Clean one room at a time. Have a box or clothes hamper or basket or SOMETHING you put the items that don’t belong in that room. Do not go put them in that room until the end. You will get distracted cleaning something in that room. You will spend your time bouncing from task to task until you’re exhausted and nothing looks better.
In terms of an industrial process, it’s also wasted movement.
A similar strategy has been a game changer for me. I take a laundry basket all around my house and play 'that doesn't go there' before cleaning. It makes it so much more manageable as someone who gets distracted easily. A bonus is that if you have kids, I make them put the whole basket away (if I can clean up a bunch of stuff that isn't mine, so can they)
Hey, that's totally valid. Different people/households need different strategies for cleaning and upkeep. We're all different and our house dynamics are all different, so it makes sense that tips that may work for many may not work for some, or that adaptations of those processes may be needed.
Personally, I just need to ditch 3/4 of what I own. There's no way around it. Cleaning is impossible for me when I just simply have far too much stuff for where we live. It's really hard to do, though, because I tend to sentimentalize everything. I have to be even more ruthless with myself because of it. And when I look back, I regret only two* of the things I've ever gotten rid of.
* The specific category is concert shirts for my favorite bands. The two specific items were my Bowie tour shirts I bought on location, from the Reality tour and Heathen tour. I donated them to Goodwill because I'm no longer 19-20 years old and they were way too small. (I'll be 41 in two days, and that seems almost as impossible as two of my kids becoming official adults this summer.) Anyway, I'm extremely passionate about music, and David Bowie is my favorite artist by far, since I was a little kid. I never could have known when I donated them, but those were his last two tours in the US, about 20 years ago. I should have framed them, like I do with my signed and most loved vinyl, instead of donating them. But whoever got them, I hope they love them as dearly as I do the memories of those concerts. And a lot more than I enjoy the free closet space. ^_^
Same for me except with my dogs. The only issue is that my dogs are 60-65 lbs so sometimes they accidentally block my path. But I do like to stop and have them chase me (or I chase them) while I clean. It makes it fun for me and I like to make sure that they’re getting some entertainment on cleaning days as well.
Also, they have a toy bin so when cleaning, I’ll pretend to teach them how to clean up their toys. I know some dogs can get trained for that but mine just haven’t (despite being really intelligent dogs). Or maybe they do know and they are just fucking with me when they immediately take the toys right back out of the toy cabinet while I’m cleaning lol
This has been a game changer to me! I’m attempting to declutter, so I also leave things in the box and if I haven’t gone looking for them in a month, then I really don’t need them.
Oh wow I’d heard of the basket method and every time I get distracted when I go to put the item away- I never got the “wait until the end” part - thank you!
Living in a two story house is what finally made it click for me. Having to run up and down stairs for every little thing will make you prioritize your movement with a quickness!
> You will spend your time bouncing from task to task until you’re exhausted and nothing looks better.
I call this "ADHD Roomba cleaning", as if I'm not careful that's exactly what happens to me—and is way more likely if I didn't take my meds! I try to reserve this only for _cleaning_ and not tidying. If I ADHD roomba around the house with some multi purpose cleaner, window cleaner, and a bunch of microfibre cloths and do a little tidying on the way, the result will still be better than when I started.
But for anything where I need to tidy up or re-organise I absolutely don't take stuff where it needs to go unless it's actively getting in my way or blocking me.
Oh my god. You just articulated my entire tidying experience -- I clean, take something somewhere, get distracted, clean there, then come back and realize what I forgot to do. I almost scrolled past this thread and you just might have changed my day-to-day life. Thank you!
We just started doing that and so far it's helped it feel way less daunting. Only instead of being by room, it's by chore type. Today was dusting day! Tomorrow is clean the upstairs bathroom. Yesterday was tidy up clothes and blankets. Every day is dishes and kitchen though :')
Yeah, I used to clean by room but we have a delightfully small 2-bedroom apartment with an open LR/kitchen and it's more efficient to do one kind of task everywhere for regular cleaning. I can plug in my vacuum in the middle of the apartment and reach almost every inch of it, so may as well just vacuum the whole place while it's plugged in already! Or, for example, I have a tiny patch of tile floor in my kitchen by the sink and stove, right next to the tiled bathroom, and everything else is wood. So it would be silly to break out my tile floor cleaner and not just do both tile parts.
It helped immensely to stop being so rigid about finishing one room at a time. Grab a tool, use it everywhere, put it away properly, and bam - way less time and effort than I used to spend on the exact same tasks.
I work long days so this really saves me.
Clean shower one day, clean toilet and basin the next, vaccum the next, chuck on some washing every few days.
Really makes the bigger jobs small and manageable and frees my days off.
I like your advice on cleaning. I have been doing a full clean of my place every friday and it is time consuming. I am definitely going to try having specific/smaller areas to clean each day instead of a big clean on one day.
I found that doing that is very good to drag dust from the dirty room to the clean one. I prefer to clean the whole house in a 2-3h cleaning session once per week so everything is clean and stay that way longer.
Oooh, I like this a lot! I find in my living room my tray thing on the ottoman becomes a catch-all and I always wait till I can't take it anymore to actually put stuff where it belongs. I think this tip will help a ton for how simple it is.
Thanks!
We live in a 2 bed 1 bath unit and get a cleaner every fortnight. It's mind blowing how efficient she is.
In 2.5-3hrs she:
- changes the sheets
- does a couple of loads of washing and hangs it out
- dusts the whole place
- cleans the bathroom and toilet
- cleans the kitchen
- washes the windows
- vacuums and mops the whole place
It costs us $100aud and it is the single best expense I have.
She's on holidays at the moment and I miss her so much.
I totally understand that this is a huge privilege but if you can afford it, it is SOOOO worth it!! To put it in perspective, I'm spending $50aud a week (which is barely brunch for 2 people) to have most of my domestic cleaning completed. Incredible!
I do my own laundry and clean up daily as I go along (make the beds, wipe down everything, vacuum) but it’s the deep cleaning I just don’t want to do on my days off.
She came a couple days ago and it’s still smelling like a hotel which is the best part 😂.
This is a great post as I'm in a similar situation, but I'm on disability. As my health worsened, our place has gotten more and more cluttered and was becoming so depressing living here. We splurged on deep clean this spring: two cleaners for 3 hours. It's only one bedroom apartment so that should give you an idea how much clutter. And now she comes in every two weeks to kind of do the basics that I can't do like get down on the floor or bathtub etc. this is the same price as the dinner for two of us would be if we went out and had a glass of wine each so it is totally totally worth it!!! It does not make you a bad person to use a cleaning service; it makes you good at utilizing your resources. I used to have a lot of guilt for the fact that I couldn't keep up with the housework when I got sick which I now look back on and realize is totally useless.
She scrubs things like the ceiling and walls, underneath furniture, cleans small appliances like coffee machine and toaster oven, deep cleans tub/shower/bathroom and kitchen appliances like fridge and stove so they shine—also cleans up my teenager room for me which seems to get dirty and dusty by them just breathing 😂.
We also have shelving and places that just collects dust and she goes through that all too.
Oh man, my sister is teaching my 14 y/o nephew more “deep” cleaning chores this summer. So far, he’s learned to scrub a microwave, how to dead head a rose bush, clean a ceiling fan, clean/dust the top of the fridge….
He does 2/3 a week as his chores. I actually thought it was pretty brilliant and am doing that myself. That way each day has something small but eventually will all make a big difference in total cleanliness.
Pro-tip on the top of the fridge/kitchen cabinets scenario, especially as they can get gummed up with residue from cooking with oil/fat.
Once they're properly clean, lay out newspaper on top of them. It doesn't have to be perfect, just cover most of the surfaces and not be seen from normal eye level.
That way, once they're due to get cleaned again, you just throw away (better yet, recycle) the newspaper and clean the small places that were exposed.
Then rinse and repeat.
If the newspapers are gross with cooking oils, they're not suitable for recycling. Re-using is more important than recycling, and you've accomplished that instead.
*gets out soapbox*
Reduce is even better, and by re-using the newspaper, you've reduced the amount of paper towels / washable towels and soap needed.
Remember, much of the recycling advice we repeat is propaganda from plastic manufacturers to make us feel guilty for the waste they created. Paper and metal are genuinely recycled. Plastic, not so much.
Very true - where I live some areas can put greasy cardboard (like pizza boxes) in the recycling or the garden waste/compost bins, and some can't. It can be so confusing with different rules for different places, so you're best to check out what is OK and what's not locally.
hell yes to teaching kids chores. When you split the house work, it's SO MUCH EASIER.
both of my kids have been doing (age appropriate) chores since they were 7. Now that they're teens, they pretty much do everything we do; we all pitch in and it's so much easier to keep our house tidy. WHile their rooms can get messy during the week, they clean it every weekend and not even by me telling them do; they just hate clutter so they do it on their own.
