tl;dr: The 6 Tips for CNY Cleaning
[Updated from our last year’s article on 5 Tips for CNY Cleaning!]
Click on any of the links below to jump straight to our useful CNY Cleaning Tips!
1. Plan Early and Get Organized
3. Redefine Clutter (Not Everything is Waste!)
5. Consider Professional Cleaning Help
6. Keep the Kids Occupied, First.
Bonus Article: 5 Unlucky Chores To Avoid During CNY!
Click here to READ this related article!
Time for CNY Cleaning Already?
In the blink of an eye, CNY is right around the corner! In this article, we focus our attention on providing 6 Tips for CNY Cleaning. This would be especially useful for the majority of population in Singapore who celebrates Chinese New Year (yes, for the uninitiated, CNY means Chinese New Year, which is slightly different from Lunar New Year).
Alrighty, we know it is still another 3 weeks and more to Chinese New Year. But is it too early to start preparing and cleaning? Definitely not. This is because, as our very first tip says, CNY cleaning needs to be planned early!
1. Plan Early and Get Organised
We like the saying “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Although this saying contains negative remarks, it is a good wake up call for us who love to procrastinate. Indeed, to accomplish a smooth and complete CNY cleaning, we need to get up and cracking as soon as possible! First of all, do you remember the dates of CNY? If not click here, and mark the dates down on your calendar! Of unique importance is the week preceding CNY and CNY Eve. This is because the bulk of CNY cleaning needs to be done during this period.
You may need to apply for leave from work early because Singaporeans are known for their “kiasu-ness”. Almost all Chinese Singaporeans would be aiming for a long break from work during this time. Also, the CNY cleaning tasks can be monumental for those who have not been keeping their homes clean regularly. Be sure to gauge how messy your current household situation is, and how much manpower and resource you have available during the week preceding CNY. (MEIDE Plug: Read about how to clean your home efficiently and effectively here!) Allocate sufficient time towards cleaning your house. It is Chinese belief that no cleaning should be done during the actual CNY festival itself, to avoid bad luck!
Save On CNY Cleaning
During this period, you would expect crowded supermarkets, shopping malls, and overall rise in demand in almost all products and services. House cleaning services are no exception! If you are considering engaging a spring cleaning service, book early! If you require a top up of your cleaning supplies, pick off-peak hours to visit your desired stores. Planning your schedule early saves you time eventually, by avoiding crowds and long queues. In addition, expect surges in prices of items and services during this period. It is not uncommon to see hairdressing prices shoot up by easily two to threefold during pre-CNY season. If you buy your items, and book your spring cleaning service early, you might just avoid having to pay this hefty “CNY Surcharge” on certain products and services!
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2. Avoid Inauspicious Dates for CNY Cleaning
This advice is particularly relevant for the Chinese population, and believers in Chinese tradition. As a brief history lesson, there are 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs. These 12 Zodiac Signs are in the form of animals, and are believed by traditional Chinese to represent the years in China since tens of centuries ago. These 12 Signs follow a continuous cycle, and are believed to play a part in your personality, life events, marriage, wealth and career, just to name a few. Find out which Chinese Zodiac Sign you are, based on your year of birth here!
For those who believe in this Zodiac Signs, based on local Fengshui, here are the official dates that you may plan to avoid conducting your CNY cleaning. Depending on your Chinese Zodiac Sign, the inauspicious dates are:
| Zodiac Sign | Date To Avoid in 2022 |
| Tiger | 26 Dec, 31 Jan |
| Rabbit | 8 Jan, 20 Jan |
| Snake | 29 Dec |
| Monkey | 13 Jan, 25 Jan |
| Dog | 3 Jan, 27 Jan |
| Pig | 16 Jan, 28 Jan |
| Goat | 31 Dec |
| Rooster | Nil |
| Dragon | 28 Dec |
| Horse | 30 Dec |
| Ox | Nil |
| Rat | 5 Jan, 17 Jan, 29 Jan |
Based on Fengshui, these designated dates should be avoided if it matches your Chinese Zodiac Sign. However, these date are also touted as “auspicious dates”. Do consider scheduling the CNY cleaning on these date(s) if it does not conflict with any of your household members’ signs!
