaning in a few days. The only "real heavy job" will be the kitchen cabinets where the food is kept. Be done a week later.

Cook only non chumatz meals as soon as you start pesach cleaning your kitchen. Lots of chick peas, pop corners and rice cakes.

Chumatz snacks and bread prepared and fed in the porch - weather permitiing.

And my sanity saver, call up your rav and ask what is halacha and what is chumra - you'd be surprised at how much is non of these. Just spring cleaning.

I move away the oven to clean behind it approximately 2-3 times a year. but not necessarily before pesach. You don't have to. That is spring cleaning.

Re cooking, this year, I'm planning to sent my toddler to my sister after playgroup and my baby to a babysitter for a few hours cook up a storm. We all like simple food here, so cooking is easy

amother

Wheat

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 6:50 pm

Keep menu and grocery list from year to year.

Right after Pesach note what was a hit and what people didn't touch.

After a whole year, who can remember.

imasinger

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 6:57 pm

amother wrote:

Clean your dining room at least 2 weeks before Pesach and eat in the kitchen after that.

I do it the other way around. I clean and kasher the kitchen early, so I can cook ahead and freeze, but bring a dairy microwave and a meat Crock-Pot into the dining room until the last few days. (Mostly for kitniyot, so as to avoid major problems.)

Other tips:

Write down everything that went well or poorly from the previous year, and review the notes as I make my cleaning schedule. (I usually do this on Asara bTevet).

Make a checklist, so that you have a visual sketch of what you have accomplished, and what needs to be done.

Keep a list on the fridge of what needs to be eaten, and encourage people to choose from the list at mealtimes.

For a while, I instituted "Wacky Wednesday", where supper would be something that had to get finished off. (DH would buy "interesting" things to try, and some were not hits.)

Eventually, the kids rebelled, and now, I either send it to work with DH, or toss it.

If you kasher your sinks, figure out when you are best able to do without hot water for 24 hours. (This is especially significant if you need hot water for any of the Pesach cleaning, like refrigerator and freezer shelves.)

Don't wait until after everything is clean to begin shopping for food. Clean a space where you can begin to stock things before prices go up or stores run out. (This means planning menus well ahead of time).

When in doubt, ask a shaila. I discovered a lot the stuff I thought I had to get rid of was not chametz at all. (Anything with vinegar, food flavorings like vanilla, food coloring, pearled barley -- all are fine to own). I also learned that I didn't have to stress about the areas that belonged to the grown children living at home, who would resent my coming in to clean to my standards. As long as they participate with us in a bedikah, I don't have to worry. NB: Just because I got these rulings doesn't mean that everyone will. That's why I say, ask a shaila.

OP, will you post the article when you finish?

flowerpower

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 7:05 pm

Organize your closets and drawers throughout the year so you don't get overwhelmed.
Start early and do a little each day.

amother

Wheat

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 8:02 pm

Just to lighten this up.

Last year in January my cleaning lady asked me if sh could start cleaning for Pesach.

Also, check out my amother color. LOL!!!😂

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