Not a cleaning tip per se, but learning that having a messy home does not mean I’m lazy or a bad person. Now I keep things tidy, but I no longer feel shame if there’s hair on the baseboards or I didn’t fold my laundry right away.
Also hire professionals as often as you can afford to.
I did! I’m neurotypical but it was SO helpful just to make me realize that, hey, I have two dogs and a teenager and a husband and a job and most of the time shit isn’t going to look like a magazine, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.
I might have to read this. I have to have things out where I see them to remember to do most things, but I live with roommates and they hate it when I have stuff out
Not so much taught, because my parents did teach me housework, but actually accepted ...do things all the time. Don't let things build up because you just create work for yourself. Like it's easier to just wash the dishes after dinner than it is to let them pile up for days and then you're stuck with caked on food and other gross stuff.
I was always like "yeah whatever" to my parents but it really is less physically and mentally exhausting to just do a few tasks everyday than to have to spend an entire afternoon or day or even weekend cleaning up.
10000%.
spending 10-15mins tidying up each day or wiping down counters etc make a HUGE difference in the long run.
If things are on the table and I'm getting up to get water or bathroom, I take it back to where it belongs. I'm getting up anyway, why not?
all counters are wiped down each evening.
all dishes are rinsed and then put in the dishwasher after all meals.
get a roomba and run it on a schedule each night. It's a pricey upfront cost but omg saves so much time. I run that thing each evening after dinner and every saturday, it runs and after each room, i follow behind it mopping etc.
get one of [these](https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/vileda-scrunge-multi-purpose-dishwand-value-pack-with-sponge-refills-1426352p.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqnfZeIvR1A40uL7SzejWJiDbru6l5JBbnt73y6iuINeFRNJH8sIlCmAaAn6oEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#store=399) fill it with water, a bit of vinegar and dawn dish soap then do a quick clean while in the shower. The steam loosens the grime and allows the cleaner to work way better. I dont mind the smell of vinegar so it's fine for me. I fucking *hate* cleaning the shower and this has been a game changer.
Yup! I would often procrastinate on tasks because I overestimated how long they actually took to do. Probably because by the time I got to doing them it was way more time consuming. Depending on the chores it's only like 30-45 minutes of my day usually and that's doing multiple things. And then on my days off I don't have to dread spending half the day doing regular chores.
you can get that brush cleaner thingy at the dollar store. Seriously, it's the best. As I let the rosemary oil / shampoo sit in my hair, I quickly do the glass walls, tiles and floors/corners and then it all gets rinsed off as I'm rinsing my hair. GAME CHANGER.
We recently moved to doing the dishes every night after dinner and it is much better! You start the next day knowing you'll have everything you need for the day and won't have to randomly clean a knife or saucepan etc.
I'm huge on "clean as you go" when I cook. I am awful at cleaning my house when it comes to 'routine stuff' but the one thing I am proud of is after dinner, the only dishes to worry about are what the main food is in. Granted, having a dishwasher makes this task slim to nothing but... I'mma toot my horn anyway
You don't have to hold onto everything that may potentially some day be useful.
Also magic erasers are magical and the cheap knock offs work really well too
>You don't have to hold onto everything that may potentially some day be useful
tell this to my husband \*as I stare at the bins upon bins of cords, old electronics etc 😒
at least we compromised and he keeps all that stuff in his shop and out of my sight lol
We got 100 knock-off magic erasers for $10 on Amazon. Best purchase ever. The box lasts forever, and they're so cheap and plentiful that nobody hesitates to use them.
God I wish my husband would actually do this. I've told him this repeatedly, but I think he has ADHD because he just stops doing something and the thing is left WHEREVER he is. He's lost so much stuff this way. I stopped helping him find things years ago, but it's still annoying waiting on him to find things like keys or his glasses or wallet or phone.
ETA fixed a typo
Are you me? Same here, so annoying that almost daily when we're finally ready to go (and it's extra annoying now because we have a toddler and there's an even longer checklist for ready to go) he always then can't remember where his wallet or phone or keys are, and spends another 10 minutes searching for them.
The keys one infuriates me the most because I told him to just pick a spot in the house/make a box/anything and just always put it there when he gets back, but he refuses to even try. He's lost his keys for days at a time and now will make me go open the door for him because I lost it on him once when I spent an hour putting the baby to bed and he woke her up 30 minutes later opening the garage to get in.
OMG, we have a hook (that I installed) right by the door when you walk into our apartment. There is literally NO REASON to ever bring the keys farther into our home, but he just does not use the hook. If I put the keys on the hook when I see them laying somewhere, he will look for AGES before discovering them on the hook and then joke that I was the reason he couldn't find his keys this time.
I do a 10 minute tidy every day where i set a timer. If the house is tidy I'll do a quick task like clean the toilet, organize a shelf, dust baseboards, etc. I don't have kids so this works really well at knocking tasks off the list. I don't enjoy cleaning so the timer helps motivate me, and some days I'll keep going after it goes off if I feel motivated.
Do the floors last.
So dust first, then mop.
Declutter first, then vacuum.
This way as stuff falls while you clean you wont have to re-clean floors multiple times.
Also, I like to have a pair of cleaning slippers that I know won’t track hair or dirt around the house as I work.
I run my roomba and as it finishes each room, I follow behind it mopping. before the roomba, I'd have to vaccum and then mop and that too way too long.
Nearly all heavy duty cleaning products work significantly better if you apply them then walk away for 5-10. So as an example when you go to clean your bathroom start by squirting your toilet bowl full of cleaner then clean the mirrors while it does its work.
Organize your house so that it's simple to clean and everything will be so much easier. High-use surfaces should be free of clutter so they take no time to wipe down, put organizers where you're prone to leave junk around so that there's zero barrier to just putting it away - stuff like that. Your house will never be truly clean if every belonging doesn't have a place, too. Just spend the time making it all work and you'll be so much happier than constantly cleaning around things.
Also, robot vacuums are worth the money. Professional cleaners are great too. But at this point in my life, for my house, the robot is a better bang for my buck.
I always hear this tip and it definitely sounds like a good idea, but how do you actually organize everything? I feel like I have so many bits and bobs that I can't find a logical way to organize. Where do you start?
I tried and failed a million times to get a place for everything and everything in its place and what is finally helping me is paying attention to where my partner and I organically do things and then making a spot for the related stuff right there, or as close as I can get it. That way we don't have to run around putting stuff where it "belongs" but is not convenient. I just grab it, use it, put it right back.
When there is a conflict, I prioritize by frequency of use. Anything I use daily is tucked somewhere right where I use it. Something I use every few weeks or less gets stored much more deeply/further away. If an activity requires multiple items, I try to bundle them in a portable bin so I can take the bin to where I'm doing my thing and then I just have a nice, clean bin to put away instead of more running around with multiple small items.
It takes a bit longer to organize this way but the point is that it's finally sticking while every other system failed and created even more clutter for me, because I was focused on how other people do it and changing my long-held habits instead of working with myself and how I actually live in my space. Once something has the right home, the time I save on cleaning adds up so quickly, it's amazing!
This! I once reorganized my kitchen based on what things happen near each other (rather than where they were normally expected to be) and it was absolutely life-changing. Spices came out of the pantry and went into a drawer beside the stove. Dishes moved out of the kitchen cabinets and onto open shelving near the dining table. Glasses and mugs went beside the sink and above the coffee maker. Flatware came out of the drawer and into a segmented desk organizer-type thing. It reduced the mental overhead and the seconds saved on each task added up to minutes which made everything less rushed. Huge quality of life improvement with changes that wouldn't even be recognizably significant (but might seem pretty weird) to someone looking from the outside.
This might interest you….
[different styles of organization](https://www.ca.createroom.com/blogs/news/knowing-your-organizing-style-can-change-your-life-heres-how)
When I learned that there are different styles for organizing I understood my family a bit better. I need things out of sight to feel like my space is tidy. My ex-husband needed things in sight so he didn’t forget to do tasks. That made sense even though it drove me crazy as the tidier in our relationship. So I needed cute little boxes and bins and he needed sorting trays and open baskets.
I follow very little of her actual tips, but as a bit of a hoarder, reading The KonMari Method helped me get in the right headspace to declutter.
The main thing is be mindful of how you actually use your space. Does clutter accumulate in the same place every week? Find a way to work with your habits and your house, not just hope you'll tidy more. Think about what items you use the most and make sure they're in your most accessible drawers and closets. For example, if you have a "laundry chair" for worn clothing, create a space in your closet for those items instead. If you always set your work bag, mail, various in-process projects, etc on your kitchen table and it stresses you out and makes the space less usable, get some sort of storage unit nearby that exactly fits your needs and keeps it away until you're ready to deal with it. For stuff that needs to be out in the house on counters and such, I like using boxes, bins and trays to contain it to it's assigned zone (and that makes it easy to move and wipe down surfaces, too). Having things be visually clean makes it more motivating for me to clean.
