Never made pesach- how do I clean?

amother

Molasses

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 1:11 am

I would suggest you primarily ask a rav about this because many women are unnecessarily strict about this.
Ask the rav about the halachos of seeing and owning chometz, and about the laws of eating it.
And allocate your energy accordingly.
Mingag is also strong here and nothing to be sneezed at but it’s good to know what’s what.
FWIW during Covid many people were super strict at not being super strict at the spring cleaning part…

amother

Molasses

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 1:14 am

About my own experiences- I basically clean the rooms (with special attention to drawers) and around the house as deep clean, not baseboards etc but where there could be pretzels and cheerios type.
Couches get the most love. Toys- what are you keeping out?
The kitchen is really super important because of food prepared to be eaten on pesach.
I spend most of my cleaning lady hours on that. The kitchen is our focus. Oven, stove top, huge - ask shaila about how you clean, kasher if at all… fridge can take time…

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 1:17 am

I suggest starting with going through with your husband and/or rav the halachos of what has to be cleaned. First step is knowing what has to be done.

Then start with the least chometz-prone areas, and move towards the real chometz areas.

Sweeping, mopping, checking everywhere you won't be eating in/on/with/next to on pesach.
Thoroughly washing/kashering/covering/buying new eating areas and anything that will come in contact with food on pesach.

amother

Winterberry

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:46 am

I focus on my kitchen and main floor. Rest of house gets regular cleaning with deep vacuuming. We barely eat upstairs it's cleaned all the time anyways. Kids go thru their drawers and briefcases and coats.
Toys if time we go thru all otherwise take out some for pesach and lock up the rest.
Generally we take two days to clean. I don't much closer to pesach. I am not even thinking about it yet.

amother

Tuberose

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:59 am

Everybody says don't do spring cleaning "it's not halacha", it's 100 % true but
1- pesach cleaning consist of vacuuming the room. 1h per room at the most.
It's so much easier to do after room is decluttered!
(When there's nothing under a bed vacuuming goes so much faster!!!)
2- if you don't do it pesach time, once per year when will it get done?

Obviously if you're not in a position to do so - let's say you're having a baby of suffer from high anxiety- it's not recommended !

Start now, do a bit at a time.
Get rid of anything not being used. Clothing that doesn't fit anyone. Same for shoes/boots. Old medicine.
Take one room.
Prepare 3 bags: give away, garbage, storage.
Of course it's optional and not part of actual pesach cleaning but when I manage to do before pesach my cleaning is a breeze and it's such a good feeling!
Eta: Leave the most time for the kitchen, that will need scrubbing and that's where the real chametz is. If you have cleaning help it's never too early to scrubb all cabinets inside and out.
Make an inventory of chometz left in pantry, try to use it up and don't buy any unless it's being eaten within the next couple of days!

amother

Winterberry

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 9:04 am

amother Tuberose wrote:

Since when do you need to spend an hour vacuuming each room?
I don't do any spring cleaning at all. I don't have a ton of clutter. It gets done other times of the year. Pesach time is not the only time you can declutter.
Under the beds are swept/mopped weekly. Pesach isn't the only time...

amother

Tuberose

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 9:15 am

amother Winterberry wrote:

Lol! If you've already done it the whole year, it obviously doesn't apply to you!
I'm obviously addressing people that don't do it the whole year!! I thought it was pretty clear from my post! Can't Believe It

Tzutzie

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 9:46 am

dankbar wrote:

Hakol bseder has a homework hotline what to do each day. It an 8 week program for pesach. That is 15 min of work if you decluttered all year with them, then it's just remove, wipe, put back.

My sister did that for many years. It's amazing.
I like to do things at my own pace.

Bedrooms all you need to do is check drawers, check pockets sweep and mop floors and under beds.
Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to go thru the drawers/clothing.

All other rooms (laundry/mud/office) that have drawers or storage (not long term storage like garage), similar to bedrooms. Overall check and sweep/vacuum/mop.
You do NOT need to wash the drawers. All you need to do is CHECK for chamatz.

Toys. Lock them all away, spend $200-300 on new toys/games. Save those toys for pesach.

