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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach
Pesach clean vs.spring clean



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thegiver




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 11:39 am
What do you totally cut out? For instance with kids toys and books or kitchen or laundry room--places where likely to find chometz but smaller than Cheerios. For instance walls and finger stains on Windows etc ... What's lchatchila? What's just feel-good clean??

Trying to do ask much as can while staying on top of housework which is a huge amount in itself.
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shabbatiscoming




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 11:41 am
We clean for pesach. Full stop. No spring cleaning.
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amother
Olive


 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 12:31 pm
For Pesach all you have to establish is there is no chometz. And that doesn't mean tiny crumbs, it means chometz that is a kzayis. Also if it's in an inaccessible place like behind a radiator that it can't be reached, it's also fine. And if you've sprayed or wiped anywhere, and thus rendered it inedible that's also okay.
I also don't know if you sell chometz. If you do, you can just lock away as much as possible and sell it all. If you don't, you can still sell, but I would do a quick check for obvious chometz.
Tidying, cleaning windows is nice but not necessary for Pesach. Also you're not eating off your walls or windows.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 12:42 pm
The halacha is not to own or eat chometz.
Close up whatever you won't be using on pesach and include them in your mechira. Including cabinets and dishwasher (and those items in there are not even yours).

Wash counters, table & chairs with detergent and cover table and counters.

Sweep up. That's enough. If you missed crumbs then they are not big enough to be considered chometz. If there's a dirty spot you can't get to, spray with detergent and that renders it not edible nor chometz.

If there is stuff left in the oven after self cleaning, run it through a second cycle. And that's it. If it doesn't come off a second time it's considered clean for pesach.

Wipe down your fridge & freezer.
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PeanutMama




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 1:03 pm
Didn’t read the whole thread.
Pesach cleaning: cleaning up the chametz and throwing it away. Tiny/burnt crumbs don’t count as chametz, I think they have to be a certain amount to be considered chametz.

This is the way my mother does spring cleaning.
I do some of the stuff but not all. My husband BH helps me.
Spring cleaning: Clean fridge all the way through, clean the tables and its cracks, clean bathtub and the walls around it, change curtains and blinds, move the heavier furniture around the house to clean under it (for toys or food etc) and rearrange, take out cushions from the sofa and vacuum, flip mattresses around and put on fresh sheets, sweep and mop the floor 3 times, organize closets and kitchen shelves, polish the wood furniture, clean the decorative stuff around the house, clean the baseboards, remove dust from dusty places (blinds, fans, top of fridge, windowsill corners etc).

It sounds like a lot but we were a family of 6 and my mother and stepfather did the hard stuff and we kids did the easier stuff. We took plenty of breaks.

Guess it’s easy to confuse between the 2 cuz spring comes around when pesach starts.


Last edited by PeanutMama on Thu, Mar 04 2021, 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Sesame




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 1:03 pm
I think in each house a different cleaning is required cos everyone’s home runs differently.
In my home, food never gets to the bathroom and one of the bedrooms so a quick sweep is fine
Unlike others in my family who say “I’m busy pesach cleaning, I’ve just reorganised all the bedrooms and now I’m washing the walls”.... that is not happening in my home! And of course that’s not pesach cleaning. By all means do it if you would like but that’s not pesach cleaning
I know someone who washes mattresses before pesach. Personally, I wouldn’t want to add this to my list at this time of year, there’s enough to do!
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sky




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 1:05 pm
We were even told don’t have to move fridge and oven. Even if 100% lots of chametz there. As long as wasn’t moved in 30 days. (I still insist my DH help me move it)

Unless your walls and windows have real food stuck in no cleaning. Streaks and dirt aren’t chametz.

I lock up our toys bec my kids do eat with them. We have a box of pesach toys and baby books that makes pesach more exciting.

Bathroom doesn’t have chometz. I do sweep around laundry machines bec I have found Cheerios there. But a quick regular sweep. No moving anything.
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 1:16 pm
sky wrote:
We were even told don’t have to move fridge and oven. Even if 100% lots of chametz there. As long as wasn’t moved in 30 days. (I still insist my DH help me move it)

Unless your walls and windows have real food stuck in no cleaning. Streaks and dirt aren’t chametz.

I lock up our toys bec my kids do eat with them. We have a box of pesach toys and baby books that makes pesach more exciting.

Bathroom doesn’t have chometz. I do sweep around laundry machines bec I have found Cheerios there. But a quick regular sweep. No moving anything.

I understoof this as well. If you don't access the space over Pesach then it could be disregarded I.e. under fridge.
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thegiver




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 10:44 pm
"

If there is stuff left in the oven after self cleaning, run it through a second cycle. And that's it. If it doesn't come off a second time it's considered clean for pesach.

Wipe down your fridge & freezer.[/quote]"

Don't forget over door esp oven gasket doesn't get cleaned by self clean cycle. I think some ppl cover it with foil after scrubbing out crumbs etx
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Thu, Mar 04 2021, 11:00 pm
You have to clean according to your family. In general, you don't need to clean out dresser drawers. But if you have a kid or kids who tends to grab food when nobody is looking and stash it places, you do. I have found granola bars and Oreos under folded pairs of pants in drawers. If your kids have been eating in their rooms at their desks because of covid, you nees to check around them. (And behind them, if it's easy to get to. If not, include anything big enough and unfound in your mechirah.)

Same with toys. I have found entire crackers and cookies in my toy bins, so we check them. If that's not happening for you, you don't need to. Though you should think about washing or checking any toy or book that tends to get used around food or while people eat, because while a crumb isn't an issue in general, it is if it falls out into your food. We have this with certain books, and fidget toys and blankets that get used at the table.
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amother
Lime


 

Post Fri, Mar 05 2021, 2:55 pm
I start spring cleaning in winter. It's not so much spring cleaning as "annual" cleaning, more to bring some light and fresh air into dark corners and stir things up so pests and mold don't get too comfy and set up cozy homes there, knowing they won't be disturbed. I used to think thank G-d for Pesach because without it some parts of the house would never get cleaned, but now I realize that's not so. There's a reason why spring cleaning is an almost universal concept, whether it happens in March, July or December.

I once told a friend that I don't clean dresser drawers for Pesach because there's no chometz there. She replied "But don't you ever find half-eaten cookies in there, or globs of dough on your sweaters? " Well, no. Dust, yes; little crumbs of paper, cardboard, thread and hair, of course. But I don't wear sweaters in the house, especially not when cooking, worn clothes don't go back in a drawer till they've been washed, kids aren't allowed into our room with food in their hands, and we don't allow books or toys at the table. I do check the toys before Pesach and clean out the bins, mostly for general cleanliness, and can't recall the last time I found recognizable chometz in there.

It's so liberating to think "spring cleaning" instead of "pesach cleaning." For one thing, it means it can be done whenever it's convenient. True Pesach cleaning is mostly the kitchen, and that can't be done until just before Pesach. All the rest can be done as the spirit moves me, or not at all if the spirit doesn't move me. So far it always does move. This year it's been moving more than usual, accompanied by its twin "home improvement." I've been doing things I never bothered with before, like dusting the molding near the ceiling (why? nobody even sees the dust up there) and touching up places on the wall where paint has chipped or is otherwise marred. Just as mitzvah gorreres mitzvah, improvement gorreres improvement. Fix up one spot, the one next to it suffers by comparison and you have to fix that, too. As long as it's voluntary labor, no problem, I'm happy to do it. It's only when it bears the ominous name of "Pesach cleaning" with its aura of obligation and threat of eternal damnation that it becomes something to hate and fear.
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