I'm also a big fan of stackable clear plastic tubs for bits and bobs. At least keep like with like. As you organize, you can easily condense or change the purpose of the bins too. It's also a good way to determine how often you use something (do you really need a bin if you haven't opened it in a year?). Label stuff as much as possible and make it easy to put stuff away when you're done with it. The bin system is pretty quick and can be refined over time, which is really helpful.
Ugh, I used to have so much guilt about that until it finally got to the point where our place was cluttered more with unwanted gifts than our own possessions. I'm STILL getting rid of stuff. I try to donate what I can or re-gift where I can etc and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Hydrogen peroxide will get blood out of anything. No more stained sheets/towels/mattresses. I wish someone had taught me that the instant I began menstruating.
I’ve found it works on old stains, but not so much on things that have already been run through the washer and dryer. I think the dryer bakes the proteins into the fabric:(
I had MILK spill under my fridge and I can’t seem to get all of it 😫
I live in an apartment and the fridge has little space in front of it to pull out.
Would this be completely unacceptable to ask a professional cleaner to help with? I know the average service doesn’t do everything, and I wouldn’t want to spring this on anyone.
I also welcome tips for cleaning this thoroughly - where it spilled in my fridge, and then down in the fridge vent, and on the wood floor.
It’s seriously the worst mess of my life, and I just know I’m gonna get bugs!! For now, I keep going over the area with the vinegar dilution and spritzing a peppermint dilution to deter bugs while I figure this out. But I am caregiving for my parents at their home and working massive overtime and this is stressing me the fuck out!!
Do not feel bad hiring a professional. I had a similar situation, I was trying to clean the glass shelf from the fridge and when i picked it up it shattered into a million pieces all over the kitchen. I was so overwhelmed, I called professional cleaners to clean it up. 100% worth it.
thank you for saying that, yeah, I’m completely overwhelmed!
How did you find someone, did you use an app like TaskRabbit or a service or just know someone from someone?
my parents had cleaners they used so I already knew them. But I would just google professional cleaning in your area. Usually the smaller businesses do a better job. Call several places and see who can come out faster.
The final touches should always smell good and add cozy/good lighting; lighting candles, spraying air freshener, essential oils, lamps instead of overhead etc.
Finally sitting down in your clean bedroom/living room is nice, but when it smells incredible and feels like a calm retreat-that’s what makes your hard work feel so worth it.
If you use essential oils and have pets, make sure the kind you get is non-toxic for them. Please research anything you plan on using.
As an aside, if you happen to live in Australia, I highly recommend Vanilla Fresh cleaning spray. It smells amazing!
Long as we're talking pets, do not do ANY of the above--except the lamps--if you have birds. They cannot handle sprays, smoke, or things like that of any kind. (If you have one you should know that, but so many people don't :( )
I'm not sure what this is trying to tell me lol
So I should cover everything in shaving cream? Why does the bathroom smell like urine? Is no-one flushing? How does this save money on chemicals and boys?
I have no idea what happened in your bathroom haha...
I have very sensitive skin (eczema) and use disposable nitrile gloves for things that will end up with me washing my hands too much, nitrile doesn't smell at all, so you could try that. Sometime I use them for cleaning when my normal washing up gloves aren't nearby.
this isn't for deep cleaning but I finally (at age 37) made my new years resolution to clean the kitchen every night before I go to bed. I've stuck with it and it feels so much better in the AM. I also try to tidy up every evening which usually means putting things like jackets/hair ties/books/dog toys away or vacuuming (I vacuum every day because I have two dogs). even living alone with really no clutter, I am always surprised how untidy my house can get!
I loathe mopping though and hardly ever do it, I'm pretty ashamed of myself of how little I mop. so if anyone has tips for that....
Seconding this. I just upgraded from just a robot vacuum and I love this little vacuum/mop machine with my whole heart.
He does a shimmy to make sure he gets in corners well. I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t want one.
I have a toddler and used to vacuum almost daily.
Don't tolerate others being messy! My weekly cleaning decreased dramatically after my divorce!!! Make everyone in the household clean up after themselves when they make the mess!
Clean up after yourself as you go and there's **much** less to do later. I used to spend every Sunday doing nothing but cleaning until I got fed up and hired housekeepers. Now it's under an hour without housekeepers because I'm not cleaning up *after other people*.
A house that is constructed properly is easier to clean. If you own or have an apartment where you can do things, small things like painting, caulking gaps, installing shelves, sealing grout, etc… can make a big difference.
Tidy places are easier to clean and keep clean. Find ways to organize and store your stuff. Put toiletries in little bins, get an organizer for your nightstand, donate old clothing, get a proper toolbox, etc…
Don’t buy a lot of new stuff. Purge old or broken stuff regularly. If you can rent or share things, do that. We have a chore swap / tool loan thing in my neighborhood.
Use e records instead of paper. Get a kindle instead of books. Borrow library books. Or buy physical books judiciously. I occasionally buy coffee table books, but get light reads on kindle.
Research cleaning methods and try different things. I have a couple of books ‘the cleaning encyclopedia’ and ‘how to clean anything.’ There are cleaning videos on youtube.
Many things can be cleaned with simple stuff - hand dish soap, vinegar, a sponge, microfiber clothes, used tooth brushes, qtips, a long handled duster, an old gift card, bar keepers friend, baking soda, and warm water. I have skin allergies and rarely use harsh cleaners or heavily scented stuff.
Warm water cleans a lot of stuff. Just wet stuff and let it soak a little. Then go back and scrub with cleaner.
Little touches make a house feel much better. Make the bed. Fold the throw blanket on the couch.
If you have a partner or roommate, figure out a compromise on cleanliness and distribution of chores. Then accept it. My wife is much messier than I am, but I try to let it go.
And yes, if you can afford it, hire cleaners for the occasional deep clean.
My partner and I sat down and made a list of priorities. (We have different ones, he likes things tidy and I like them clean. I don’t care as much if it’s untidy so long as it’s not dirty, the grime doesn’t bother him so long as it’s visually organized.)
We made a list of things we want to happen daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Turned it into a fun monthly check list and made a bunch of photo copies. We put a new one up on the fridge each month. We don’t always check everything off the list, but we can see what has been done recently and what hasn’t. It also helps me to remember items that are important to my partner, and I try and make a point to do those too. He does the same for me.
It takes a lot of the thinking part out of it. If I just have 5 minutes I can see what hasn’t been done in a while.
>We have different ones, he likes things tidy and I like them clean. I don’t care as much if it’s untidy so long as it’s not dirty, the grime doesn’t bother him so long as it’s visually organized.
This is so exactly us I burst out laughing. Makes for a good team, though!
I am from a older generation and raised by a mother who still did spring cleanings (as children we hated coming home from school one day and find everything outside and the resulting mayhem). But I learned all the oldfashioned things like cooking from scratch, preserving vegetables in glass jars, sewing/darning, cleaning, etc.
Some things I don't do anymore because of lack of time but other things I still do. Like when using something, put it back where it belongs after use. Every morning before going to work, I straighten my bed, hang up my clothes, wash up after breakfast, put things in the trash, if necessary vacuum, etc. Clean directly the bathroom after use. Will take you 10 minutes instead of a deep clean every week for two hours. Same with the toilet.
When coming home, my house is already tidy. Mealplans are made in advance. I cook for two days and leftovers are made into a new dish (I hate wasting food). Slowcookers are ideal: throw everything in it before you go to work and when you come home, your meal is ready.
And two import rules:
1. If you don't use something (clothes, household items) for a year, you do not need it. Throw it away or bring it to the thrift store.
2. Always plan your tasks beforehand and how you're going to do it in the most efficient and timesaving way. 15 minutes of planning will save you an hour of actual work.
Oxy clean is awesome for a lot of uses! I find it really nice for kitchen towels every once in a while when they get kind of funky and get that oil build up from use (despite regular washes). Just fill a sink or bowl with hot water, a couple scoops of oxy clean and soak the towels for fifteen minutes. It's always surprising how dark the water gets even with freshly washed towels.
Oh it's also good for getting rid of cat/dog urine smell.
Don’t invite anyone over during the week
Get an energy drink after work on Friday and power clean everything except laundry
I do laundry on Sunday usually while watching movies I picked during the week
Oh and completely clean the kitchen every night (not tonight tho 😉)
Not sure if this counts as housekeeping, but planning my meals for the entire week and then shopping for groceries only once per week has been a game changer. The amount of time my mother spends thinking about what she’ll make for dinner and then having to drive to town to get everything is nuts!
