2020 has been a tough year for all of us; we’ve been put through the wringer (some more than others) but here we are, kicking off the new year, feeling thankful for what we have, and hopeful for what’s to come in 2021. Then again, regardless of what the new year has in store for us, it is up to each one of us to make something of it. This begins with making the right New Year’s resolutions that will encourage you to be a better version of yourself and, of course, take measures to keep your home clean in 2021!
There’s no better time to do this than the very beginning of the year when you feel most motivated to make changes and achieve what seems like the impossible. Unfortunately, for many, what starts off on a high note, typically dies down after a month or two, if not sooner. This is where Simply Maid’s expertise in keeping a spick and span house can help you do the same for your home in 2021.
With these well thought out cleaning resolutions and a little self-discipline, our comprehensive guides for daily, weekly, monthly, and annual cleaning will ensure a clean and organised house all through 2021! Read on to find out what they are.
Daily Cleaning Habits in 2021
To spare yourself the burden of piled up cleaning tasks that are usually tended to on the weekends, resolve to make daily cleaning a habit instead. Although the thought of cleaning every day is overwhelming for most people with busy schedules, when you see how quick and simple these everyday cleaning tasks can be, it won’t be long until you develop a routine that conveniently fits into your daily schedule.
Here are some key cleaning resolutions to meet your daily cleaning needs:
DECLUTTER ON THE GO. If you see something lying out of place as you walk from one room to another, don’t promise to come back for it later; do it right away! It won’t take you more than 20 seconds to do this and yet, will make a huge difference to the overall tidiness of the room.
TIDY UP BEFORE BED. Look around the place and spot areas that require a quick tidying up. Whether it’s clothes in your bedroom that need to be folded and put away or magazines on the coffee table that need organising; spare at least 10 minutes every night to tidy up before you go to bed.
DO THE DISHES AFTER DINNER. At the end of the night, your kitchen sink should be empty! Even if it means loading the dishwasher after dinner and running the cycle in the morning, make it a habit to get dirty dishes out of the way so that you don’t wake up to a sink full of them.
SPOT CLEAN THE BATHROOM. To keep your bathroom clean and free of stains for a longer period of time, daily spot cleaning goes a long way! It’s as simple as spending 10 seconds to wipe down the sink and counter space while the floor can be rinsed with plain water every day after you shower. Follow this up by pushing the water into the drain with a squeegee so that the floor dries up quickly; the rubber or silicone will also clean up mild stains so it’s a win-win!
WIPE UP SPILLS IMMEDIATELY. The act of leaving spills or crumbs to clean up later is only doing a disservice to your home. It allows stains to set and, more often than not, is overlooked later on. Again, it doesn’t take much more than a minute to clean a surface that could use a wipe down so make that a cleaning resolution in 2021!
Weekly Cleaning Routine
When you do your bit to keep the rest of the house neat and relatively clean on a daily basis, weekly cleaning is a whole lot easier! You don’t have to spend hours scrubbing away dirt and grime that’s been accumulating for days on end. In fact, a weekly cleaning routine will further ease the burden of house cleaning since you aren’t allowing things to get out of hand or reach a point wherein you require more time and energy to clean the place up.
For your weekly cleaning routine, spare an hour or two to tackle these basic cleaning tasks and maintain a consistently clean house in 2021:
CLEAN THE FLOOR. Vacuum or sweep your floor at least once a week (the more frequent, the better). Follow this up by mopping with an appropriate cleaning solution to remove stains from your floor. Depending on how big your house is, it should take you anywhere between 5-10 minutes to clean the floor in each room.
DUST THE FURNITURE. Thanks to the daily cleaning habits you are developing in 2021, those clutter-free surfaces in your home will be a lot easier to dust. On top of this, there are some great dusting tools available on the market that are more efficient in picking up dust (and quickly, too).
CATCH UP ON LAUNDRY. The amount of dirty laundry that piles up each week is different in every household. While some families require dirty laundry to be washed every other day, the least you can do is a load every week. It’s important to catch up on laundry before the clothes hamper starts to overflow!
DEEP CLEAN THE BATHROOM. Again, deep cleaning your bathroom quickly will be a breeze if you have been sticking to those daily cleaning habits that keep surfaces clean and stain-free for the most part. Other areas that may require a good scrub down will include your shower area, toilet bowl, and wall tiles located in the ‘splash zones’.
CLEAN THE STOVETOP. While we definitely advise wiping down the stovetop after cooking (when it’s cool to touch, of course), a weekly clean is mandatory to remove grease buildup and stubborn stains caused by spills or splatters. Use a multipurpose cleaning product for this, or simply make your own solution using distilled vinegar (1 part), warm water (3 parts), and lemon extract (1-2 teaspoons to 3 cups of water).