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3. Redefine Clutter (Not Everything is Waste!)
In many home cleaning guides, you would notice advice on throwing away unnecessary items in your house. However decluttering does not necessarily mean nonchalantly discarding these items. At MEIDE.SG, We are an advocate for reducing, reusing and recycling. Instead of throwing away items, always make use of recycling bins, and support Singapore’s move towards recycling and becoming a green nation!
Moreover, even if you are not a fan of recycling, if you have followed our advice to plan ahead, why not make use of your advance time to sell your unwanted items? There are several renowned platforms in Singapore such as Carousell to make some extra cash, whilst clearing out your old unused items. For the married and elderly, this would reduce your “hole in pocket” from giving away those Ang Baos (red packets). For the younger ones, this would add as surplus for your overall “earnings” from all the “Hong Bao” collection!
Finally, if you have a golden heart, why not donate your unwanted items to charity? By making these generous donations, you would make the less fortunate so much happier during this new year. Sharing is caring. Garner good karma, and you would likely usher in even greater good luck during this joyous Chinese New Year!
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4. Involve Your Whole Family
CNY cleaning should involve your whole family! Make it a family affair to clean the whole house, simply because it is a house shared by all family members! Not only would it make the spring cleaning easier to manage, it would serve as a fabulous bonding session for the family. Besides, getting up and moving is a way healthier choice than holding sedentary bonding activities, such as movies or playing board games. For this to occur in an organised manner, we recommend having someone experienced, or simple the head of the household take charge. He or she should make an overall assessment, compile a list, then allocate the cleaning tasks via schedule to every member.
Need help with decluttering and tidying up your house? Hire a part time maid to help you out, and prepare for Chinese New Year (CNY) without any hassle. 🙂
By involving each and every family member, it also instills a sense of ownership in the individual. Who knows? After the CNY spring cleaning session, individual household members would become much more responsible (if they were not already) for the coming months and years! This means picking up after their own litter, and cleaning up after their own dishes. It breeds great harmony amongst the family.
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5. Consider Professional Cleaning Help
If your house is huge, or require more complex cleaning, involving a professional early is the right choice. Moreover, engaging a professional does not necessarily mean omitting the four above-mentioned tips! Nevertheless, it would certainly reduce tension and problems faced in more difficult cleaning scenarios. For example, if your house had too many bathrooms, or perhaps overly soiled wet kitchen. If your eyes see stars or you experience headaches by simply looking at the situation in your house, perhaps engaging professional cleaning would do you better. In fact, with the right tools and expertise, expert cleaning companies like us at MEIDE.SG can provide you an incredible help for your CNY cleaning.
Whether you require full CNY spring cleaning, specialised home cleaning (eg. mold removal), or simply a part time maid, we have it for you!
6. Keep The Kids Occupied, First
Don’t say we did not warn you – all cleaning could become undone with your little toddler throwing toys, leaving food trails and messing up all your diligently tidied wardrobe!
Often, families with kids have their house in a constant state of controlled mess.
With an on-going (likely uncontrollable) factor of cause of mess around, your house could not possibly reach the high standards of tidiness called for by CNY spring cleaning, no matter how hard you tried.
Thus, it is important to isolate that factor. In other words, leave your kids with their grandparents, or have a child-minder assist you whilst you do the spring cleaning!
Did you know? MEIDE.SG also allows you to have that peace of mind with our MEIDE Babysitters available for booking!
Professional spring cleaning and babysitting used to cost a bomb. However, with recent improvements in technology and operations within the cleaning industry, Booking a spring cleaning or babysitting session is very much affordable now in Singapore. At a flat rate of just $20 per hour, and possibly bigger cleaning discounts for recurring/package bookings, ease your headaches today with MEIDE.SG spring cleaning service! Or, at a flat rate too of $98, book your babysitter NOW with MEIDE.SG babysitting!
We hope you have enjoyed these 6 tips for CNY cleaning. Here is wishing you in advance, a fruitful and enjoyable Happy Chinese New Year!