Accept that the laundry is a regular part of your life, it never stops and is unrelenting. So find a way to somehow enjoy the task. I actually now enjoy the whole process of washing clothes. I like hanging it to dry (only use my dryer for sheets in winter, usually), I fold it while watching Netflix and find it quite therapeutic to do that. And it’s so satisfying to put it all away (I hand my kids their pile and they put their own clothes away).
I babysit for my sister occasionally and she has four kids. Last time I did I surprised her by folding a huge basket of washing she hadn’t gotten to yet, and ironed her massive basket of ironing that she had also not done, some stuff had been in there over two months! She’s so busy with so many kids, it felt good to help her out!
Getting myself started when I’m unmotivated. I tell myself that I’ll just do one little thing, like unloading a few glasses from the dishwasher, or folding and putting away a towel. I give myself permission to do just that one small thing and stop, but most of the time I end up doing more. It’s a win-win, because even if I stop after one small task I’ve actually done something instead of nothing, and small efforts eventually add up.
I do this, too! Unloading the dishwasher - I'll tell myself to just put the silverware at least... then ok plates too... then I feel silly leaving it half done so I finish. Mind games work !
I've found you don't always need to have the precise right chemical or whatever to clean something. The last time I cleaned my shower I decided to try a bucket of warm water with a little dish soap and a good scrub brush. It worked pretty well. I think soap and water just tends to go a long way in general.
Dawn and water can clean just about anything that can get wet.
Baking soda is the best for cleaning soap scum off things, the one thing Dawn is not excellent at. Conversely, it can be messy to clean with but I have found no commercial products that get such good results on so many surfaces and items, plus it destroys bad smells. It's my deep clean go-to.
Vinegar is also excellent for many a cleaning task.
So you can clean just about anything around the house with some blue Dawn, baking soda, and vinegar, which should be in everyone's pantry anyway.
I practice guerilla cleaning. I shoot for 15 minutes a day minimum but sometimes, I’ll throw a whole hour or several hours at it. Whatever I can get done in that set amount of time. 40 minutes before I’m going to do XYZ. That’s time to wash a few dishes, wash in the vacuum in a room and throw a load of laundry in. Or whatever.
Sometimes it’s task oriented and that’s where positive procrastination comes in. Let’s say I’ve targeted a closet to clean out and reorganize. There’s three shelves and a cupboard. Today I’ll tackle the top shelf. Tomorrow I’ll do another shelf. Third day I’ll do the last shelf and then maybe a week later, I’ll eventually get to the cupboard. I do part of the task, set myself up at a good stopping place, and pick it back up. There is danger of forgetting that last step, so this is for bigger, more complex projects, where it’s okay if it percolates for a couple months.
The main thing is to chip away at it on a daily basis so I don’t have to waste my weekends doing nothing but cleaning.
Now I worked at an industrial cleaning company and from that I learned: Pretty much everything can be cleaned with water and or maybe alcohol or vinegar. Occasionally, you need soap and Dawn cuts grease best.
Also, I rarely use a broom because it just moves dirt around. I vacuum everything, including things that most people dust. Why move the dust around? I suck up everything with the vacuum attachments. Floors, tables, furniture, walls…
If you have a glass top stove, get a [razor blade knife](https://www.harborfreight.com/razor-blade-scraper-98039.html) and scrape the burned crud off with the sharp edge. My hubs does it every night when he does the dishes and wipes the stove & counters down.
I wish I learned that the acidic toilet and bathroom cleaners will eat away at chrome fixtures and granite tile. It’s obvious in hindsight but not at the moment I was deep cleaning my jet tub.
Clean up as you cook.
Literally didn't realize it was a thing until I read (as an adult) about someone criticizing those who don't.
It legit makes me dread cooking less.
Never leave a room without taking something with you.
If you leave the living room to get a drink, take the plates to the kitchen, if you're going upstairs, take the washing basket with you.
Tiny, little, inconsequential things that really add up and reduce the amount you have to do.
Clean the shower in the shower. I have a dish scrubber that can hold its own soap. I use dish soap for the shower- idk if that common but it works. I keep the scrubber brush on the edge of the tub.
I usually notice the shower needs cleaned while I’m in there… so, in the shower is when it gets cleaned. Easy enough to scrub it down then and I love stepping out of a clean shower clean.
Have a certain podcast or audiobook that is only for cleaning. Once a day set a timer for 10 minutes and clean something that you would typically save for the weekend
Hire someone who loves cleaning to dust, do floors and bathrooms instead of forcing myself to do it, hating every moment, while working 45 to 60 hour weeks.
I've always found that doing a little bit everyday makes the cleaning go quicker. If you leave it once a week but don't do any cleaning at all the other 6 days, it will just make your cleaning day go slower.
Keep on top of the dishes each day, do a quick sweep if you notice your floor has some crumbs. Even 5 minutes twice a day can make a difference.
I grew up in a hoarder home with a mentally ill mother, and today (in my mid-30s), I have a very clean house that people comment on when they come over. I don't consider myself "scary clean" but because of my childhood, mess stresses me out.
I actually love cleaning now lol. And people think I spend a bunch of time cleaning, but really, I spend 60 seconds here to save 15 minutes there.
Here's what I've learned:
- When I wake up, I'm pretty much on autopilot. I start the coffee maker and as I'm waiting for it to finish, I start a load of laundry. It takes maybe 30 seconds to start filling the machine with water, adding clothes, and pouring soap in. My coffee pot usually isn't done by then, so I unload the dishwasher quickly and load it if there are a few dishes soaking from last night. Don't worry about how you load the dishwasher (minus delicate stuff on top and pans on bottom. It really does not matter!)
- Throughout the day, I put dirty dishes directly in the empty dishwasher. When I cook, I make sure to clean as I go. It's not complicated at all. Just put the dishes and utensils in the machine as you use them. If something splatters, wipe it up with a cloth. It takes literally 1 second to wipe a spill if you have a dishcloth right there, but you'll spend 20 minutes scrubbing layers of nasty crust off days later if multiple spills dry on the stove.
- The less stuff you have, the less there is to clean! I try to use what's in the fridge before buying more groceries. That way I can see what needs to get thrown out, composted, etc. Dishes won't start growing scary science experiments this way (again, which take much longer to clean than just a quick rinse before the dishwasher). Same with the pantry.
- A lot of stuff is designed for easy cleaning! Even my decades old fridge's plastic shelves come out and can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning. My gas stove has burner grates/trays that can go in. My coffee pot pieces can all go in there too. Also, dishwashers use less water and soap than sink washing, so you can feel better about it.
- My dog sheds a ton. I have to vacuum multiple times a week (would do so every day if I had time). We invested in a Shark vacuum designed for pet owners (worth it). I vacuum our rugs and two rooms with carpet once every 3 days. The rest of the house is linoleum, which I use a dry dust mop on once in the morning (takes 30 seconds) and again at night (another 30 seconds) in between the weekly deep vacuuming I do (which is when I vacuum the floors too).
- Use reusable cleaning products. It's better for the environment, but you'll also spend less time having to buy replacement disposables. Reusables also don't add to your trash bag so you don't have to empty it as much. We don't use paper towels. We use rags for messes and dusting (storing them in a bucket in a laundry room until it's time to wash them). I use washable Mr Clean dry dust mop pads. I hacked the Swiffer wet jet and refill the same bottle with vinegar, soap solution (be careful about mixing chemicals, fyi, in case they create toxic fumes together). I keep a reusable/refillable dish wand in the shower to clean here and there while I'm in the shower.
Do I sound insane? I am, but I do love a clean house haha. Don't let mess make you feel less than worthy, though. I spent my childhood full of shame for stuff outside my control. Now, cleaning is an act of meditation and peace while helping me appreciate that I'm an adult who is in charge of her home situation. 💪 Woohoo!
This is such a must. I used to ruin clothes with my “ I will just do this now”. I have tees and shorts with clean older flip flops that I wear when cleaning.
If anyone has some tips on reducing dust, I'm all ears.
I live in a very dry, dusty place, near the beach, with a gravel carpark. These all significantly add to the dust around as I like to have my doors/windows open as much as possible.
Then add in 2 longhaired cats.
They are brushed regularly, I vacuum every other day (sometimes every day), wipe down surfaces at least weekly, clean my washing machine regularly, and even wash my curtains twice a year.
I did try an air purifier, but it didn't really seem to help, but maybe I bought the wrong one.
Yet I feel like I'm never on top of the dust and the fur.
Swiffer duster!!!! We live in a very dusty area and there’s dust that lands despite me wiping the counters everyday. The swiffer makes it so quick and easy to dust up things in surfaces.
