Spring cleaning the Italian way

To clean. That equates to routine chores. I generally don't get happy with routine, but okay. What has to be done has to be done. So I keep it neat, tidy and clean here in the house as much as possible. Dust off, clean the kitchen and bathroom, yank the vacuum cleaner through the house and walk through the tent with a mop. Nothing to impress my Italian neighbours. But once a year I outdo them all and do a spring cleaning the Italian way.

You can eat off the floor with me: a crumb is never left there for more than 24 hours. And of course I also feel satisfied when everything looks okay again. But that feeling often fades quickly. Because then I'm going to do something fun. Or because in no time there is nothing left to see of my cleaning work. But that doesn't make me hot or cold either. Cleaning and tidying up is necessary, but actually I think it's a waste of my time.

The cultural difference that lasts

In that respect I will always stand out from my neighbors and fellow villagers. Although I don't immediately want to put everyone in this big country with the same brush, I do have the feeling that the average Italian is cleaner than me. It almost sees as a life purpose. And apparently has no problem doing the same actions over and over again.

Cleaning the Italian way…

The cleaning work starts early in the morning by dragging carpets outside. Which, in my opinion, are more often airing over the balustrades in the fresh air than in their permanent place in the house. Then there is diligent dusting. I know that because that activity is not limited to only indoors, but also outdoors. Window frames and shutters must also be made dust-free. And the balcony. The stairs. And don't forget the railing. It is a negligible detail that when the duster is knocked out, the particles that have just been dusted away blow back just as hard.

They are swept, vacuumed, waxed and mopped as if their lives depended on it. Well, maybe the reputation of the person in question. No one wants to pass for 'less clean' than the others. So it seems that everyone's house is cleaned from top to bottom every day. Why spring cleaning? You don't want them to chat all year, do you? So just rip open the umpteenth bottle of all-purpose cleaner, bleach or abrasive and off you go!

…and the Dutch way

But every now and then I outdo them with a huge catch-up. When the temperatures become more pleasant and the sun has been shining in a blue sky for a few days, it starts to itch for me. Then I open the windows wider than my neighbors to let the heat and spring air flow in. I push with difficulty a supermarket trolley that is much fuller with cleaning supplies than that of my fellow villagers. I really do dust off everything that needs to be dusted. Also the lamps on the balcony. And the one from the stairs. And the one in the garden.

Then I soak everything that can be submerged in soapy water without any problems. Including those cups that are in the back of the cupboard and are never used. Not a single cloud of winter dust under the beds and in the farthest corners is safe for me and my vacuum cleaner. I lay the benches on their side to also give the bottom a good clean. Like a real Cinderella on my knees I scrub the tiles in the whole house. Are all mattresses leaning against the wall on the balcony to air out all day long? And in the evening the curtains, washed clean, hang on the rails again, while the rest of the house gleams at me and I plop down on the couch, exhausted.

Old-fashioned spring cleaning

Just an old-fashioned spring cleaning that would fill my grandmother's hearts with great pride. Which makes the neighborhood look at me in amazement. With a touch of admiration for my cleaning rage.

Then for a while. Because as soon as they start dragging the carpets again and start dusting fanatically, I take a cup of coffee and then just go back to the Dutch everyday order.