The Secret to Having a Clean Home Without Really Trying
by Anne Mathews on May 25, 2008 with 23 Comments
Just because you have to clean your home doesn’t mean it has to become a full-time job. Follow these easy steps to a clean home that is relaxing and inviting.
Are your Saturday’s lost because of housework? Are you spending the weekend cleaning instead of taking the kids to the park or going shopping? Would you rather reclaim your weekends for yourself and your family? Of course you would. Yet the chores around the house still need to be done. How can you do it all and still find time for yourself?
The answer is…habit. If you change your daily routines or create new ones, you’ll have a continually clean home that will only take minutes to spruce up for unexpected company and you’ll be able to relax more and enjoy more of those weekends.
Let’s run through a typical day to see where new habits will make a dramatic change in the time you spend cleaning:
Waking up – Starting at the First Moment
When you get out of bed, immediately make the bed. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just pull up the sheet, blankets, comforter, etc. and make it look nice. Take a look around your room and put misplaced items away as quickly as possible such as shoes in the closet, books in the nightstand, clean clothes in the drawers or on hangers. As you walk to the bathroom, take along any dirty clothes you tossed on the floor the previous night and toss them in the hamper.
Bathroom – Clean as You Go
Starting now, make it a habit to leave every room you enter a bit cleaner than you found it. Put out-of-place items back where they belong. If you always store items in the same place, this will be easier. Don’t get picky about who left what out, just put it away. It will also be a time-saver if you keep a spray bottle of Windex window cleaner and a roll of paper towels in the bathroom. After you finish with your business, dump a little cleanser in the toilet and give it a quick cleaning. If the mirror is looking less-than-sparkly, give it a spray and a wipe along with the faucet fixtures and sink counter. Give the room a quick once over and then leave.
Kitchen – Breakfast and Cleaning on the Go
The best way to start any day is with a clean kitchen, but on this first morning this may or may not be the case. As you get breakfast ready, take stock of what needs to be done, what needs to be put away and do whatever can be done quickly. Put away anything you get out and clean up any mess you make during breakfast. If there are old newspapers piled up on your table, toss them before you eat.
After breakfast, get all the dirty dishes to the sink. If you have a dishwasher, unload the clean dishes and then load up the dirty dishes so that your sink is empty and the counters can be wiped down. If you don’t have a dishwasher, take the time to wash all the dirty dishes before moving on with your day.
Laundry – Making the Mountains Disappear
There really is an easy way to keep up on laundry without spending an entire Saturday washing, drying and folding. The secret here is to keep the laundry cycle going every day. One load per day should be all it takes unless you have a huge family. After your shower and breakfast, get that load into the washer. Later in the day or after work, you can pop it into the dryer. After dinner, you can quickly sort and fold then get the clothes put away. For kids, you can deliver them to their rooms for them to put away. For your own clothes, get them into a drawer or on hangers…don’t pile them up on the table, chairs or exercise equipment to do later.
Early Evening – Quick Chores Before Rewards
When everyone gets home from either school or work, this is the time to quickly pick up little messes, straighten up rooms, put things away that have meandered into other rooms, put the wash in the dryer and then vacuum if necessary. Get the kids involved – even toddlers and pre-schoolers can help! Make it a routine that there’s no outdoor play, TV or video games until the quick chores are done and the work will get done faster. Make the main entry ways presentable.
After Dinner – The Routine Comes Full-Circle
This is where all the habits work to make the next day a breeze. After dinner, get all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher or wash them and let them drain. Wipe down counters, toss any trash or junk mail that has accumulated and put away anything out of place.
Make sure the table is cleaned off and ready for breakfast with no clutter or toys or school work piled on top. Unload the dryer and get the clothes put away. Before going to bed, unload the dishwasher or put away all of the drained and dried dishes. It’s great to begin a new day with no left-over work.
Relax and Enjoy
Don’t drive yourself nuts by cleaning continually. Make a few new habits and you’ll find you have more time to enjoy your home; you’ll enjoy more free time while you’re home and you’ll definitely feel comfortable having friends over – even unexpected visits!
For more help with cleaning and decluttering, visit these articles:
http://www.gomestic.com/Homemaking/Awesome-and-Easy-Steps-to-Having-a-Clean-House-1-Eliminate.157155
http://www.gomestic.com/Homemaking/Awesome-and-Easy-Steps-to-Having-a-Clean-House-2.157364
http://www.gomestic.com/Homemaking/Awesome-and-Easy-Steps-to-Having-a-Clean-House-3.157366
Anne Mathews is pursuing a graduate degree full-time and teaches part-time at a major U.S. university. If you are interested in writing professionally for this site and others, Ms. Mathews would appreciate the referral bonus: http://www.triond.com/rw/39827.
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Kelly | Nov 22, 2008 | Reply
Some how now, I feel overwhelmed doing all those thing everyday. I have very low energy, but it is worth a try. Thanks!
Allsion Clark | Nov 22, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the tips! I will keep coming back for the updates.
http://clarksplayground.com/index.php/blog/
Gloria | Nov 22, 2008 | Reply
I think it’s a doable plan. I am going to try and make these tips habits.
bart | Nov 22, 2008 | Reply
and I will get someone to dot that
Gretchen | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
Make a room cleaner every time you leave it. That’s a good place to start
Kelly | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
One load of laundry per day!? I guess this isn’t exactly a “green” plan! Also, a household like this would probably turn any kid into an obsessive compulsive germaphobe!!
Brenda | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
This will help turn kids into “work before play” as well as instill community minded values. Help everyone out .. everyone wins when we all work at something.
These are the things we were taught as kids of the 60s.
Moo | Nov 24, 2008 | Reply
All work and no play makes jacks house clean.