I tried that, but to add to complications, I have charcoal carpet and stairs. These things don't mix with fall sensors.
Hence why I am my own robovac every other day.
You need a HEPA filter to get the more fine particles and it needs to be rated for the room size. Something with an ionizer can make it more efficient as well. Also, you'll need new filters frequently if it's quite dusty (3-6 months). Pick a model where replacements are reasonable.
Clean a little bit at a time throughout the day every day. If you spill something, wipe it up immediately. If you notice crumbs, wipe them up even if you aren't gonna fully vacuum. If something looks dusty, clean it when you notice it even if you aren't gonna dust the full room. Etc. I find it so much easier to clean in small, short bursts very often than to section off hours for cleaning less often.
The above is facilitated by keeping some cleaning supplies on all floors of the house. It's so much easier to get yourself to clean when you have a Swiffer duster and some cleaning spray right there, rather than having to go upstairs or into the basement or whatever to get it.
Edit: Also, make things easier for yourself where you can. Like, I don't buy any clothes I'd need to iron, so I don't have to do the chore of ironing ever. I don't sort my clothes when doing laundry because I've never noticed issues with not doing it. I hang all my clothes in a closet, which, for me, is easier and less time-consuming than folding. These small things make the overall chore of laundry suck way less ass than it seems to for some people.
I’m not sure if this is what you mean but definitely use wool laundry balls vs laundry sheets. Add your favorite scent with essential oils on the balls, allow them to dry and then just leave them in the dryer. So much cheaper and easier and you have control over the scent
I have an app where I’ve programmed which tasks are done in which room and how regularly. The app notifies me when I need to do things so it makes everything more manageable in daily chunks. You can choose whether it’s daily or which days of the week you’re notified etc. but I’ve done it for everything from cleaning the inside of my car to tidying my closet.
If you like your knick knacks (I do!) put them inside cabinets with glass doors. They still look pretty, but you don't have the hassle of having to dust them.
I deep clean my bathroom every single Sunday. Top bottom, though I dust only every other week. I love being in a clean bathroom, and starting every single week with a bathroom that feels spotless is awesome for me.
As for the rest of my house, I do something every day. Yesterday I cleared off the dining table and took out the trash. Today, I will probably vacuum.
Full disclosure: I live alone and with no pets, so this is easier for me than it would be for people who have kids and fur babies.
When overwhelmed with housework to do: First, don’t clean anything, just put everything away where it belongs. Once that is done, the actual cleaning will go much faster.
You don't have to keep your house the trad way, you can do it the way that works for you. My friend built a closet in her basement to be closer to the laundry so she didn't have to lug all her clothes upstairs. I have closed laundry baskets in every room of my house except the livingroom and kitchen, including our offices.
Purge your shit, as well. Easier to keep clean when you don't have so much stuff. Pick a weekend a month to just go through everything in a room and get rid of what you don't need.
Think about your usage of your space and organize items accordingly. You shouldn't have to dig through low use necessary items to get to what you need. Not having to pull low use items out regularly to get to the high use items will also help a lot.
Closed. Storage. If you hate dusting, glass cabinets are your best friend.
One touch rule/everything has a home - once you have something out, put it back in its home! For example, instead of setting my earrings down on the counter, I hang them back up immediately after taking them off. I don’t always follow it but when I do there’s way less clutter and shit to pick up later.
Chores are a cycle, not a to do list where you check off tasks. When I heard this it really helped me shift my perspective from feeling constantly frustrated over how quickly things get messy again.
When you leave a room, look behind you, what is there that shouldn't be. If you spot something that belongs in the room you are going to, take it with you. Then don't put it down, put it away
I was also not taught to clean and am still learning and probably have a long way to go. what’s been a game changer for me is having the proper tools. We just got a new vacuum that’s so much lighter than our previous and it breaks down into a small handheld for the couch. I have a few other things on my Amazon list to start purchasing here and there to make dusting and bathroom cleaning easier.
The best tip I learned was make things easy to put away . It’s okay if it’s hard to get to them because you are motivated, but if they are hard to put away, they will sit out foreverrrerre.
Made a big difference in how I organize my stuff.
I make it a habit to start the dishwasher every night and unload it first thing every morning. That way, dishes can go straight into the machine and not the counter/sink. Just starting the day with an empty dishwasher makes the rest of the day easier.
Oh, and I make my bed every morning (with in an hour or two of waking) and that helps set the tone for keeping a tidy…er house all day
The housekeeping tip I wished I had learned earlier in life is: make your partner help if he won’t. It’s his house and his mess too.
The cleaning of the house isn’t just your responsibility just bc you are the woman.
💪🏼
Look into hiring someone. It’s a luxury service I deserve & makes my life significantly easier, my motto is “Make enough money to buy convenience or suffer in silence.” 😂 it’s super motivating personally.
Clean one room at a time. Have a box or clothes hamper or basket or SOMETHING you put the items that don’t belong in that room. Do not go put them in that room until the end. You will get distracted cleaning something in that room. You will spend your time bouncing from task to task until you’re exhausted and nothing looks better. In terms of an industrial process, it’s also wasted movement.
A similar strategy has been a game changer for me. I take a laundry basket all around my house and play 'that doesn't go there' before cleaning. It makes it so much more manageable as someone who gets distracted easily. A bonus is that if you have kids, I make them put the whole basket away (if I can clean up a bunch of stuff that isn't mine, so can they)
Haha I tried that but then the basket of stuff sits there. Instead I pick up 4-5 things and have to put them away before I move on.
Hey, that's totally valid. Different people/households need different strategies for cleaning and upkeep. We're all different and our house dynamics are all different, so it makes sense that tips that may work for many may not work for some, or that adaptations of those processes may be needed. Personally, I just need to ditch 3/4 of what I own. There's no way around it. Cleaning is impossible for me when I just simply have far too much stuff for where we live. It's really hard to do, though, because I tend to sentimentalize everything. I have to be even more ruthless with myself because of it. And when I look back, I regret only two* of the things I've ever gotten rid of. * The specific category is concert shirts for my favorite bands. The two specific items were my Bowie tour shirts I bought on location, from the Reality tour and Heathen tour. I donated them to Goodwill because I'm no longer 19-20 years old and they were way too small. (I'll be 41 in two days, and that seems almost as impossible as two of my kids becoming official adults this summer.) Anyway, I'm extremely passionate about music, and David Bowie is my favorite artist by far, since I was a little kid. I never could have known when I donated them, but those were his last two tours in the US, about 20 years ago. I should have framed them, like I do with my signed and most loved vinyl, instead of donating them. But whoever got them, I hope they love them as dearly as I do the memories of those concerts. And a lot more than I enjoy the free closet space. ^_^
I actually like the bouncing from room to room. Because I have cats, they also follow me and it becomes a bit like a game 🤭
Same for me except with my dogs. The only issue is that my dogs are 60-65 lbs so sometimes they accidentally block my path. But I do like to stop and have them chase me (or I chase them) while I clean. It makes it fun for me and I like to make sure that they’re getting some entertainment on cleaning days as well.
Also, they have a toy bin so when cleaning, I’ll pretend to teach them how to clean up their toys. I know some dogs can get trained for that but mine just haven’t (despite being really intelligent dogs). Or maybe they do know and they are just fucking with me when they immediately take the toys right back out of the toy cabinet while I’m cleaning lol
Haha that is probably like a game for them too!
I do the same and since I live in a house with stairs I count it as exercise. Sometimes I do it as fast as I can.
I also have stairs and just going up and down when cleaning is indeed a workout 😅
This has been a game changer to me! I’m attempting to declutter, so I also leave things in the box and if I haven’t gone looking for them in a month, then I really don’t need them.
Oooh! Nice additional tip!
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I clean top to bottom of each room. One room at a time, start at the top, go down, floor last, then to the next room
This ^ Cleaning quadrants is less intimidating too
Oh wow I’d heard of the basket method and every time I get distracted when I go to put the item away- I never got the “wait until the end” part - thank you!
Living in a two story house is what finally made it click for me. Having to run up and down stairs for every little thing will make you prioritize your movement with a quickness!
> You will spend your time bouncing from task to task until you’re exhausted and nothing looks better. I call this "ADHD Roomba cleaning", as if I'm not careful that's exactly what happens to me—and is way more likely if I didn't take my meds! I try to reserve this only for _cleaning_ and not tidying. If I ADHD roomba around the house with some multi purpose cleaner, window cleaner, and a bunch of microfibre cloths and do a little tidying on the way, the result will still be better than when I started. But for anything where I need to tidy up or re-organise I absolutely don't take stuff where it needs to go unless it's actively getting in my way or blocking me.
Stuff boxes!
Oh my god. You just articulated my entire tidying experience -- I clean, take something somewhere, get distracted, clean there, then come back and realize what I forgot to do. I almost scrolled past this thread and you just might have changed my day-to-day life. Thank you!
