Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Here's why we use this time to refresh our homes. EKIN KIZILKAYA/Getty Images We hear the phrase “spring cleaning” every year ...

Here's something to ponder while you're dusting and spritzing and wiping down every surface of your home while spring cleaning this year: you're participating in an age-old tradition that's rooted in ...

In an earlier, dirtier era, a thorough post-winter scrubbing was a labor-intensive necessity. Today, the tradition lives on as an annual rite of purification and renewal. The American Cleaning ...

Ancient Romans cleaned their togas with stale urine collected in public pots. Medieval Europeans believed bathing was dangerous. And the sparkling clean homes of today owe more to accidental ...