Do you ever feel like you only have yourself to blame for the amount of housework you need to do? While there may be other household members contributing to this, you can, however, make things easier for yourself. How? Well, the answer lies in some of the simplest, little habits that make big impacts when it comes to cleaning your home. Of course, it’s always better when you can get the whole family involved, but in this case, you will need to be the one that sets the example. After all, the goal here is to minimise cleaning for you, above all else!
Here are some really good habits that will not only minimise house cleaning, but also help you to be more organised and practical, making cleaning a quick affair.
1. No More Messy Laundry
‘Messy laundry’ isn’t just ‘dirty laundry’; clean, unfolded laundry or clothes lying around the bedroom can also create a mess, right? Therefore, you need to tackle all forms of messy laundry by developing different habits. For example, if you make it a point (or habit) to do laundry on a daily basis, you’ll never have to worry about your hamper overflowing. Most of us stress out over home cleaning after we’ve allowed things to pile up or get too dirty which, ultimately, is our own doing.
Another good habit to keep is to fold and put away clean laundry as soon as it dries, rather than dumping it on a chair or where it doesn’t belong. Similarly, if your clothes aren’t going in the hamper after you get home and undress, hang them up on a wall-mounted clothes rack in your room. Organising your clothes goes a long way in minimising home cleaning so avoid draping them over your furniture!
2. Don’t Let Dishes Pile Up… Ever!
It’s rare to see your kitchen sink empty. Particularly in homes with kids who go in and out of the kitchen to make a sandwich, have some cereal or a glass of milk, dirty dishes are bound to pile up. Firstly, it’s important to teach your kids to wash up dishes that they’ve used, as opposed to leaving them in the sink; secondly, it’s best to clean dishes as soon as you dirty them.
If washing up after preparing a meal becomes habitual, you won’t find dirty dishes piled up after you’ve eaten. Obviously, it is more tiring and time-consuming to wash a pile of dirty dishes, especially at the end of the day when you’d rather just go to bed! It also makes a world of difference to wash up whatever few items you find in the sink throughout the course of the day, as and when you have time.
3. Bathrooms that Need Less Cleaning? Yes, Please!
The bathroom is one of those areas in your home that gets pretty dirty, and quickly. However, a couple of good cleaning habits can keep your bathroom clean for days on end, without requiring an exhausting scrub down. For example, after you shower, take a bathroom brush and scrub away any dirt or stains that you see; next, splash or spray some water around the floor and squeegee it into the drain. This literally takes 2-3 minutes and yet keeps your bathroom floors clean after you’ve showered.
For the sink, keep a small container of detergent and a sponge on top of the medicine cabinet that you can use every morning/night after you brush your teeth. If you stick to this, you won’t even need detergent; just a quick wipe down with a sponge and water is enough to keep it clean. For your toilet, it can pretty much self-clean the interiors if you pour some cleaner into the bowl and leave it overnight. The next morning, all you need to do is give it a quick brushing before pulling the flush to rinse it out.
4. Wipe Now, No Worries Later
Whether it’s cooking, eating, doing dishes or anything that leaves a surface dirty, wipe it clean right away. The longer you leave crumbs, spills or stains on a surface, the more effort and time it will take to clean up later. This is one habit that truly keeps your home looking neat and clean, and only takes a minute, or two, to complete.
To make things easier and quicker, make a solution of white vinegar and water (equal parts) and store it in a spray bottle that you can use for a quick wipe down of various surfaces around the home (avoid wooden surfaces). Vinegar is a great cleaning solvent for kitchen and bathroom surfaces to make them gleam.
5. Dust Furniture and Vacuum Regularly
As mentioned earlier, the longer you wait, the dirtier everything becomes. Daily vacuuming takes approximately 7 minutes per room (depending on how big the room is), while weekly vacuuming would take a good 15-20 minutes because there is so much dust and dirt to clean up.
The same goes for dusting your furniture. Dust is one of the most frequent (recurring) pollutants in a home and hence, requires daily cleaning to get rid of. Therefore, those who have made it a habit to dust and vacuum every day are able to meet their goal of minimising household cleaning!
6. Keep Household Dirt to a Minimum
One of the best ways to minimise household cleaning is by keeping dirt and dust to a minimum. There are many entry points for these pollutants to find their way into your home, while much of it can also be lying in concealed areas.
Listed below are solutions to keep dirt and dust to a minimum:
- Keep doormats at every house entrance and encourage household members to use them before walking in.
- Leave footwear on a shoe rack by the door and change into a pair of clean, house slippers to move around in your home.
- Keep windows and doors shut on windy days as dust and dirt get blown inside.
- Clean air vents regularly as dirt and dust tend to accumulate inside and get pushed out into your home.
- Clean your air conditioner’s air filters and vents regularly.
- Spring clean your home to get rid of accumulated dirt.
- Clean under beds and behind furniture every other week to avoid dust bunnies.
7. Spot Clean When You See ‘it’
By “it” we mean anything that requires cleaning. This may be in the form of crumbs on your counters or a stain in your bathroom sink; when you spot clean, you minimise household cleaning as a whole. For example, by spot cleaning your stovetop, you won’t have to spend much time giving it a wipe down when cleaning your entire kitchen.
The best part about spot cleaning around your home is that it takes the smallest amount of time, yet makes a world of difference to the overall cleanliness of your home! Of course, developing such a habit is much easier when you have quick access to cleaners and cleaning tools. Therefore, having a trusty all-purpose cleaner and a handy microfibre cloth is perfect for spot cleaning around your house.
Simply Maid helps you make home cleaning a breeze with great organisation tips and guides. For hiring a reliable, efficient cleaning service that will take care of all your household cleaning, we’re the ones to call, today!
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