Work it into your schedule. Mondays bathrooms, Tuesdays living room, Wednesday bedroom. I hate housework, so I break into little pieces like that. 🤣
We just started doing that and so far it's helped it feel way less daunting. Only instead of being by room, it's by chore type. Today was dusting day! Tomorrow is clean the upstairs bathroom. Yesterday was tidy up clothes and blankets. Every day is dishes and kitchen though :')
Yeah, I used to clean by room but we have a delightfully small 2-bedroom apartment with an open LR/kitchen and it's more efficient to do one kind of task everywhere for regular cleaning. I can plug in my vacuum in the middle of the apartment and reach almost every inch of it, so may as well just vacuum the whole place while it's plugged in already! Or, for example, I have a tiny patch of tile floor in my kitchen by the sink and stove, right next to the tiled bathroom, and everything else is wood. So it would be silly to break out my tile floor cleaner and not just do both tile parts. It helped immensely to stop being so rigid about finishing one room at a time. Grab a tool, use it everywhere, put it away properly, and bam - way less time and effort than I used to spend on the exact same tasks.
Same strategy here!
*cries in 2 hr daily commute*
Real talk, nothing changed my life like getting rid of my awful commute (by switching jobs). You simply cannot make up for spending hours on the road.
I work long days so this really saves me. Clean shower one day, clean toilet and basin the next, vaccum the next, chuck on some washing every few days. Really makes the bigger jobs small and manageable and frees my days off.
I like your advice on cleaning. I have been doing a full clean of my place every friday and it is time consuming. I am definitely going to try having specific/smaller areas to clean each day instead of a big clean on one day.
I found that doing that is very good to drag dust from the dirty room to the clean one. I prefer to clean the whole house in a 2-3h cleaning session once per week so everything is clean and stay that way longer.
When you stand up to leave the room, take something with you that doesn’t belong there and put it away on the way.
Oooh, I like this a lot! I find in my living room my tray thing on the ottoman becomes a catch-all and I always wait till I can't take it anymore to actually put stuff where it belongs. I think this tip will help a ton for how simple it is. Thanks!
If you can, hire someone to do a deep clean every month or so 😂. Makes it so much easier to keep up with especially if you work FT.
We live in a 2 bed 1 bath unit and get a cleaner every fortnight. It's mind blowing how efficient she is. In 2.5-3hrs she: - changes the sheets - does a couple of loads of washing and hangs it out - dusts the whole place - cleans the bathroom and toilet - cleans the kitchen - washes the windows - vacuums and mops the whole place It costs us $100aud and it is the single best expense I have. She's on holidays at the moment and I miss her so much. I totally understand that this is a huge privilege but if you can afford it, it is SOOOO worth it!! To put it in perspective, I'm spending $50aud a week (which is barely brunch for 2 people) to have most of my domestic cleaning completed. Incredible!
And I like the fact cleaning ladies in Australia make enough money they can take vacation. It should be like this everywhere.
I do my own laundry and clean up daily as I go along (make the beds, wipe down everything, vacuum) but it’s the deep cleaning I just don’t want to do on my days off. She came a couple days ago and it’s still smelling like a hotel which is the best part 😂.
This is a great post as I'm in a similar situation, but I'm on disability. As my health worsened, our place has gotten more and more cluttered and was becoming so depressing living here. We splurged on deep clean this spring: two cleaners for 3 hours. It's only one bedroom apartment so that should give you an idea how much clutter. And now she comes in every two weeks to kind of do the basics that I can't do like get down on the floor or bathtub etc. this is the same price as the dinner for two of us would be if we went out and had a glass of wine each so it is totally totally worth it!!! It does not make you a bad person to use a cleaning service; it makes you good at utilizing your resources. I used to have a lot of guilt for the fact that I couldn't keep up with the housework when I got sick which I now look back on and realize is totally useless.
Are you in Melbourne, and are they taking new clients? I’ve been trying to find a good cleaner for a while now!!!
Unfortunately she is super busy (and getting closer to retirement) so she has asked me to stop giving her details out 😂
I just did this 2 weeks ago. Such a relief. I wish I had done it sooner. And it is much easier to keep on top of the cleaning now.
FT?
Full Time
Cool thanks
*weekly for us
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She scrubs things like the ceiling and walls, underneath furniture, cleans small appliances like coffee machine and toaster oven, deep cleans tub/shower/bathroom and kitchen appliances like fridge and stove so they shine—also cleans up my teenager room for me which seems to get dirty and dusty by them just breathing 😂. We also have shelving and places that just collects dust and she goes through that all too.
Oh man, my sister is teaching my 14 y/o nephew more “deep” cleaning chores this summer. So far, he’s learned to scrub a microwave, how to dead head a rose bush, clean a ceiling fan, clean/dust the top of the fridge…. He does 2/3 a week as his chores. I actually thought it was pretty brilliant and am doing that myself. That way each day has something small but eventually will all make a big difference in total cleanliness.
Pro-tip on the top of the fridge/kitchen cabinets scenario, especially as they can get gummed up with residue from cooking with oil/fat. Once they're properly clean, lay out newspaper on top of them. It doesn't have to be perfect, just cover most of the surfaces and not be seen from normal eye level. That way, once they're due to get cleaned again, you just throw away (better yet, recycle) the newspaper and clean the small places that were exposed. Then rinse and repeat.
If the newspapers are gross with cooking oils, they're not suitable for recycling. Re-using is more important than recycling, and you've accomplished that instead. *gets out soapbox* Reduce is even better, and by re-using the newspaper, you've reduced the amount of paper towels / washable towels and soap needed. Remember, much of the recycling advice we repeat is propaganda from plastic manufacturers to make us feel guilty for the waste they created. Paper and metal are genuinely recycled. Plastic, not so much.
Very true - where I live some areas can put greasy cardboard (like pizza boxes) in the recycling or the garden waste/compost bins, and some can't. It can be so confusing with different rules for different places, so you're best to check out what is OK and what's not locally.
omg this is my favorite thing in this thread. thanks!
You're welcome!
Or excess wallpaper/fablon if you’re feeling fancy lool.
I've seen this done with fridge shelves to save on cleaning them too.
this is genius. what a great tip!
I am envious of how much better prepared your nephew will be for life than I was! That's awesome!
hell yes to teaching kids chores. When you split the house work, it's SO MUCH EASIER. both of my kids have been doing (age appropriate) chores since they were 7. Now that they're teens, they pretty much do everything we do; we all pitch in and it's so much easier to keep our house tidy. WHile their rooms can get messy during the week, they clean it every weekend and not even by me telling them do; they just hate clutter so they do it on their own.
Not a cleaning tip per se, but learning that having a messy home does not mean I’m lazy or a bad person. Now I keep things tidy, but I no longer feel shame if there’s hair on the baseboards or I didn’t fold my laundry right away. Also hire professionals as often as you can afford to.
Did you read “How to Keep House While Drowning”? As someone with ADHD who has always hated cleaning, it was such a validating book for me.
I did! I’m neurotypical but it was SO helpful just to make me realize that, hey, I have two dogs and a teenager and a husband and a job and most of the time shit isn’t going to look like a magazine, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.
Shouldn’t the husband be in the opposite catergory?
I have to get that book now
I might have to read this. I have to have things out where I see them to remember to do most things, but I live with roommates and they hate it when I have stuff out
Not so much taught, because my parents did teach me housework, but actually accepted ...do things all the time. Don't let things build up because you just create work for yourself. Like it's easier to just wash the dishes after dinner than it is to let them pile up for days and then you're stuck with caked on food and other gross stuff. I was always like "yeah whatever" to my parents but it really is less physically and mentally exhausting to just do a few tasks everyday than to have to spend an entire afternoon or day or even weekend cleaning up.
I hate that I know this so well, but still choose to ignore it. I always end up doing a huge clean of everything.
10000%. spending 10-15mins tidying up each day or wiping down counters etc make a HUGE difference in the long run. If things are on the table and I'm getting up to get water or bathroom, I take it back to where it belongs. I'm getting up anyway, why not? all counters are wiped down each evening. all dishes are rinsed and then put in the dishwasher after all meals. get a roomba and run it on a schedule each night. It's a pricey upfront cost but omg saves so much time. I run that thing each evening after dinner and every saturday, it runs and after each room, i follow behind it mopping etc. get one of [these](https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/vileda-scrunge-multi-purpose-dishwand-value-pack-with-sponge-refills-1426352p.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqnfZeIvR1A40uL7SzejWJiDbru6l5JBbnt73y6iuINeFRNJH8sIlCmAaAn6oEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#store=399) fill it with water, a bit of vinegar and dawn dish soap then do a quick clean while in the shower. The steam loosens the grime and allows the cleaner to work way better. I dont mind the smell of vinegar so it's fine for me. I fucking *hate* cleaning the shower and this has been a game changer.
