Only love lasts forever… okay, and family… and friends too… but everything else will need to be replaced or refurbished at some point! Don’t worry, we’re not trying to get overly philosophical on you, it’s just that spring is here, and it’s not called spring-cleaning for nothing! It’s time to open up our windows and doors, closets and drawers, and clean out the old to make room for the new, because it’s not only food that has an expiration date!

Take your own mattress for example. You lay on it every night to go to sleep, you rest on it sometimes during the day, you let your kids jump on it on the weekends, you flip it once a season, you vacuum it once a month of course and you change its sheets every week. Don’t you think that your mattress deserves a rest too? Every 8-10 years your mattress needs to be replaced! If it’s been ripped or damaged it needs to be changed sooner so it can properly support your body and not cause you bone and joint pain. 

Your pillow is your best friend, and the two of you have a very intimate relationship. However, that BFF of yours collects dust like it’s going out of style and is a veritable breeding ground for mites! So, this spring throw that dingy pillow away, unless your pillow is washable. In that case throw it in the wash at 60°C, and let it dry in our cleansing Mediterranean sun! 

Surely few of us realize that our other most intimate tool, our toothbrush, needs to be changed so often! Well here’s a reality check… coming into contact with our mouths (hopefully twice a day) causes our toothbrush to become rife with bacteria, fungus and other little nasties! That’s why it’s so important to rinse it thoroughly every time you use it, making sure that there are no visible things left on or in it. You should also be sure to store it in a vertical position to allow for thorough drying of the head, and to protect its bristles with the cap. And after 3 months, its time is up. Treat yourself to a new one.