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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach
Pesach cleaning - when do you start?
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 7:46 pm
I want to start now. I want an extra day a week with my cleaning lady detailing my house. DH thinks I can have my house cleaned and not start until after Purim.

How big is your house? How many kids? Do you eat outside the kitchen/ dining room? How much help do you have? What's your cleaning schedule? Do you stay home for Pesach? Do you cook in advance.
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 7:51 pm
I’ve been making pesach at home for almost 20 years now. No cleaning help. I start about 2 weeks before pesach. Dirt is not chametz and the house does not need to be “detailed” to make it kosher for pesach. What does that even mean?

Eta - small 3 bedroom house.


Last edited by watergirl on Wed, Jan 16 2019, 11:02 pm; edited 2 times in total
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 7:53 pm
I live in a small apartment (living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom). I eat in bed. I usually start cleaning a week before. No cleaning help.
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amother
Jade


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 7:56 pm
watergirl wrote:
I’ve been making pesach at home for almost 20 years now. No cleaning help. I start about 2 weeks before pesach. Dirt is not chametz and the house does not need to be “detailed” to make it kosher for pesach. What does that even mean?


I combine spring cleaning with Pesach cleaning. I like to give the house a good cleaning once a year.

If you start cleaning 2 weeks before, when do you cook?
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naturalmom5




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:01 pm
If you dont start Chanuka time,,,,...

You are doomed.... Sad
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dankbar




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:11 pm
Don't wanna think about or talk about it yet!
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:14 pm
amother wrote:
I combine spring cleaning with Pesach cleaning. I like to give the house a good cleaning once a year.

If you start cleaning 2 weeks before, when do you cook?

Clean whatever you want and start whenever you want. But your thread is called “Pesach cleaning”, not spring whole house cleaning. Just be realistic about the actual halachic requirements of the chag. One does not need a month to clean for pesach.

I dont cook for the whole chag at once. I cook what I need for the first days the day or two before pesach and then make more on chol hamoed as needed. I dont buy the packaged baked goods or take out food so I also bake what I need then as well. I also work full time so this is all done in the evening and weekends. My husband is a huge help also.

For what its worth, I dont go crazy with the food. Seder nights I make very simple. Actually, everything I make is pretty simple!
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:15 pm
I live in an 1100 square foot home. I start cleaning rosh chodesh Nissan and I have minimal outside help (if any) but dh and I for the most part split all the cleaning. I do some spring cleaning/ organizing, but more organizing over the summer when I can focus on only that. I don't kasher my kitchen until 3 days before pesach and I cook for two days before. I don't really use my freezer for cooked food and I make plenty of fresh food on Yom tov itself. We don't eat a ton of heavy foods.

All that said, I do things the way I do because that's seriously the least stressful way for me to make pesach. In the past I've started much earlier and even had more help and I realized I prefer to condense it all into a shorter period. That may not be what's easiest for you.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:15 pm
Repost

Last edited by amother on Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:54 pm; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Scarlet


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:18 pm
Organize from now till rosh chodesh Nissan. Then we remove the chometz from kitchen and drawers.
Call into the Hakol Beseder hotline for details on easy cleaning 347 772 1188
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amother
Puce


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 8:54 pm
I do my de-cluttering in the winter. I try not to do any spring cleaning pesach time.
From Purim, I buy chametz sparingly, ie. Only what we're gonna use in the next couple of days, no storing extra boxes of pasta etc. and try to use up the chametz
I have my list from each year and start to divide the cleaning tasks, usually beginning with one of my freezers. Sundays are used for kids to clean their rooms and toys etc.Try to start cooking ( I have pesach area I set up) 2 weeks before pesach.
We don't go crazy. Just halacha, not sparkling house..at least not at this stage of my life with young kids bH.
Goal is to maintain joy in home, not for everyone to hate it. I don't convulse when I hear pesach! I love it and so do my husband and kids.
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keym




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:03 pm
From around Tu Bishvat until Purim, I do any Spring Cleaning I want. Starting Purim- no more spring cleaning.
Around Purim, I sit with a calenadar when I want to kasher etc and work backwards. I don't start cooking until the day of bedikas chametz and cook as basic as possible. Any patchkes are done on Chol Hamoed for the last days.
Basically I try to avoid "takeout days"- those in between days that there is nothing to eat.
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cbg




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:08 pm
From the day after Tubshvat until Purim I do SPRING CLEANING and organizing. Anything left after that doesn’t get done UNLESS it’s chametz and then it either gets sold or cleaned during Pesach cleaning.

From Purim until Rosh Chodesh Nissan Pesach Cleaning

Rosh Chodesh Nissan is a ME day.

2nd of Nissan start shopping, cooking, freezing, shopping, cooking, freezing.

I have cleaning help.
I don’t allow food in the rooms.
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sub




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:09 pm
watergirl wrote:
Clean whatever you want and start whenever you want. But your thread is called “Pesach cleaning”, not spring whole house cleaning. Just be realistic about the actual halachic requirements of the chag. One does not need a month to clean for pesach.