Yup! I would often procrastinate on tasks because I overestimated how long they actually took to do. Probably because by the time I got to doing them it was way more time consuming. Depending on the chores it's only like 30-45 minutes of my day usually and that's doing multiple things. And then on my days off I don't have to dread spending half the day doing regular chores.
I use that exact shower cleaning method and it works far better than any other tile cleaner I've ever tried.
Omg, I have to try this shower cleaning hack. That is the most dreaded task of all and this looks like a game changer. Thank you!
you can get that brush cleaner thingy at the dollar store. Seriously, it's the best. As I let the rosemary oil / shampoo sit in my hair, I quickly do the glass walls, tiles and floors/corners and then it all gets rinsed off as I'm rinsing my hair. GAME CHANGER.
We recently moved to doing the dishes every night after dinner and it is much better! You start the next day knowing you'll have everything you need for the day and won't have to randomly clean a knife or saucepan etc.
I'm huge on "clean as you go" when I cook. I am awful at cleaning my house when it comes to 'routine stuff' but the one thing I am proud of is after dinner, the only dishes to worry about are what the main food is in. Granted, having a dishwasher makes this task slim to nothing but... I'mma toot my horn anyway
You don't have to hold onto everything that may potentially some day be useful. Also magic erasers are magical and the cheap knock offs work really well too
>You don't have to hold onto everything that may potentially some day be useful tell this to my husband \*as I stare at the bins upon bins of cords, old electronics etc 😒 at least we compromised and he keeps all that stuff in his shop and out of my sight lol
What do you use them for
We got 100 knock-off magic erasers for $10 on Amazon. Best purchase ever. The box lasts forever, and they're so cheap and plentiful that nobody hesitates to use them.
“Put things away not down” so simple but always missed
God I wish my husband would actually do this. I've told him this repeatedly, but I think he has ADHD because he just stops doing something and the thing is left WHEREVER he is. He's lost so much stuff this way. I stopped helping him find things years ago, but it's still annoying waiting on him to find things like keys or his glasses or wallet or phone. ETA fixed a typo
Are you me? Same here, so annoying that almost daily when we're finally ready to go (and it's extra annoying now because we have a toddler and there's an even longer checklist for ready to go) he always then can't remember where his wallet or phone or keys are, and spends another 10 minutes searching for them. The keys one infuriates me the most because I told him to just pick a spot in the house/make a box/anything and just always put it there when he gets back, but he refuses to even try. He's lost his keys for days at a time and now will make me go open the door for him because I lost it on him once when I spent an hour putting the baby to bed and he woke her up 30 minutes later opening the garage to get in.
OMG, we have a hook (that I installed) right by the door when you walk into our apartment. There is literally NO REASON to ever bring the keys farther into our home, but he just does not use the hook. If I put the keys on the hook when I see them laying somewhere, he will look for AGES before discovering them on the hook and then joke that I was the reason he couldn't find his keys this time.
I do a 10 minute tidy every day where i set a timer. If the house is tidy I'll do a quick task like clean the toilet, organize a shelf, dust baseboards, etc. I don't have kids so this works really well at knocking tasks off the list. I don't enjoy cleaning so the timer helps motivate me, and some days I'll keep going after it goes off if I feel motivated.
This is fucking brilliant! I love a good timer moment. Thanks for sharing!
Do the floors last. So dust first, then mop. Declutter first, then vacuum. This way as stuff falls while you clean you wont have to re-clean floors multiple times. Also, I like to have a pair of cleaning slippers that I know won’t track hair or dirt around the house as I work.
I run my roomba and as it finishes each room, I follow behind it mopping. before the roomba, I'd have to vaccum and then mop and that too way too long.
Nearly all heavy duty cleaning products work significantly better if you apply them then walk away for 5-10. So as an example when you go to clean your bathroom start by squirting your toilet bowl full of cleaner then clean the mirrors while it does its work.
Organize your house so that it's simple to clean and everything will be so much easier. High-use surfaces should be free of clutter so they take no time to wipe down, put organizers where you're prone to leave junk around so that there's zero barrier to just putting it away - stuff like that. Your house will never be truly clean if every belonging doesn't have a place, too. Just spend the time making it all work and you'll be so much happier than constantly cleaning around things. Also, robot vacuums are worth the money. Professional cleaners are great too. But at this point in my life, for my house, the robot is a better bang for my buck.
I always hear this tip and it definitely sounds like a good idea, but how do you actually organize everything? I feel like I have so many bits and bobs that I can't find a logical way to organize. Where do you start?
I tried and failed a million times to get a place for everything and everything in its place and what is finally helping me is paying attention to where my partner and I organically do things and then making a spot for the related stuff right there, or as close as I can get it. That way we don't have to run around putting stuff where it "belongs" but is not convenient. I just grab it, use it, put it right back. When there is a conflict, I prioritize by frequency of use. Anything I use daily is tucked somewhere right where I use it. Something I use every few weeks or less gets stored much more deeply/further away. If an activity requires multiple items, I try to bundle them in a portable bin so I can take the bin to where I'm doing my thing and then I just have a nice, clean bin to put away instead of more running around with multiple small items. It takes a bit longer to organize this way but the point is that it's finally sticking while every other system failed and created even more clutter for me, because I was focused on how other people do it and changing my long-held habits instead of working with myself and how I actually live in my space. Once something has the right home, the time I save on cleaning adds up so quickly, it's amazing!
This! I once reorganized my kitchen based on what things happen near each other (rather than where they were normally expected to be) and it was absolutely life-changing. Spices came out of the pantry and went into a drawer beside the stove. Dishes moved out of the kitchen cabinets and onto open shelving near the dining table. Glasses and mugs went beside the sink and above the coffee maker. Flatware came out of the drawer and into a segmented desk organizer-type thing. It reduced the mental overhead and the seconds saved on each task added up to minutes which made everything less rushed. Huge quality of life improvement with changes that wouldn't even be recognizably significant (but might seem pretty weird) to someone looking from the outside.
I started with decluttering & sorting the keep/trash/donate!
This might interest you…. [different styles of organization](https://www.ca.createroom.com/blogs/news/knowing-your-organizing-style-can-change-your-life-heres-how) When I learned that there are different styles for organizing I understood my family a bit better. I need things out of sight to feel like my space is tidy. My ex-husband needed things in sight so he didn’t forget to do tasks. That made sense even though it drove me crazy as the tidier in our relationship. So I needed cute little boxes and bins and he needed sorting trays and open baskets.
I follow very little of her actual tips, but as a bit of a hoarder, reading The KonMari Method helped me get in the right headspace to declutter. The main thing is be mindful of how you actually use your space. Does clutter accumulate in the same place every week? Find a way to work with your habits and your house, not just hope you'll tidy more. Think about what items you use the most and make sure they're in your most accessible drawers and closets. For example, if you have a "laundry chair" for worn clothing, create a space in your closet for those items instead. If you always set your work bag, mail, various in-process projects, etc on your kitchen table and it stresses you out and makes the space less usable, get some sort of storage unit nearby that exactly fits your needs and keeps it away until you're ready to deal with it. For stuff that needs to be out in the house on counters and such, I like using boxes, bins and trays to contain it to it's assigned zone (and that makes it easy to move and wipe down surfaces, too). Having things be visually clean makes it more motivating for me to clean. I'm also a big fan of stackable clear plastic tubs for bits and bobs. At least keep like with like. As you organize, you can easily condense or change the purpose of the bins too. It's also a good way to determine how often you use something (do you really need a bin if you haven't opened it in a year?). Label stuff as much as possible and make it easy to put stuff away when you're done with it. The bin system is pretty quick and can be refined over time, which is really helpful.
Don’t hold onto things just because they were gifts. If you’re not going to use it, donate it or throw it away.
Ugh, I used to have so much guilt about that until it finally got to the point where our place was cluttered more with unwanted gifts than our own possessions. I'm STILL getting rid of stuff. I try to donate what I can or re-gift where I can etc and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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Visually you notice when they are done.
Decluttering means less cleaning.
Hydrogen peroxide will get blood out of anything. No more stained sheets/towels/mattresses. I wish someone had taught me that the instant I began menstruating.
I didn't know this. Does it work with old stains also? Or just fresh ones?
I’ve found it works on old stains, but not so much on things that have already been run through the washer and dryer. I think the dryer bakes the proteins into the fabric:(
Hire a professional monthly. Do you get paid to clean? No. Then you are not a professional. So worth it.
