Secrets to Keeping your Home Clean
If you’re the type of person who wants a spotless home, but can’t seem to find the time to make it happen, we have some tips for you! First, make a checklist of what needs to get done and break it down by rooms. Then, decide what needs to be done in each room and assign different tasks to each day of the week. By cleaning small amounts each day, you won’t have to dedicate an entire weekend day to cleaning every inch of your home.
Bedrooms: Dust each bedroom in your house. Make sure to get the tops of all the furniture, including bookshelves, dressers and ceiling fans. Next, vacuum or sweep the floors. Make sure not to vacuum before dusting otherwise you’ll be throwing dust onto your clean floors. You’ll also want to strip and make the bed in each bedroom – nothing says messy like an unmade bed. If you have multiple bedrooms in your house, you can even break this up into different days of the week.
Bathrooms: Wipe down the sink, counters, shower, mirror and toilet and mop the floors to make sure you bathroom stays sanitary. This sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t take long if you do it every week. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Kitchen: Start by never leaving dirty dishes in the sink. Sometimes you aren’t motivated to clean your dishes from your midnight snack, but you won’t be any more motivated in the morning. If you have a good dishwasher, simply place your dirty dishes in their after use – it’s almost as easy as placing them in the sink. Each week, wipe down the microwave, stovetop, backsplash, and the sink to keep it nice and clean. Do this before you sweep so that you can throw any crumbs from the counter onto the floor to sweep up. Next, sweep the floor. Twice a month, go through all of the food in your fridge and pantry and throw away anything that may have expired or gone bad.
Laundry: Laundry builds up quickly, especially if you have children. Make it a weekly routine to wash your worn clothes from the week, launder the sheets you’ve stripped from the beds and replace the bathroom and kitchen towels. This goes a long way in keeping your house tidy.
Clutter: After your house is completely clean, you’ll have some time to do the everyday organizing and maintaining. Make sure everything has a place in your home because clutter builds up easily, especially piles of mail or school/work forms. Instead of making a pile when you get the mail, handle each item the first time you touch it. That means toss it if it’s junk mail, file it in the proper place such as a bill folder, or display it if it’s your 5-year-old’s latest masterpiece.