How To Make Your Home Juuuuuuust Clean Enough
Everyone’s standard of home cleaning is different. If you are anything like me, you are stricken with panic any time there are impending visitors.
You regularly walk round your house nudging that dirty sock under the bed and are guilty of shoving stacks of mail in any draw with available space.
Then there are the people whose floors you could eat off, and whose kitchen’s resemble a Martha Stewart TV set. Juggling life’s daily routine with work, kids, errands, dinners, exercise, pets and all the other things we do on a daily basis, it can be hard to keep on top of keeping your home sparkling clean. And for some, it can be a little overwhelming.
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So how can you keep your home looking spic and span while only doing the bare minimum? What clever cleaning shortcuts will save you time, make life easier and make your home just clean enough? Yahoo Makers turned to the experts for help:
1. Establish your ‘stress areas’
In her book, “Clean Enough: Simple Solutions For The Overwhelmed Homemaker,” Jenni Mullinix suggests determining which areas of your home create the most stress when it comes to cleaning. Whether it is sweeping the floors, doing dishes or scrubbing the toilet, make sure you do that first. Once your “stress area” has been cleaned, anything else you do will feel easier.
2. Focus on specific rooms
“When I am short on time, I just tackle the rooms that are high traffic which is my kitchen and living room. I make sure they are clean and tidy and it allows me to forget about the rest of the house for most of the day. Also if any surprise guests show up, they are only likely to see those rooms. No one needs to know about the piles of laundry upstairs.”
- Caroline Weinstein, mother of six from Charlotte, NC.
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3. Always make the bed (the lazy way)
Every cleaning or housekeeping expert on the planet would suggest that the number one thing you can do everyday to help keep your home tidy, is make your bed. Even if you just pull the comforter back up to the pillows, making your bed can make your bedroom look instantly tidier. A bed takes up a lot of space and is almost always the main focal point of a room: So when this looks clean and tidy, so does the rest of the room. Plus, making your bed everyday can lead to better habits all around.
“Making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity, a greater sense of well-being, and stronger skills at sticking with a budget,” writes author Charles Duhigg in his bestselling book, “The Power Of Habit.”
"It’s not that a family meal or a tidy bed causes better grades or less frivolous spending. But somehow those initial shifts start chain reactions that help other good habits take hold."
(Credit: myshareimages.com)
4. Invest in a second laundry hamper
Rather than having one laundry basket and an overflowing “chairdrobe” in the corner of your room, invest in a second laundry hamper, suggests expert cleaning blogger Jolie Kerr. Hamper numero uno is for all your gross, must-wash items like lingerie, workout clothes, stained items etc. Then the second one if for all the items that you are likely to wear again but can’t be bothered to put away (yet).
5. Wipe sinks dry after each use
Whether in the bath room or kitchen, having sparklingly clean sinks (just like making the bed), can change the entire look of the room. According to homemaking expert Marla Cilley of FlyLady.net - by wiping your sinks clean and dry after each use, you are more likely to not just mindlessly throw stuff into them. This is especially true in the kitchen, where a sink can become a dumping ground for dirty dishes. Instead, place a tub under your sink and place the dirty dishes in there so that they are out of the way. Just always remember to clean and put them away at the end of every day.
Credit: Happy Wives Club
6. Try a ‘Cleaning Frenzy’
”Since the beginning of our marriage, my husband and I have utilized what we call “cleaning frenzies” to give our home a quick clean up every day. A cleaning frenzy might last ten minutes or even up to an hour. But everyone participates, including the kids. We run around picking things up, putting things back, and generally tidying things up.Sometimes we focus on one room; sometimes it is an entire house frenzy. Sometimes it is a task frenzy, like dusting or cleaning all toilets! It works like a charm to make a big impact in a short period of time. Even one “10-minute cleaning frenzy” a day keeps the frustration away.“
- Melissa Michaels, author of “Love The Home You Have” and creator of the popular blog, The Inspired Room.
7. Stash Spots
“Apartment Therapy waxes poetic about having a ‘landing strip’ in your entry (a place to dump all your stuff when you walk through the door). Our version – for keys, spare phone chargers, and sunglasses – involves a macrame plant hanger and a branch and hook situation, it makes like was easier when I’m late and trying to bounce. Same goes for little necessities. I use my camera cord at least once a day, and making sure it ends up back in its drawer takes all of two seconds, and has probably avoided a million combined hours of time spent frantically searching."
- Morgan West, Lifestyle blogger.
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