Once upon a time, when there was still a chilly nip in the air, families opened up all their windows, took their rugs outside for a beating and began the annual ritual known as spring housecleaning.

Today, there's little time left after working all week, running kids to soccer and dance class, taking teens to musical practice or picking them up from baseball practice, visiting the parents, paying the bills online and keeping up with e-mails. Even retirees are often on the go.

For that reason, some people now turn to cleaning services, carpet specialists and other professionals to help with the process. Cleaning the nitty gritty dirt sometimes requires an expert touch.

"You can't ever totally eliminate the dust," says Mike Woods, a sales consultant with Schultheis Bros., a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company in Plum Borough. "You're inside, and you're stirring things up."

Cleaning the ductwork in a home can help, especially after many winters of furnace use. Ductwork should be cleaned every five to 10 years, depending on whether there are pets or carpeting in the home, Woods says.

Most of the homes in this area have 30 years or more of pet hair, dander, skin and clothing lint built up in the ductwork. And that's not all.

"We've found toys, baby dolls and hidden money," Woods says. "We've come across dead animals."

Today, most companies use a direct High-Efficiency Particulate Air-filtered (HEPA) vacuum that connects directly to the ductwork. Ductwork is treated with a microbiocide that kills mold spores, bacteria and viruses.

"It really gives a kind of fresh, clean start to your system."

Oldie moldy

It's during spring housecleaning time that many homeowners discover that scourge of drywall and disease -- mold -- which can cause health problems such as asthma, allergic reactions and fungal infections.

In the Pittsburgh area, 75 percent of basements are underground, says Gene Orris, project manager with mold remediation division of PDG Environmental Inc. in Murrysville. Most houses have cement block foundations.

"Block is porous," Orris says. "It's going to absorb the water and let it come through."

Mold needs two things to grow, according to Orris -- moisture or humidity and food sources such as paper, the cellulose-based product found on the back of drywall and wallpaper glue. Mold isn't an issue if it's growing behind drywall because there's no airflow to carry the spores.

Mold can appear as a black marking on the wall or as a green or white substance on wood. Surprisingly, because new homes are more airtight, they are more susceptible to mold growth, Orris says.

Both a 10-percent bleach to water mix made at home and professional mold killers can be effective, Orris says. But while the home solution can cause release of mold spores, professionals seal the moldy area in plastic as they work and collect the spores using HEPA equipment. Once in the air, spores can settle on furniture and countertops.

To prevent mold growth, relative humidity in a home should be below 60 percent, Orris says. Dryers that aren't vented outside and furnace humidifies add moisture to the air.

"A dehumidifier really corrects that problem," he says.

Contain your enthusiasm

Spring house cleaning is about more than removing the furnace dust from behind furniture, making sure the windows shine or ridding the basement of cobwebs.

It's always been a time to assess what one has, what should be kept, what can be thrown out and what can be done to make the process easier next year.

"What works for you may not work for me," says Susan Lieber, owner of Leave it to Lieber in Pittsburgh.

An occupational therapist turned professional organizer, Lieber brings to her customers a concern about their ability to function and perform daily chores.

As she works, Lieber involves her clients, making their daily living easier while teaching them how to stay better organized.

"It's kind of like having a personal trainer. It's easier when someone is working with you side by side," she says.

Where a homeowner sees a messy pile or overfull closet, "I see possibilities," Lieber says. With no emotional attachment to items, she helps clients take a fresh look at what they are keeping and make comfortable decisions about discarding unneeded items.

She helps clients find a better way to organize their kitchen or to use a room differently.

While some people buy containers then try to organize, Lieber says it should be done in reverse. First items should be sorted, then appropriately-sized containers used to organize them.

Curb appeal

The inside may be sparkling clean, but what does the exterior of a home say?

Slimy-looking shingles, sooty siding, guck-filled gutters and dusty decks all call out for help.

"One thing people don't realize is that shingle roofs can grow algae," says Bruce Pivirotto, owner of It's All Clean, a mobile pressure washing business in Plum Borough. "If you don't clean that roof, the algae will multiply quickly and lift the shingles."

Pivirotto uses a pressure cleaner and chemicals that won't hurt plants, children or pets to remove the algae. Chemicals, not the pressure, are what do the job. Another specialty is cleaning calcite and efflorescence, a white, chalky-looking deposit, from walls, masonry block and bricks.

"A homeowner is not going to clean their vinyl siding the same way we would," he says.

Aluminum siding is "more tricky," he says, because if the finish comes off, the metal oxidizes.

Pivirotto advises homeowners not to attempt most exterior house cleaning. Professional companies have the proper equipment and insurance, and their workers are more skilled on ladders, he says.

They also have the knowledge of how to do the job right. People who attempt pressure cleaning risk personal injury or damage to the brick, concrete, siding or roof that cannot be reversed, Pivirotto says.

Another pit stop

Bikes, basketballs, lawn mowers, cars, gardening supplies and woodworking tools can all end up sharing a garage. And sometimes that mess gets overlooked during spring housecleaning, as well as deposits on the garage floor.

Ben Bennett, owner of Premier Garage, a garage enhancement specialty firm, says 75 percent of garage floors are raw cement and begin to show pitting and dirt after rust, road salt, gas, grease and oil take their toll. The other 25 percent of floors are coated with substances like epoxy paint, which "just don't hold up in our environment," he says.

His company provides a polymer surface coating that cleans in eight minutes using a garden hose and squeegee.

Premier also tackles organization of the garage, using cabinets 6 inches off the ground for easy cleaning and a steel grid system with baskets and hooks that can be changed as a family grows or goes. So the hooks for the kids' bikes today can become golf club storage for mom and dad when they leave the nest.

"We try to utilize all the available space you have," Bennett says.

Some tips to help tackle chore of spring cleaning

So, this is the weekend -- or maybe next.

"Springtime is a natural time of renewal when you want to freshen things up and get a new perspective," says Susan Lieber, a professional organizer and owner of Leave it to Lieber.

Gone are the days of June Cleaver, perfect in her pearls, with two boys in a spotless house. Working women -- and men -- are challenged to find the time to just keep up with the regular housekeeping.

LifeScript, a healthy living Web site, offers these tips for tackling the cleaning this spring:

• Plan your attack -- Write down the tasks you want to accomplish.

• Take it easy on yourself -- Instead of attempting to finish the cleaning in one day, assign different tasks on different days over a week or two.

• "Hire" a crew to help -- Buy five large pizzas and lure your friends over to help as they socialize.

• Avoid distractions -- Turn off the TV and find something to occupy the kids.

• De-clutter your life -- If you don't use it, lose it.

• Donate -- Give clutter a new life by donating it to charity.

• Invite the outside in -- Open blinds, windows, doors and let the sunshine and fresh air in.

• Have fun -- Turn up the oldies (preferably not moldy ones) and move your hips to burn extra calories.