Cleaning your home. If you get home from work or wake up early on the weekend with a smile on your face anticipating it, this post is definitely not for you. But if you’re like most of us, read on. We’ve put together five of our most effective strategies to take the chore out of cleaning.
Tidy as you go: The longer you wait, the bigger your cleanup will be, so don’t procrastinate. Get in the habit of cleaning as you go. Give your bathroom sink a quick rinse with soap and a sponge every night, after you wash your face and brush your teeth. Squeegee your shower tiles and curtain or glass door after you shower. Load the dishwasher after every meal instead of piling dishes in the sink. You may find doing these things an inconvenience at first, but it only takes a few seconds and once you get in the habit, it’ll save you from major cleaning later on.
Smartphone scheduling: Tidying as you go doesn’t work for everything of course. You probably don’t want to vacuum or clean your windows every day, and you’re still going to have to scour the kitchen and bathroom periodically. That’s okay. For big cleaning projects, schedule them on your smartphone. For instance, a half hour every Tuesday (or whenever), to run your vacuum, sweep and mop your floors. Or an hour every four months to wash your windows.
Divide and conquer: Sometimes what fills us with dread the most is the size of the cleaning task at hand. But who says you have to do it all at once? Choose a room like your bathroom and tackle that. If you feel inspired, tackle another one. If you don’t tackle the next room in a couple of days.
Streamline: Let’s face it, many of us hoard more knick-knacks than we need and the more we have, the more dusting and straightening out there is. Every time you clean a room, resolve to fill a box or trash bag with items you no longer use, then drop them off at your local community donation center.
Don’t do it alone: If you live with a spouse and/or children, everyone has a responsibility to keep your place clean. Make sure they do! If you live by yourself, assemble a cleaning club, three to five likeminded friends and have everyone tackle someone’s home once a month.
Some other useful housecleaning tips:
- Take off your shoes when you come home it’ll keep your floors cleaner longer
- Rather than piling them up, hang and fold clothes as soon as you take them off
- Wipe down surfaces and put away your cooking utensils while you’re cooking
- Use a portable vacuum to clean up crumbs on your sofa or hair on your bathroom floor while dinner is in the oven
How do you get motivated to clean your home? Please share your own tips and strategies in the Shop Talk Blog community forum!
Did you know: Cleaning is exercising
Cleaning isn’t just great for your home, it’s pretty good for your health too. Tidying up for 30 minutes, vacuuming for an hour, or washing your windows burns about 100 calories. (Source)
Put your cleaning supplie in a apron pocket or a basket, work your way to the other end of the house one day & back another day.
Thank u for your tips ! I will definitely try my best ! Thank u for your tips!
My Mom cleaned house (and demanded I help) EVERY Saturday from 9 AM to 6 PM…whether it needed doing or not. She ironed underwear and sheets! She waxed the underside of every table! So, I do not do housework. When things get dusty (and they always do) my husband walks around the house with a can of spray air 🙂 When it gets so we can’t get from the door to a window, we put things away. Otherwise we aren’t bothered… Thank goodness I found someone who either agrees with me (or puts up with me)!
When UR vacuuming, get a little lifting exercise by lifting 1 end of the couch, and moving it to vacuum behind also. Don’t drag the whole thing,just do 1 end at a time! That’s unless U have a helper .Moving ,vacuuming , are all ways of burning some O those darn calories away!
One thing that will help very much is for the homeowner to change the air filters regularly.
For work needed to be done, my motto is: Do it and it is done!
Great tips! I also find that buying products that are fun to use help in keeping a clean home. I just discovered Norwex—so not only am I helping the environment but I’m not hurting my family by using chemicals. Cloth and water only!
Hint: Bathrooms – Long after my baby grew up, I kept baby wipes in my bathroooms, or where ever, to do a quick wipe down. Sinks, vanity tops,
toilet tank tops, rim of toilet, etc,
Hint: Laundry – It may be known by all but I have found that running smaller loads of laundry help me by using smaller load settings, and in dryer. Large loads wrinkle worse if allowed to sit a few minutes, but smaller loads are much less wrinkled no matter how long they sit. I can stand and fold a small load quicker and move on to something else I’d rather do!
Hello clean
Our whole family squeegees the shower doors after every shower, the glass will stay cleaner (about 2-3 weeks) longer. when you squeegee your doors after every shower the soap scum will NOT build up on them.
Everyone takes off their shoes prior to entering my home. Many people feel offended when asked to do so, however, your home IS much cleaner. When you wash your floors, you will notice the water in the bucket is not as dirty, as it would be if everyone wore their shoes. If you take on household chores as they are required, you will not be as OVERWHELMED as you would be if you let housecleaning pile up.
Great suggestions! Thank you!
Nice suggestions and I believe in them! I do practice every day to keep my house clean and to keep myself fit!
