Growing up, my mom was a stereotypical clean freak. If she wasn’t working, she was cleaning. A few years ago, she put white carpets in the majority of her house – they are still the same color as the day she installed them.

As much as my mom was a clean freak, I was an equally sick kiddo. One year, I contracted mono, four random respiratory viruses, bronchitis twice, pneumonia, a few sinus infections, at least two UTI’s and as many yeast infections. Needless to say, I grew up to be what the majority of people consider a “germaphobe.” Being sick all the time isn’t how I choose to live my life. Some people call it germophobic, I call it intentionally healthy. Tomato, tomahto.

The result of being a germophobe and the daughter of the crazy-cleaning-lady was that I was picked up by the microbiology department at a large pharmaceutical company. There must have been something in my eyes that screamed “OCD!” It was there I met my husband (a sterilization engineer), and the rest is history.

So what does someone in a microbiology lab at a pharmaceutical company actually do? I’d argue one of the most important things is learning how to recognize people in full gowning. Besides that, our particular department tested water, air and surfaces and ensured that the places drugs were manufactured were sterile. If there was contamination somewhere, (and that did happen) we often worked on call and overnights to bring systems back online after intense cleaning operations took place. The other half of our department tested the drugs themselves at varying stages of the pipeline, as well as growing and identifying organisms. I never realized it then, but I learned so much that has helped me in the day-to-day of motherhood, I’m often dumbfounded other people don’t have this same information readily available to them. That stops today.

Now I don’t know about you – but when I deep clean, I really want to feel it. And there are lots of tips and tricks from the clean room that’ll help you achieve that goal. So if you’re ready to supercharge your spring cleaning routine or get the most out of your weekly cleaning routine, read on!

You guys. You might as well not be mopping at all if you aren’t using a rinse bucket. You’re just pushing around dirty soap water. This is a technique I watched countless times during my years in the cleanroom, but I only recently started using it. Why it took me so long to implement is a mystery to me. The gist is this: fill your mop bucket with your favorite solution , and fill a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket filled with clean (hot) water. Use the solution, but before going back for more, hit up the rinse bucket. Wring everything out really well, then dip it back into the solution bucket. It makes such a huge difference. I mean maybe. I haven’t tested the floors since I started with it. But the solution is staying clean until the end, so it must be doing something. Be prepared to dump and refill your rinse bucket, otherwise you’re (still) fighting a losing battle.

I feel like this goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. If you’re cleaning a bathroom, clean the glass first. Then clean the sink, followed by the bathtub. The toilet should be your last stop, followed by the floor. Yes, toilets really do spray fecal bacteria everywhere. In the kitchen, my last stop is the range top and then the sink. You know how you use your areas best. Just be intentional about it.

This trick also applies to the least / most overwhelming rooms. You really don’t want to spend all your mental faculties on the worst room of the house, only to realize you have the remainder of the house to go. Rack up a bunch of small wins, then tackle the worst of it. It’s like the snowball method but for cleaning. I changed my weekly cleaning routine to utilize this method, and it made a huge difference for my mental wellbeing and energy levels.

Complete one room at a time.

Cleanrooms are cleaned this way, which probably has more to do with getting production back up and running, but it makes a big difference at home. This technique is super important for the mental game that is spring cleaning. Having one completely clean room will give you the motivation to go clean another room. And then another. And another. It gives you a safe space to calm the chaos in your brain, but it also ensures that if life happens and you have to stop short, something has been cleaned in its entirety. I realize that according to people without children, this never happens when you’re a parent, but I’m just giving you suggestions in the event it does (insert eye roll). Finishing a task feels good. You may have to get the vacuum out multiple times, but it’s worth it. Trust me on this one.

Your house is full of chemicals (there is formaldehyde in your carpet and flame retardant on your couch). You’re probably cleaning with some form of chemicals, also. Even vinegar (acetic acid) can singe your nostrils and make your chest feel tight. Just go ahead and open the window in the room you’re cleaning. Even if it’s 10 degrees out. Ten or fifteen minutes of fresh air is going to make a huge difference in how a room smells and feels. It’ll also help kill some of those germs.

The reason I recommend opening the window from the top is this: heat rises and cold air settles. You’ll get a more complete air exchange this way. If you can’t open it from the top, turn on the fart fan. It’ll help circulate the air more effectively. This is the theory I came up with and ran it by my resident engineer who does this sort of work everyday. He agreed this made logical sense, though I have no studies to prove it. He did suggest I do a smoke test. Because that’s how we roll around here. Maybe I’ll sage the house in the spring and see what happens.

You’re selling yourself short if you do all that cleaning and then do not light a candle at the end. I’m not sure there is anything more relaxing than a nice clean space and the glow of a (non-toxic) candle. You worked hard, you (and your family) deserve it.

So what’s next?

Marie Kondo may have given up after the birth of her third child, but I haven’t. My guess is you haven’t either, or you wouldn’t be here. The mental health benefits of having a clean, orderly space are well known. I’d argue kids are even more sensitive to it – and certainly, you’re a lot more likely to lose your shit if you’re surrounded by clutter. So while you wait for the next post in this series, go ahead and brainstorm how you can knock this year’s spring cleaning out of the park and set yourself up for a beautiful, carefree summer. Or go ahead and implement some of these techniques and watch how it shifts the vibe of the whole room. The choice is yours.