Spring Is the Perfect Time for Swedish Death Cleaning - Here’s How to Start

Spring cleaning isn’t just about tidying up your home — it’s an opportunity to reflect, organize, and plan ahead. Whether you’re decluttering your belongings to spare your kids from going through them later (a concept known as “Swedish Death Cleaning”) or deciding what to do with a loved one’s stuff, a thoughtful approach makes the process easier and more meaningful. Here are nine strategies to simplify spring cleaning (no matter when you do it) for yourself or on behalf of a loved one.

1. Start With a Purpose

Before diving into the process, identify your goals. Are you preparing your home to feel more peaceful, or are you aiming to reduce the burden on your family in the future? When managing someone else’s belongings, focus on preserving memories while letting go of items that no longer serve a purpose.

Consider tackling one category at a time — clothing, books, or kitchenware. If you’re cleaning up after someone’s passing, create a timeline that allows for thoughtful decision-making and balancing emotional needs with practical steps.

2. What is a Swedish Death Cleaning?

Swedish Death Cleaning, or döstädning, is a Scandinavian practice that focuses on decluttering to ease the burden on loved ones after you’re gone. Unlike traditional spring cleaning, this approach emphasizes intentional downsizing over time.

Key principles of Swedish Death Cleaning include:

• Start early: Begin while you’re still healthy, so you have time to make thoughtful decisions.
• Prioritize relationships over possessions: Keep items that genuinely bring joy or hold sentimental value.
• Ask family members about their preferences: Discuss heirlooms, photos, or keepsakes to determine what they’d like to hold onto now or in the future.
• Let go of the unnecessary: Acknowledge when items no longer serve a purpose and allow yourself to donate, recycle, or discard them.

This mindful approach brings peace to your life and ensures your loved ones are left with fewer emotional and logistical challenges later.

3. Keep, Toss, Donate, or Recycle

Sort items into four categories:

• Keep: Sentimental or highly useful items
• Toss: Broken, damaged, or unusable items
• Donate: Items in good condition that could benefit others
• Recycle: Electronics, paper, and other materials that can be repurposed

For donations, research local charities to ensure they accept specific items. Many organizations don’t take large furniture, mattresses, or electronics older than a few years. Check online resources like donation directories to find specialized recyclers for items charities won’t take.

4. Document and Discuss Your Plans

If you’re organizing your belongings, consider creating a list of sentimental items and sharing their significance with your family. This ensures your loved ones know the story behind heirlooms and can decide what to keep or pass along when the time comes.

For families handling someone’s possessions, take photos or videos of items before distributing them among relatives. This creates a shared record and avoids potential misunderstandings.

5. Consider an Estate Sale

For large volumes of belongings, estate sales can simplify the decluttering process. Professional estate sale companies handle pricing, marketing, and selling items, often maximizing the financial return while easing emotional strain.

Alternatively, organize a garage sale for smaller loads. This can also be a way to share memories with neighbors or friends who may cherish an item from your family’s history.

6. Honor Ashes and Create a Memorial

If you’re managing the belongings of someone who has passed, deciding what to do with cremated remains is an important consideration. Deciding on a final resting place ensures the ashes are cared for in a way that comforts surviving family members.

Here are some thoughtful options to consider:

• Scattering Ashes: Choose a meaningful location, such as a beach, national park, or another favorite spot of the deceased. Be sure to check local regulations to ensure scattering is permitted.
• Permanent Memorials: Select a decorative urn, choose cremation jewelry, or place the urn in a cemetery within a private estate, columbarium, or glass-front niche for lasting memorialization. These choices ensure your loved one has a meaningful and permanent place of remembrance.
• Creative Memorials: Transform ashes into something unique and meaningful. Options include turning them into glass art, keepsakes, or even planting them alongside a tree as part of a living memorial.
• Solidified Remains with Parting Stone: Parting Stone offers an innovative alternative to traditional cremation ashes by transforming remains into clean, solidified stones. These stones are easy to handle and can be displayed, shared, or even carried as a comforting reminder of your loved one.

7. Make Thoughtful Donation Choices

Donating items can be a healing and purposeful way to honor someone’s memory. Choose charities that align with their values. For instance:

• Books: Donate to libraries, schools, or literacy programs.
• Clothing: Offer to shelters or organizations helping families in need.
• Household goods: Give to Habitat for Humanity, other nonprofits, or local thrift stores.

Always confirm what items the charity accepts. Many organizations have restrictions on items like used bedding, car seats, or certain electronics.

8. Understand What Can’t Be Donated

Not all items are suitable for donation. Here’s a list of common items that charities typically can’t accept:

• Broken or heavily damaged furniture
• Mattresses or box springs
• Bedding (animal shelters can sometimes take bedding that other charities can’t)
• Electronics that are outdated or non-functional
• Hazardous materials like paint, cleaning products, or batteries
• Food, unless unopened and unexpired

Explore recycling centers, e-waste drop-offs, or hazardous waste disposal programs in your area for these items.

Donation and Safe Disposal of Specialized Items

Some items, such as medical equipment or prescription medicine, require special handling. Walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, crutches, hospital beds, and other durable medical equipment in good condition can be donated. Many organizations, such as local senior centers, medical equipment banks, charities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and VA hospitals, may repurpose medical equipment for those in need. Clean and sanitize all equipment before donating.

You cannot donate prescription or over-the-counter medication, but there are ways to dispose of them safely. Many pharmacies, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies offer medication drop-off programs. Look for events like the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. 

If no take-back program is available, mix medications with an unpalatable substance (like coffee grounds or cat litter), seal them in a plastic bag, and dispose of them in your household trash. Be sure to remove or scratch out personal information on prescription bottles before recycling them. Do not flush medications (a method previously recommended).

9. Get Help if You Need It

If you’re working alone, set small, manageable goals each day. Celebrate progress and give yourself grace as you move through the process.

Spring cleaning – especially after someone’s passing – can feel overwhelming. Don’t hesitate to enlist help from family, friends, or professionals, including:

• Professional organizers: Help you declutter and organize with efficiency.
• Junk removal services: Quickly clear out items you no longer need.
• Counselors or support groups: Offer emotional support during the process.

Download Our Helpful Guide

Simplify your spring cleaning journey with our free downloadable guide: "A Step-by-Step Guide to Decluttering Your Life."

Whether you're organizing your belongings for peace of mind or managing the possessions of a loved one, this guide offers practical, compassionate advice to make the process easier.

Click here to download the guide and start your decluttering journey today.