I wish I could clean my home and make it spic and span… When I was young and had five little one’s under foot and a husband to cater to I had no problem keeping up with every thing including canning, hanging cloths on the line and bringing them in and dealing with farm animals and a garden I never missed a step but now that the kid’s are all grown and my husband past away I find it very difficult to manage to get out of bed in the morning. I’m an old lady at the age of 59 and have to remember to look in the mirror to remind myself I can no longer do physically what my young brain and mind thinks I can do.
OMG!!!!!!!!!! Get on with your life lady, I had A REALLY BAD case of pneumonia in Dec and I am still recuperating, but I am 69. Let me tell you , if you don’t get the lead out NOW, it is only going to get worse, and you are far toooooo young to be talking like that. Where are your kids???
I know where you are. I was the same way, but I don’t have the problem getting up, just focusing on the issues at hand. At 71 I definitely have less energy and stamina than I used to in getting things done. These suggestions will help a lot though.
ditto, have friends who say the same thing as u. Tired of doing housework after doing 4 50+ years, work 3 days/week at 78.5 yrs. Stop entertaining which was a normal thing 4 me, husband passed, so now I try to please ME! Sleep in, clean when I’m in the mood & keep telling myself “LIFE IS TOO SHORT” TRY TO ENJOY EACH DAY! Get rid of the guilt of now being so perfect!!
I am so sorry for your loss of your husband, Melody!
Combine that with Empty Nest, & the slowing down that can be inevitable after age 50 ( I’m 57), & there’s a mix of real grief, along with a not-minor identity crisis!
I know b/c I have struggled with similar. My kids are grown and live in different towns. I’m an independent and resourceful spirit, but the transition of monumentally changing roles and phases in life, with no older parents to reflect on it with ( in my case, as my folks have been passed on for over 20 years) does present its tough challenges.
But move forward we must, eh?
Just know you are not alone, and that it is alright ( & normal) to grieve.
Meanwhile, I have found some YouTube channels to be quite encouraging!
“The Messy Minimalist” is a relatable and inspiring de-clutterer, who lets the viewer in to her home & life, sharing her chores, ideas, laughs, and her de-cluttering journey.
She’s so genuinely cute & quirky, too; & the visible progress she has made in transforming her Home in this past year has been truly inspirational!
Just start at the very beginning & watch in sequence, if you do decide to check her out
( I hope you DO!).
Very entertaining, actually!
She also has great content on her Facebook, Instagram & Patreon pages.
After watching her for 9 months, I decided to donate $1 a month!
Easy, and it does help her to make the time in her busy life to create quality videos!
And for empowering & frequency-raising on a whole new level, I LOVE
“Abraham Hicks”, & “Infinite Waters” ( Ralph Smart) YouTube videos & Instagram!
So good!
Lastly, “What The Health” on Netflix has some practical & eye opening info for sure, along with platforms to keep in touch on, on FB & Insta.
Ditto “Medical Medium” on FB & Instagram!
SUPER healing info, and powerful testimonials.
In my opinion.
Our New Chapters in Life await us, if we can take those baby steps to get there, eh?
All the best to you, Melody! You are more important than you realize!
Love,
Liz
Do you have a blog for the house cleaning?
I need to get motivated.
Cleaning suggestions appear quite helpful. I struggle with mail and often important papers. I’m afraid of tossing something that may provide proof in legal actions.
Get a shredder, it helps, shred anything with your me & address that you KNOW are not important. Then
get a mail bin, something you can sort your mail into, and keep separate, current bills, important letters,
get organized
I love to try, this and I sure need one. Thank you.
I really like the suggestions in this article. I used to be a clean as you go type, but these last 5-7 years,I just let things go! I am embarrased to have people come in. My live-in doesn’t do alot to help. He does the laundry,as he thinks I dont use enough hot water or detergent. He’s paying the price now! He sits on towels in the seat if his chair. Now he has a skin rash that’s driving him mad! I will use the suggestions starting Today! Will post back in one month. Thank you for the assistance & helpful info! Kelly
I use a timer on certain rooms – if it’s taking to long I have too many distractions n decide on a diff day or time!
Thank you for those helpful tips!! I have tried to limit each day to dusting then vacuuming etc. when you are going away you want a clean house to come home to. We are leaving in 5 days to visit my Daughter & Husband in San Diego. My husband and I are retired. Howevr, we babysit my grandaughters 2-3 times a week. They are ages 2 & 5. We just got home from a sleepover while my daughter and her husband went to a Wedding. I started packing for the trip 2 weeks ago. I took 1/2 hour with shirts & shorts. Then the next day shoes and jewelry. My next 1/2 day I packed dresses and sleepwear and toiletries. Also, I am on a lot of medication so I wanted to make sure all of my medicine was filled. I fill my meds in a pill container . Mon – Mon I use the zip lock bags that we vacuum for packing my clothes. I roll my shorts, shirts, and scarves. Today I am just dusting, tomorrow then vacuuming, then cleaning the bathroom and kitchen I do this because these are the last 2 rooms we would use.
OK but how do I get my 12,9,7yr old motivated?