I dont cook for the whole chag at once. I cook what I need for the first days the day or two before pesach and then make more on chol hamoed as needed. I dont buy the packaged baked goods or take out food so I also bake what I need then as well. I also work full time so this is all done in the evening and weekends. My husband is a huge help also.

For what its worth, I dont go crazy with the food. Seder nights I make very simple. Actually, everything I make is pretty simple!

A Voice of Reason. 👍👍👏
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:21 pm
naturalmom5 wrote:
If you dont start Chanuka time,,,,...

You are doomed.... Sad

Eh, in an ibur yahr, you can start Tu Bishvat bdi eved.
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LovetoLive




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:28 pm
I set aside one day per room in the house and 3 days for the kitchen.
Since I don’t like to do heavy cleaning day after day in a row I usually set aside one or two days per week for it.
Working backwards from when I want the kitchen turned over I schedule my cleaning days on my calendar and start whenever the first one falls out. Usually about 8 weeks before pesach.
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:44 pm
I start using up the pantry staples and everything in the freezer around Tu B'Shevat. This year is a leap year so I'm giving myself a few more weeks before starting. It is much simpler to deep-clean the kitchen and switch over if there isn't much stuff to move around, discard or otherwise deal with. I kasher the weekend before the seders, which gives enough time to prep for yom tov meals in advance if I want. We keep it very simple.

I never have food outside the kitchen and dining room (yes, that includes kids and guests), so the house remains sanitary and actual Pesach cleaning outside the kitchen is minimal. Of course I like to enter the holiday with a spring-clean house, but I don't stress about having the closets and bedrooms perfect for Pesach.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:46 pm
I work FT. DH is VERY particular about Pesach and works 12 hr days. I have a 6 bedroom house, 5 kids (youngest is 8 now) and 4 hours cleaning help per week, mostly for bathrooms and floor washing There are no kitchen-only food rules.

Most of this is done in 3 hour spurts on Sundays and I daven for snow days until Rosh Chodesh Nisan.

Tu Bshvat: Declutter and clean the basement and bathrooms, all dressers and drawers, every non-food closet in the house. Review pantries and freezers, plan meals to finish the chometz, make to-buy lists for yom tov clothes, shoes, non perishables.

Purim: Kitniyos cold cereal and Kitniyos snacks only. Start cleaning far from kitchen, work toward the kitchen. One Sunday the family does the garage.

Rosh Chodesh Nisan: fridges and freezers, every chair in the house, pets, cars. As the kids get off school, they join in.

I week out: Close off kitchen cabinets not to be used Pesach. Cabinet faces and counters, backsplash, ovens, stovetop, sinks.

For shalom bayis purposes, I have the kitchen and dining room floors professionally cleaned/ sealed during my 24 hour waiting period after kashering the kitchen. I shop for fruits and vegetables while the floors are done.

DH does a serious final check/ bedikas chometz that lasts well into the night while I cook.

Every year, we have a contest of who finds the weirdest, grossest thing while Pesach cleaning.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:48 pm
watergirl wrote:
I’ve been making pesach at home for almost 20 years now. No cleaning help. I start about 2 weeks before pesach. Dirt is not chametz and the house does not need to be “detailed” to make it kosher for pesach. What does that even mean?


This post needs to be pinned.

👏 Applause Yes
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mommyla




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 16 2019, 9:50 pm
I have a smallish house, some cleaning help (not enough to really entrust Pesach cleaning to her), and three kids 10 and under b"H. I like to do as much as I can in advance (that goes for everything, not just Pesach! so it irks me that I can't cook so far ahead). I also like to include spring cleaning in Pesach cleaning, though I definitely differentiate between the two and don't stress if I can't get to my spring cleaning tasks.

I don't allow food upstairs, but sometimes it makes it there anyway, so I do have to check and clean properly. I just started decluttering/organizing this week (I had some spare time and a quiet workweek so I did a huge closet cleanout). Will do kids' closets and dressers sometime in the next few weeks and probably have the cleaning lady do the heavy-duty vacuuming under furniture and baseboards around the same time.

Playroom is tricky because it's right off the kitchen and kids aren't so careful. That will have to get done closer to Pesach, ideally by Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Games and books will get done earlier, hopefully by Purim.

By Adar 1/Purim Katan I will probably start trying to use the food in my freezer so there's not so much to go through as Pesach gets closer. Right after Purim I will clean out my garage freezer, squeeze whatever's left into my regular freezer, and start looking out for good chicken/meat deals so that I can stock up and freeze before the mad pre-Pesach rush. I'll also clean out the garage and start looking for kosher l'Pesach nonperishables around the same time.

Rosh Chodesh Nissan I'll start working on the playroom and parts of the kitchen (I close off most cabinets, so it's just reorganizing the pantry and a couple of other cabinets that will be used for Pesach). I like to turn over on the motzaei Shabbos before Pesach, which is great this year because I'll get almost a whole week to cook. I try to have the appropriate cabinets ready before we turn over, but that doesn't always happen. I'll also clean the ovens before Shabbos in preparation for kashering/self-cleaning.

Dining room is the last chametz zone, and it gets done right before Yom Tov.

Hope that helps!
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