National Cleaning Week begins each year on the fourth Sunday in March. It is a week-long lineup of activities targeted at encouraging everyone to clean their homes, closets, cars, storage lockers, and offices. Also, this week emphasizes the value and importance of cleaning employees, employers, and other stakeholders in the cleaning industry. Did you know? A 2010 study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, observed that those who believed their home was cluttered had higher levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
History of National Cleaning Week
National Cleaning Week celebrates the importance, value, and positive impact that cleaning has on public health, the environment, and the economy. This week also offers the perfect opportunity to raise public awareness for the value of clean spaces, appreciate front-line cleaning professionals, promote cleaning organizations, and advocate for the cleaning industry.
The International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), the worldwide cleaning industry association, uses National Cleaning Week to promote the importance of cleanliness, provide education and training, and raise the profile of the cleaning industry. ISSA also sees the week as a channel to publicize numerous means to engage and explore educational opportunities, support charitable causes for the benefit of the cleaning industry, and more.
Maintaining a clean environment helps to lower the spread of viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens that cause diseases and trigger allergic reactions. It also prevents the growth of mold in our living spaces. Furthermore, a clean space is closely associated with improved moods, decreased stress levels, and enhanced productivity.
Following an experiment in 2013, the Association for Psychological Science concluded that students were more likely to make healthier choices and participate in philanthropic causes after they were exposed to a clean room. National Cleaning Week provides the opportunity to enjoy these psychological benefits and much more. It is also a week to discard winter essentials, declutter, and tidy up our homes to welcome a fresh start with spring.
National Cleaning Week timeline
Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians begin making soap from fats boiled with ashes.
Italy, Spain, and France become major producers of soap due to their ready supply of raw materials, such as oil from olive trees.
French chemist Nicolas Leblanc patents a process for making soda ash — an important ingredient in soapmaking — from common salt.
Daniel Hess of West Union, Iowa invents a manual vacuum cleaner called the ‘carpet sweeper.’
National Cleaning Week FAQs
Is there a National Cleaning Day?
National CleanUp Day is celebrated in the United States on the third Saturday in September every year. It’s a day to promote cleanup events nationwide to keep our environment clean and prevent plastic buildup in the ocean.
When is the best time to spring clean?
Spring cleaning usually begins in March, however, there’s a surge in cleaning products in August as well.
What does spring cleaning symbolize?
Spring cleaning may actually have religious origins, as it is often linked to the Jewish Passover festival, which occurs between late March and early April to mark the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt. In preparation for the holiday, Jews and Judaists often undertake a general cleaning of their homes as a way to remove any leavened bread and other prohibited food items or ‘chametz.’
National Cleaning Week Activities
Clean up your space
There’s no better thing to do during this week than spending some considerable time decluttering and cleaning your home, closets, storage compartments, offices, and basement. To make your cleaning week less intimidating, start with cleaning one room at a time, begin from the ceiling and work your way down. Don’t be afraid to move out any unused, old, or worn-out items like furniture, clothes, toys, and books from your space. You can donate those extra items to a thrift store or organize a garage sale.
Involve extra hands
Going it alone can be overwhelming. It takes a whole community to maintain a clean environment. Get everyone to understand their important roles in preventing the spread of germs and diseases. During National Cleaning Week, teach your children, students, employees, and colleagues about the simple daily routines that can help maintain a clean space and emphasize the dangers of uncleanliness.
Appreciate your cleaners
National Cleaning Week is a great opportunity to show solidarity and support the cleaning employees in your organization. Allow them to organize a session where they can share essential hygiene tips with other employees. Show your appreciation with tips, awards, and other incentives to boost their morale. Use #NationalCleaningWeek and #CleaningWeek hashtags to celebrate and follow the week on social media.
5 Fun Facts About Cleaning
Cleaning out the calories
Cleaning, such as ironing and washing dishes for two hours, could burn up to 215 calories, which is almost the same as running for 20 minutes!
When life gives you lemons…
Lemons have antibacterial properties that are effective for disinfecting your home — a great alternative when you run out of disinfectants!
A mountain that cleans
Soap derived its name from an ancient Roman legend about Mount Sapo, where rain would wash down the mountain and, mixing with animal fat and ashes, resulted in a clay-like mixture that made cleaning easier.
Dead skin cells
Dust contains 20 to 50% dead skins cells.
Women clean more
The average woman cleans for about 12,900 hours in her lifetime, while men spend an average of 6,450 hours cleaning.
Why We Love National Cleaning Week
The importance of cleanliness is emphasized
National Cleaning Week is a great time to get rid of dirt, garbage, and dust. We can clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, take out the trash, and keep our environment clean. It also emphasizes the need to declutter our work and living spaces by eliminating excess possessions and properties.
It enhances productivity and creativity
Since clean environments are closely linked with good health, higher productivity, and better mental health, National Cleaning Week enables us to explore different cleaning methods to enjoy these amazing benefits. Not only does regular cleaning prohibit the transmission of deadly diseases and the reproduction of germs, but it also helps to de-stress and prevent accidents.
Cleaning professionals are celebrated
Most of the time, people look down on cleaning professionals and deride cleaning businesses because they don’t understand the importance of these essential services. National Cleaning Week gives us the opportunity to celebrate the heroes who toil hard to give us clean homes and offices so we can live and work in clean environments. We can support them and cheer them on for all their important, hard work!
National Cleaning Week dates
Year | Date | Day |
---|---|---|
2022 | March 27 | Sunday |
2023 | March 26 | Sunday |
2024 | March 24 | Sunday |
2025 | March 23 | Sunday |
2026 | March 22 | Sunday |