We’ve all been there; you’re down to the wire, not a lot of time to deep clean your digs- maybe you’ve been working a whole bunch or been sick, or aren’t sleeping well.
The temptation in those moments to cut corners on time is HUGE and trust me I know and have been there myself; but there are a few things you can do to save a little time and a few things you should never, ever do.
A few habits can keep you from living among unbearable clutter and also cut your time (and disaster quota) when you do get around to deep cleaning.
Check it out!
The Dos;
- Find a good multi-surface cleaner you like that can handle anything you throw at it; this way you can clean, say, your TV stand and screen all in one go or clean your bathroom mirror and counter in a few swipes. One bottle, a couple minutes. Boom, done. My favorite go-to multi-surface cleaning solution is Pledge Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner; it cleans glass, wood, plastic- whatever you need, it has you covered, and you really only have to haul that one bottle around from room to room. It also comes in an array of scents so you have a vast amount of choices. My favorite is the apple cinnamon because it smells like oatmeal cookies and who doesn’t love that smell? What. Don’t Judge me.
2. Do your dishes as soon as you finish using them. I know this sounds like your Mom, but if nothing else, if your dishes are done your house may not be sparkling but at least it won’t smell like old food. Plus, if they don’t stack up, they don’t get foul smelling and you don’t have to spend precious time scrubbing icky dried on crap off your pretty dishes because, well, ew. That’s why. Plus, if somebody stops by that’s just one thing you don’t have to worry about; I didn’t have time to mop but at least they don’t know I had French toast for breakfast. It’s a little thing, but it’s mighty.
3. Put your stuff away; this is another small but mighty thing that packs a huge punch for 2 reasons. The first reason is that you can fake a clean house if there are no clothes lying around, your books and movies are put away and your coat is hung up, that kind of thing; the second is that when you do get around to deep cleaning it takes far less time if you don’t have to put everything away first. Again, I know I sound like your Mama, but just putting away your stuff can buy you a little grace time until you need to bust out the scrubbing bubbles and a sponge.
4. Walk through your house or apartment with a trash bag once a week; whether it’s to pick up Walmart receipts or stray paper, magazines, or to make a donation bag for books, clothes, whatever- just do this. Make it a habit. Get the clutter out and your place will look so much more put together; remember that most cooking magazine websites (I mention this because these are my downfall) have the same recipes they print in hard copy available online, and they offer virtual recipe boxes so you can add your favorites and get the bulky magazines out of your house. This can be hard to do but once you make it a habit it keeps clutter at bay with a minimum of effort.
5. This may be touchy for some but, if you have pets, stay on top of their business. Vacuum or lint roll their hair off the furniture, sweep up their bottomless supply of loose fur that ends up on the floor, and scoop your litter-box- every day. I used to have cats and I can tell you from experience that I became immune to the smell of their indoor kitty potty but everybody I brought over knew that I had a cat or 2 before I said a word if I hadn’t made a point of scooping and tending to that litter-box regularly. Now I have dogs and instead of cat scent my house can end up Doritos scented and covered in hair if I don’t watch it, so every pet comes with housekeeping challenges, you just take it as part of the territory when you bring them home but remember to let their loving fur face be the indicator that they live there, not their stinky feet or cat box.
The Don’ts;
When you get down to actual cleaning everyone has their own way of doing things and I can’t tell you what will work best for you; if blasting Rhianna Radio on Pandora and tanking up on coffee works best for you, like it does for some people (me), you certainly know it.
But sometimes things go wrong, and here’s where I can help.
- Don’t vacuum your area rugs. Just. Don’t. It may seem like a time saver, and sure it does save you the 10 seconds you would lose picking the rug up off the floor first but you will for sure lose that time and more buying a new rug when the vacuum chews the edges and trim up and spits them out like they taste yucky. Don’t do it.
2. Don’t mix your chemicals. We’re all adults so you probably already know this, but just on the off chance that you don’t and I’m saving you some damage to your lungs, then you’re welcome. Don’t mix bleach based cleaner with anything else, especially something ammonia based- it will not end well for anything you put it on or anybody in your house, particularly you since you’ll be closest to it. The mix of fumes is highly toxic not to mention unnecessary- bleach based chemicals work perfectly all by themselves for the tougher jobs (like toilet bowls) and the rest can be done with gentle, essential oil based cleaners that are easy on your lungs and the environment. My favorite essential oil based cleaner right now is Parsley Plus Cleaner by Earth Friendly- I usually get mine at my local Walmart, but I did find a 22oz bottle on sale for $2.92. You can find that here.
3. Don’t throw your stuff under the bed or into your closet, or sweep it under the couch. This is another just don’t. It makes it impossible to sweep under there/get organized/find things and I promise if you live with anybody else it will drive them insane- do not even get me started on my former roommate who chose to clean that way. Suffice to say the day I moved out I was delirious with glee that I would never again pull the couch out to sweep and find long lost socks and crap hiding under the furniture. Take the extra minute to put things away in a semi-organized way and I promise you will be happier for it.
4. Don’t leave your clean laundry chillin’ in a heap in your laundry basket after you pull it from the dryer. We’ve all done it- and this is a huge issue of mine that I struggle with. Your clothes will be wrinkled and the room that the basket is sitting in will no doubt look unkempt until you put the clothes away or cycle through all the clean clothes in it and haul it back down to the laundry room to start all over again. As I said, this is something I struggle with but am always more comfortable when I put the clothes away right out of the dryer (and I don’t have to hear it from the hubs either. Bonus win!)
5. Finally, don’t don’t DON’T use the same sponge on every surface in your bathroom. Just think about the amount (and kind) of gross germs lingering in your toilet bowl after you clean and brush it and then consider whether you would want those same germs coming in contact with your North end after evacuating your South end. Since I’m guessing the answer is no, there are a few ways to avoid this. You can either cycle your sponges or only use sponges on surfaces that don’t potentially have a coating of E. coli the way your throne might. To cycle sponges you simply relegate your sink and bath sponges to floor sponges when they start to lose less of their scrubby power and then in the last sad stage of sponge life they can become toilet sponges. Easy peasy (if you can keep them straight). To employ the other option you can either use disposable Lysol or Clorox wipes when cleaning your toilet and then throw them in your trash bag and be done (I don’t suggest flushing them. Don’t).
And there you go! Good ways to fake a clean house until you have time to make it and some ways to avoid illness and disaster when you do have time to make it legit; if you’re feeling super ambitious check out this article on 10 ways to change your bad housekeeping habits.
Next week is going to be busy here in Chick and Chickadee Land; we’ll talk meal planning, my favorite pasta salad recipe this summer, my new pixie cut (and how I make it look messy and fun), my finally implemented cleaning schedule and much more!
Have a great weekend all!
Until next time!
Love,
The Chick and her Chickadee