A load of laundry a day?? Im with Kelly, its not very green.To me some things are more important that a spotless house.
dizzymum | Nov 24, 2008 | Reply
Nice post. We recently moved into a new place after a huge de-clutter. I am determined not to let this place get into the mess our old place always was in. I’ve already started cleaning this way – takes a bit more time at the time … but keeps things in order. I now don’t feel embarrassed if people drop by unexpectedly. But even I can’t keep up with the laundry
Good but seen this somewhere before... | Nov 24, 2008 | Reply
Go take a look at the FlyLady site (http://www.flylady.net/), these are all things she’s been saying for ages. She even has names for the stages, ie. swish and swipe for the bathroom, cleaning as you go, etc. There’re also tips on making up games that make kids help. It’s focused on getting peace, not getting 100.00% sparkling cleanliness. A giant success on the web for years.
That site is a VERY good resource if you’re overwhelmed and surrounded by piles up to here so that you just feel tired every day. Certainly helped me and i have a husband who does zip around the house, nada. It’s actually decent-ish now, we can have people over without shame most of the time
and we have two pets and don’t even have a dishwasher. Just my two cents if you need a hand with this stuff…
Archie | Nov 25, 2008 | Reply
My wife taught me to do exactly like this and I can tell you we have untidy house very seldom. The “house rule” is “take it if go and fetch it if you come.” It doesn’t matter whose dirty cup it is on the living room table, anybody can take it to the kitchen while fetching a TV snack. I surely back up this site.
georgetta | Nov 25, 2008 | Reply
ah, but how to make oneself form new habits, that’s the trouble.
MDragon | Nov 26, 2008 | Reply
I had similar habits long ago….moved in with a room mate for a while for the sake of expenses and our habits were soooo different that rather than fight it I gave up…what a mess I moved out of…new hubby, new life, new home and voila he has the same habits I had given up…what a breath of fresh air…we have weekends and evenings to do as we please because we just clean up after ourselves and each other on a regular basis…(my favorite thing for the kitchen is Clorox Wipes..fabulous). No we’re not neat freaks or germaphobes…no the house isn’t spotless and yes, I do take the time on the weekends to dig in a little deeper (like moving the kitchen furniture to mop really good…but if I had to do ALL of it on Saturday it’d shoot the day away…with 2 dogs and a cat we HAVE to stay on top of it.
Mel | Nov 27, 2008 | Reply
Kelly, is it more green to do 6 loads during the week or all in one day? Sounds the same to me. I use cloth diapers which means I’ve gone green in that area, but guess what, they need washed. I’ve bookmarked this site. As soon as my foot heals I’m going to start this. It has really inspired me by making a plan to tackle my house in a realistic way. And for the record, I don’t think my kids will become obsessive compulsive germaphobes. I think they will learn how to help in keeping the house clean for everyone.
thebrokedown | Nov 27, 2008 | Reply
Well, Mel, for the sake of argument, a load a day could add up to 3 loads in a week, not 6, if the loads are full. Doing a tiny load every day is not very green….
Anne-Marie | Nov 29, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think any family could possibly wear enough clothes every day that the washing would need to be done daily – so no, mel, it’s not particularly environmentally conscious. more concerning though would be using the dryer every day – is it so hard to hang the washing outside in the free, clean sunshine? dryers use copious amouns of electricity, not to mention being unhealthy for your house and damanging to your clothes.
Sara | Nov 29, 2008 | Reply
I love coming home to a tidy house, as well as entertaining spontaneously. Living as this article suggests is exactly how I keep my place clean. It is a continual effort, not a last minute, all day effort. I may not do a load of laundry daily, but laundry is done as full loads collect. If I see a full load of “darks” have collected in the hamper, I wash the load.
Mariann | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
I have 5 children and my military husband wears 2 uniforms a day, so in theory we could definitely wear enough clothes to warrant 1 load of laundry a day. But it’s not very green and I honestly don’t mind having a designated laundry day where it all gets done at once. Also, we have an extra large capacity washer and dryer and I only do 4 or 5 loads a week.
fffffff | Dec 4, 2008 | Reply
Long article.
Summary: Don’t pile.
Was that so hard?
Emma Turton | Dec 31, 2008 | Reply
I hate my house being untidy but with an almost one year old, and an 8 year old stepdaughter who stays weekends, I can find it hard to stay on top of things. I used to clean through one day a week but that’s impossible now, so I thought this article was really helpful. A lot of it seems like common sense, but it’s still good to see it structured and I dont always do what seems like common sense. It does seem a lot easier to break it down this way.
Judith Metcalf | Apr 13, 2009 | Reply
I like these hints but don’t have time for most of them with my work schedule. Also why does everything say don’t spend all day Sat. or Sun. cleaning?? That is such a common assumption.
I work in retail, every Sat. and lots of Sundays.
Just a pet peeve of mine. T.G.I.F.??? Not around here. So many people serve the public at hospitals, retail, restaurants etc. Weekends mean nothing to us. I only have Tues. that I am usually off. It is a struggle to keep up and I feel cheated and worn out. I have to stay up very late and run on around 5-6 hours sleep to get anytime to myself, or get things done.
Just a thought for us poor “weekend working warriors”.
Athlyn Green | Jul 14, 2009 | Reply
It’s really true that it’s easier to keep on top of it rather than under it. It takes less time to maintain a clean home than to do a big clean that takes hours.
It’s the same with your car. If you never leave debris, it never gets cluttered, which frees up time for other more enjoyable activities.
xsallyboox | Jul 18, 2009 | Reply
Really good advice but hard to manage the time to do all of this during my work with and school. I do the majority of the cleaning work in the home, I have two other rooms mates they never clean up after wards! It drives me insane because I constantly have to clean up after them so my home is never clean as I want it to look. What do I need to do to get lazy men to clean?