Dining areas, all chairs need to he washed. Table, walls that get touch frequently. (Everyone knows where the little hands get to and where their walls can get dirty around Dining areas. Especially if you have a toddler who loves making the food go airborne. My currently toddler bh doesn't! Or not yet? Confused

. Anyway)
Kitchen cabinets on the outside need to be washed well.
On the inside, you can either sell them as is, or clean them out and use them but needs to be washed well. Same w fridge freezer and counters and appliances that are used needs to be scrubbed down really well.
(*tip- My ovens I don't use on pesach so I use those to rehome some stuff from the cabinets that I do use on pesach)

Coat closets - check pockets
Wipe down door handles right before bedikatz chamatz or when you turn over. Whichever comes first.

Chandeliers, ceiling fans, windows, all walls amd baseboards, ect. While its nice to have it cleaned ans freshened up for pesach, it is totally extra.

What did I miss?

I like to declutter between chanuka and purim.
So that I can easily and quickly clean for pesach and switch out the wardrobes.

Hasn't happened every year. But it had happened enough times to keep things moving appropriately if I miss a year.

If I didnt manage to declutter I usually try to start 2-3 weeks before purim so that I can take my time. I start with the basement. And I declutter as I work.
But again this totally extra.

amother

Taupe

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 9:50 am

amother OP wrote:

I’ve literally never even pesach cleaned before. I grew up never being home for pesach, and got married and always went away

Now I have until Purim to get my house pesach ready. I literally have no clue where to start

Any advice? How long does it typically take? Is it just sweeping, mopping, vacuuming?

What you're missing is the checking.

Ask your rabbi, and it depends on your circumstances.

But at minimum you're checking things like coat pockets. Toys. Kids stuff. Backpacks. Anywhere that clutter collects.

Some people also check all their drawers.

And this is where the time really adds up.

amother

Blonde

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 10:48 am

My first rule is to lock up what I can. I lock off our entire toy cupboard, so no need to deal with it. I lock off my kitchen cabinets, except for a couple that I clean for pesach. And sell all of those.
Coats and backpacks all get washed before pesach so I know any potential crumbs are no longer an issue. And I do the same with any other clothing.
I do each bedroom, one day at a time.
Beds get moved and hoovered underneath.
Closets and drawers are all given a quick hoover and wipe over-the issue is edible, so if it's been sprayed it's no longer edible, even if I missed a couple of crumbs.

Dining room and kitchen need the deepest clean as they have the most food. Again lock away and sell as much as possible. And then clean all surfaces, chair etc.

I would check with your lor what he feels is necessary and what to do. Different people hold different things.

amother

NeonPink

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 10:49 am

Tzutzie wrote:

***

Bedrooms all you need to do is check drawers, check pockets sweep and mop floors and under beds.
Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to go thru the drawers/clothing.

All other rooms (laundry/mud/office) that have drawers or storage (not long term storage like garage), similar to bedrooms. Overall check and sweep/vacuum/mop.
You do NOT need to wash the drawers. All you need to do is CHECK for chamatz.

Toys. Lock them all away, spend $200-300 on new toys/games. Save those toys for pesach.

***

Coat closets - check pockets
Wipe down door handles right before bedikatz chamatz or when you turn over. Whichever comes first.

Chandeliers, ceiling fans, windows, all walls amd baseboards, ect. While its nice to have it cleaned ans freshened up for pesach, it is totally extra.

This is what I do, but when DO you clean all that?
-Molly

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 11:29 am

We asked our Rav. He told us, begged us, to just I spect for chametz halachicly. Not "clean", explained exactly what to do and offered to come do it himself its that easy lol.

Per him, we:
1) understand whats the problem. Its only a problem to INGEST a minute amount of chametz, but you may still have a piece smaller than a cheerio in your drawer.
2) therefor all non eating areas get visually inspected for a piece of chamet the size of a cheerio or larger. Remove clothes from drawers, leave all crumbs smaller than a cheerio where they are. Check under mattresses and beds, in and behind night tables etc for cheerio sized morsels, same for closets etc. Lift couch cushions, leave anything smaller than a cheerio where it is. No need to vacuum if its smaller than a cheerio. Etc.
3) the kitchen and eating areas get seriously wiped down to remove any crumb of chametz because it may ch"v wind up in our mouth, and also sprayed down with lysol etc to invalidate any minuite crumb that maybe got left behind, becaise that renders it inedible and no longer chametz.

We leave pesach "cleaning" for the few days before pesach.
And I do a deep spring cleaning after pesach.

No stress whatsoever.