Monthly Cleaning Tasks
As the months progress in 2021, resolve to check off each monthly cleaning task noted on your schedule (yes, you should make a cleaning schedule to stay on track and meet those house cleaning goals for 2021!) The great thing about these chores is that you have an entire month to pick out days that are most convenient for you to get them done. In other words, there are no excuses for neglecting those once a month cleaning jobs!
Let’s take a look at what they are:
CLEAN THE FRIDGE. For hygienic reasons, convenience, and visually pleasing benefits, it’s important to clean and organise your refrigerator once a month. This gives you a chance to get rid of expired or rotten foods that may be causing your fridge to smell bad, as well as organise the shelves so that you don’t have to struggle to make space for leftovers every night!
CHANGE UPHOLSTERY. Curtains, cushion covers, and other removable upholstery should be laundered appropriately while fresh ones take their place. A lot of dust and bacteria get trapped in household upholstery, causing allergies and illnesses over a period of time. Therefore, we suggest not letting more than a month go by without replacing your existing upholstery.
DEEP CLEAN DISHWASHER + GARBAGE DISPOSAL. Those hot water cycles combined with dish detergent aren’t enough to keep your dishwasher clean and sanitised. Manual cleaning is a must to ensure good hygiene, as well as the proper functioning of the appliance. Similarly, your garbage disposal will start to emit a foul odour over time if not cleaned and freshened up once a month.
CLEAN CEILING FANS. That layer of dust on your fan blades is only going to get thicker until it is too heavy to cling to the surface when the fan starts spinning. That’s when these dusty layers get scattered all over the place, causing sneezing fits and other allergic reactions. Depending on where you live and how quickly the dust accumulates on your ceiling fans, cleaning them every month or every 2-3 weeks is a necessity in most households.
MOVE FURNITURE WHEN CLEANING. Think about how often you clean unseen and hard-to-reach places; it’s probably not as frequent as it should be. One of the worst things about not cleaning behind furniture and other areas that are out-of-sight is that it can lead to mould growth which, in turn, causes a string of health problems. Apart from this, it is just good hygiene to keep your whole house clean and not practice the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ proverb when it comes to home cleaning!
WASH THE WINDOWS. If you want to clean your windows quickly, do it every month! Don’t wait for the grime and stains to become so stubborn that they require a time-consuming wash and scrub down. Cleaning windows regularly entails a simple pre-wipe to remove dust, followed by a thorough clean with glass cleaner and old sheets of newspaper crushed into balls.
Annual House Cleaning & Maintenance in 2021
While you’re making your daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedules, make a separate column for those cleaning and maintenance tasks to be performed once a year. That’s all it is; a one-time thing to do in 2021 and you’re good to go till 2022!
Let’s take a quick look at these important annual cleaning/maintenance tasks you need to consider in 2021:
CLEAN & INSPECT AIR DUCTS. Leaks in your ductwork can lead to costly repairs in the long run while also adding to your utility bills due to the lack of air being pushed out (thus making your HVAC system work harder). If this is outside your comfort zone, call in a professional HVAC technician to get the job done.
CLEAN THE BACKYARD/PATIO. Outdoor areas are often neglected because most of us believe dust and dirt are acceptable given that these spaces are exposed to the elements. While there’s no need to keep your backyard or patio spotless, a yearly cleanup will help maintain their overall condition. This is also a good time to get repair work done (if needed) and organise the space so that it is easier to keep clean and neat in 2021.
HIRE A SPRING CLEANING SERVICE. If you aren’t able to spring clean the house yourself, it’s worth hiring a professional cleaning service to come in and give your home a complete top to bottom clean. Once you’ve had that done, you will be more motivated to keep the house clean and organised. With that said, you must remember that spring cleaning also includes purging your belongings to organise the house more efficiently.
DE-STAIN WALLS. Many homeowners take the time to dust their interior walls every couple of months but very few go one step further to remove stains. This is probably because most people don’t know how to clean walls safely and efficiently, or simply resort to repainting them when the number of stains increases! The good news is that de-staining painted walls is fairly simple and, more often than not, can be achieved with just soap and water.
CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSET. In a year’s time, you are likely to buy a bunch of new clothes to add to your wardrobe while some of your old, never-to-be-worn-again clothes sit there in the back of your closet taking up valuable space. This happens year in and year out until one day you decide to clean out your closet! Well, in 2021, resolve to make this an annual affair so that your closet is organised, and you are able to donate some usable clothes to the less fortunate.
With that, we come to the end of our all-inclusive cleaning resolutions to keep your home spick and span in the new year. So, train your mind to stick to the cleaning schedules, and don’t let your New Year’s cleaning resolutions be the ones that got away in 2021!
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