Tips & Tricks of House Cleaning

Battle Plan

Create a schedule to keep your cleaning on track. Set a schedule that allows you to do small jobs daily and larger jobs weekly. By cleaning up a little each day, your house stays cleaner and big cleaning days will not take as long. Once a day do the dishes, make the beds, pick up misplaced items around the house and wipe down counter tops and fixtures. Tackle the bigger jobs once a week such as, mopping or vacuuming the floors, doing the laundry, cleaning windows and dusting.

A little organization speeds up your cleaning process. Start by de-cluttering your house. Go through every room and take out anything you do not use or want. You can have a garage sale to get rid of unwanted items or donate them to charity. Find a place for everything you keep. Everything in your home must have a specific place to cut down on clutter. Organizing your cleaning supplies speeds up the cleaning process. Buy an organizer tote to hold all of your supplies so you can carry them around easier and store them in the same place.

Make your job easier by stopping cleaning problems before they happen. For example, place rugs in high-traffic areas around your house, especially at the front door. The rugs catch dirt and grime that could stain the floors. Place a towel by the front door and use it to wipe down your pets when they come in, before they can dirty the house. Wash out your dishes as soon as you finish using them. Letting dishes sit causes the food to cake on, making it more difficult to remove. Clean a spill on the counter tops or floor as soon as it happens and before the stain can set in.

Make a checklist for the occasional cleaning jobs you have around the house and make sure you do them several times a year. For example, clean the inside of the oven once a month. Baking soda and a wet towel cleans the inside of the oven quickly. Check the freezer for frost buildup frequently and defrost the inside when needed. You can speed the process up by placing newspaper along each shelf. The newspaper soaks up most of the water.