Easy tips to clean the house

I’ve never been as discipline with cleaning my house as some might think. I’ve worked in the hospitality industry over twenty years and I’ve worked with many housekeeping departments and cleaning companies over the years, and I’ve picked up some quick cleaning tips that go a long way. There are times where the dust bunnies win over my trained career eyes, but I get out my supplies and over haul my hardwood floors and high ceiling lamps and another week is taken care of until week goes by and the shadow of the pink circle around the sink drain reminds me to slow down and clean.

Here are a few tips that have saved me from a whole day of cleaning versus a half hour or so each week.

Take a breath; it will be over before you know it….

In the cleaning cupboard there are the standards,

· Spray bottle with a mixture of water and vinegar (with a little lemon juice or a few drops of lavender essential oil for a fresh scent)

· Mico-fiber clothes

· All purpose cleaner

· Bathroom cleaner

· Glass cleaner

· Yes even one of those magic erasers, because they work

· Rubber gloves

· Old toothbrush (great for grout, tiles and around the sinks)

· Stainless steel cleaner

 

Daily Cleaning

We have to admit that we are leading much busier lives than we use to, and it’s easy to forget to pick up after ourselves or our family members when we are trying to get to work, then get home from work, make dinner, spend time with the family and then it’s time for bed, cleaning might be the last task you want to think about. But if you post a few tips for everyone then it becomes easy to keep up with the cleaning.

 

·         Wipe up spills right away

·         Wipe the stove every time you use it (believe me a few days of build up takes much longer to clean)

·         Change the kitchen dishcloth (we have to agree they get smelly quickly)

·         Hopefully you practice recycling, try to sort garbage and recycling as you go

·         Keep the toilet bowl clean

·         Leave the desk tidy (It’s easy to walk away and think I’ll do in a minute)

·         Put dishes into the dishwasher or wash them right away (again another one that is thought about “doing it in a minute”

·         Squeegee shower door after shower (it saves time when it comes to a weekly clean)

·         Make your own bed

·         If your cupboards get messy try to take a moment to rearrange the items to make it look neat and tidy.

·         Try to keep an essential oil burner or candle on a kitchen counter or bathroom counter – you don’t even have to light it as you can get a fresh scent as you walk by giving you a little uplifting moment.

Weekly Cleaning

A good tip is to start with one room, top to bottom in a circle, starting at the door to the right and go all around the room covering the basic’s:

· Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, window sills, picture frames, door handles, door frames (you’ll be amazed how many layers of dust can be left for a while)

· Shake out or dust curtains

· Sweep or Vacuum bare floors, rugs, carpets, and stairs

· Wipe down any telephones

· Clean surfaces including windows and mirrors

· Wash floors (with either an all purpose cleaner or water and vinegar mixture and add some lemon juice to get rid of the vinegar smell)

Bath Room

· Start with the toilet, maybe spraying the bathroom cleaner and leaving in the bowl until you finish the rest of the room.

· Clean surfaces of the sink and mirrors

· Clean shower, bathtub

· Wipe out the toilet bowl

· Wash floors

· Change bath towels

Kitchen

·         If you have burners take them off and soak the inserts in the sink with a cap full of dish liquid or a soft degreaser, let them soak while you clean the rest of the kitchen

·         Dump your compost and clean out the bucket and garbage can

·         Clean the kitchen sink

·         Wipe down small and large kitchen appliances inside and out

·         If you have stainless steel appliances I try to wipe them down at the end of my cleaning of the kitchen

·         Wipe down kitchen table

·         Wipe down kitchen chairs

·         Put stove burners back and finish cleaning the top of the stove

·         Vacuum and wash floors

Bedroom

· Change the bed linen

· Put dirty clothes in the hamper (yes, I have dirty clothes on my bedroom floor)

· Do the laundry

· Put away clean laundry

· Wipe down dressers, night stands, picture frames

· Vacuum (wash floors if you have hardwood floors)

Living/Dining Room

· Start by wiping down the corners of the ceiling, the dust can fall down to the floor to be vacuumed at the end

· Vacuum furniture

· Dust lamp and lamp shades

· Dust picture frames

· Clean mirrors

· Dust all surfaces

· Dust and clean dining room table and chairs

· Vacuum and wash floors

The little things help during the daily cleaning to make the weekly cleaning that much easier. I recommend that you try to use a different wash cloth for each room. I use up to three or four different wash clothes in each room as when you rinse your cloth or use different cleaning supplies the cloth can cause streaks on tables and not really “clean” but pushing the dirt around. I’m not a fan of cleaning but when I am able to follow a simple routine that I know doesn’t take long I know that after a half hour that my space is clean and I can enjoy the rest of the day.