(Spring) Cleaning’s Golden Glow

It may seem like we are getting ahead of ourselves given that there is still snow in the mountains, but Spring is not far away. One of the first indications around Canberra is the tiny glow of yellow that we start to see from wattles – all the more bright against greenish grey of Canberra’s winter landscape.

An ABC Science article reports that up to a third of Australia’s 960 species of wattle will flower in winter, yet we celebrate Wattle Day on 1 September, the first day of Spring.

It wasn’t always this way. In Australia, different states had celebrated Wattle Day on different days between August and September for more than a century. In New South Wales, for example, Wattle Day was celebrated on 1 August because of the profusion of wattle blooms at that time in the surrounds of Sydney.

September 1 only became the nationally agreed date in 1992. Some say that it was because of the many positive values associated with Spring, such as optimism, bounty and abundance, reliability, and new life – all of which was encapsulated in the wattle’s brilliant colour.

Of course Spring is also synonymous with spring cleaning — a centuries’ old tradition associated with the end of a long, wet winter in the cold northern regions of the world. The Spring winds allowed people to open doors and windows and blow fireplace soot from the house; drape rugs, bedding and curtains over the clothesline and beat them to loosen the dust.

Here at Ainslie Laundrette we take a slightly different approach. Who wants to be inside cleaning when Canberra’s gorgeous Spring weather arrives, especially after a long, wet and gloomy winter? We think the best time to start Spring cleaning is actually the end of Winter with a goal of finishing by Wattle Day!

We love cleaning with products that aren’t toxic, but are more effective and smell better than the ‘natural’ cleaning products available to buy.

We use and stock ‘The Laundress’ home cleaning products and tools. The Laundress brand manufactures products that include scented vinegar, bleach alternatives and all-surface cleaning concentrates, along with linen dishcloths, dusters, buckets and lint-free cleaning cloths.

Cleaning may not be something you look forward to with excitement, but the sense of renewal and the freshness that comes from using The Laundress products as Winter winds down is the best way to launch into all of your more exciting Springtime activities with vigour. Go for Wattle Day gold this year and finish your Spring cleaning by 1 September.