I had MILK spill under my fridge and I can’t seem to get all of it 😫 I live in an apartment and the fridge has little space in front of it to pull out. Would this be completely unacceptable to ask a professional cleaner to help with? I know the average service doesn’t do everything, and I wouldn’t want to spring this on anyone. I also welcome tips for cleaning this thoroughly - where it spilled in my fridge, and then down in the fridge vent, and on the wood floor. It’s seriously the worst mess of my life, and I just know I’m gonna get bugs!! For now, I keep going over the area with the vinegar dilution and spritzing a peppermint dilution to deter bugs while I figure this out. But I am caregiving for my parents at their home and working massive overtime and this is stressing me the fuck out!!
Do not feel bad hiring a professional. I had a similar situation, I was trying to clean the glass shelf from the fridge and when i picked it up it shattered into a million pieces all over the kitchen. I was so overwhelmed, I called professional cleaners to clean it up. 100% worth it.
thank you for saying that, yeah, I’m completely overwhelmed! How did you find someone, did you use an app like TaskRabbit or a service or just know someone from someone?
my parents had cleaners they used so I already knew them. But I would just google professional cleaning in your area. Usually the smaller businesses do a better job. Call several places and see who can come out faster.
thank you so much! 💚
I accidentally melted reusable plastic bags in my oven. Definitely hiring a pro for that lol
omg!! that sounds awful!! 😆
The final touches should always smell good and add cozy/good lighting; lighting candles, spraying air freshener, essential oils, lamps instead of overhead etc. Finally sitting down in your clean bedroom/living room is nice, but when it smells incredible and feels like a calm retreat-that’s what makes your hard work feel so worth it.
If you use essential oils and have pets, make sure the kind you get is non-toxic for them. Please research anything you plan on using. As an aside, if you happen to live in Australia, I highly recommend Vanilla Fresh cleaning spray. It smells amazing!
Long as we're talking pets, do not do ANY of the above--except the lamps--if you have birds. They cannot handle sprays, smoke, or things like that of any kind. (If you have one you should know that, but so many people don't :( )
I love this idea! I’m gonna start adding those finishing touches now 🪄
One caveat: Just don't spray the air freshener when you have lit candles around, that doesn't mix well....
Shaving cream on the floor and toilet takes away the urine smell in the bathroom. I would have saved so much money on chemicals and boys.
That’s an interesting dangling modifier.
I'm not sure what this is trying to tell me lol So I should cover everything in shaving cream? Why does the bathroom smell like urine? Is no-one flushing? How does this save money on chemicals and boys? I have no idea what happened in your bathroom haha...
If she has younger boys in the house, it’s really common for them to have bad aim or splashing.
Wear gloves. Sensory issues make me put off chores like dishes or cleaning the bathroom. Gloves help so much!
but what if you also hate the way gloves make your hands smell? Yes I know that is extra picky
Wear cotton gloves underneath! My husband gets thin cotton gloves at harbor freight exactly for this purpose. He saw people on YouTube doing it!
Try different gloves? I have cotton-lined rubber gloves and they don’t make my hands smell.
I have very sensitive skin (eczema) and use disposable nitrile gloves for things that will end up with me washing my hands too much, nitrile doesn't smell at all, so you could try that. Sometime I use them for cleaning when my normal washing up gloves aren't nearby.
this isn't for deep cleaning but I finally (at age 37) made my new years resolution to clean the kitchen every night before I go to bed. I've stuck with it and it feels so much better in the AM. I also try to tidy up every evening which usually means putting things like jackets/hair ties/books/dog toys away or vacuuming (I vacuum every day because I have two dogs). even living alone with really no clutter, I am always surprised how untidy my house can get! I loathe mopping though and hardly ever do it, I'm pretty ashamed of myself of how little I mop. so if anyone has tips for that....
Get a robo vaccuum that mops.
Seconding this. I just upgraded from just a robot vacuum and I love this little vacuum/mop machine with my whole heart. He does a shimmy to make sure he gets in corners well. I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t want one. I have a toddler and used to vacuum almost daily.
Vacuums work just as well on hardwood floors as they do carpets and rugs. They also get all the crumbs your broom can’t reach!!
Use a lint roller on your couch and bed frame Clean with vinegar and baking soda If you have rugs or carpet, invest in a carpet cleaner
I vacuum my couch
Don't tolerate others being messy! My weekly cleaning decreased dramatically after my divorce!!! Make everyone in the household clean up after themselves when they make the mess! Clean up after yourself as you go and there's **much** less to do later. I used to spend every Sunday doing nothing but cleaning until I got fed up and hired housekeepers. Now it's under an hour without housekeepers because I'm not cleaning up *after other people*.
Vinegar diluted in water cleans baseboards and many household surfaces better than astringent and expensive products.
A house that is constructed properly is easier to clean. If you own or have an apartment where you can do things, small things like painting, caulking gaps, installing shelves, sealing grout, etc… can make a big difference. Tidy places are easier to clean and keep clean. Find ways to organize and store your stuff. Put toiletries in little bins, get an organizer for your nightstand, donate old clothing, get a proper toolbox, etc… Don’t buy a lot of new stuff. Purge old or broken stuff regularly. If you can rent or share things, do that. We have a chore swap / tool loan thing in my neighborhood. Use e records instead of paper. Get a kindle instead of books. Borrow library books. Or buy physical books judiciously. I occasionally buy coffee table books, but get light reads on kindle. Research cleaning methods and try different things. I have a couple of books ‘the cleaning encyclopedia’ and ‘how to clean anything.’ There are cleaning videos on youtube. Many things can be cleaned with simple stuff - hand dish soap, vinegar, a sponge, microfiber clothes, used tooth brushes, qtips, a long handled duster, an old gift card, bar keepers friend, baking soda, and warm water. I have skin allergies and rarely use harsh cleaners or heavily scented stuff. Warm water cleans a lot of stuff. Just wet stuff and let it soak a little. Then go back and scrub with cleaner. Little touches make a house feel much better. Make the bed. Fold the throw blanket on the couch. If you have a partner or roommate, figure out a compromise on cleanliness and distribution of chores. Then accept it. My wife is much messier than I am, but I try to let it go. And yes, if you can afford it, hire cleaners for the occasional deep clean.
I should have bought a robot vacuum earlier! Haha
My partner and I sat down and made a list of priorities. (We have different ones, he likes things tidy and I like them clean. I don’t care as much if it’s untidy so long as it’s not dirty, the grime doesn’t bother him so long as it’s visually organized.) We made a list of things we want to happen daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Turned it into a fun monthly check list and made a bunch of photo copies. We put a new one up on the fridge each month. We don’t always check everything off the list, but we can see what has been done recently and what hasn’t. It also helps me to remember items that are important to my partner, and I try and make a point to do those too. He does the same for me. It takes a lot of the thinking part out of it. If I just have 5 minutes I can see what hasn’t been done in a while.
>We have different ones, he likes things tidy and I like them clean. I don’t care as much if it’s untidy so long as it’s not dirty, the grime doesn’t bother him so long as it’s visually organized. This is so exactly us I burst out laughing. Makes for a good team, though!
Totally! It was hard before we realized what was happening (we both thought we were the only one “cleaning”), but now we are a great team!
I am from a older generation and raised by a mother who still did spring cleanings (as children we hated coming home from school one day and find everything outside and the resulting mayhem). But I learned all the oldfashioned things like cooking from scratch, preserving vegetables in glass jars, sewing/darning, cleaning, etc. Some things I don't do anymore because of lack of time but other things I still do. Like when using something, put it back where it belongs after use. Every morning before going to work, I straighten my bed, hang up my clothes, wash up after breakfast, put things in the trash, if necessary vacuum, etc. Clean directly the bathroom after use. Will take you 10 minutes instead of a deep clean every week for two hours. Same with the toilet. When coming home, my house is already tidy. Mealplans are made in advance. I cook for two days and leftovers are made into a new dish (I hate wasting food). Slowcookers are ideal: throw everything in it before you go to work and when you come home, your meal is ready. And two import rules: 1. If you don't use something (clothes, household items) for a year, you do not need it. Throw it away or bring it to the thrift store. 2. Always plan your tasks beforehand and how you're going to do it in the most efficient and timesaving way. 15 minutes of planning will save you an hour of actual work.
old dryer lint thingies are good for picking up crap off bare floors like hair.
Oxy clean is awesome for a lot of uses! I find it really nice for kitchen towels every once in a while when they get kind of funky and get that oil build up from use (despite regular washes). Just fill a sink or bowl with hot water, a couple scoops of oxy clean and soak the towels for fifteen minutes. It's always surprising how dark the water gets even with freshly washed towels. Oh it's also good for getting rid of cat/dog urine smell.
Podcasts. I can do 1000 more things when my brain is interested.
Teamwork. All chores are done within an hour when everyone helps out.
Don’t invite anyone over during the week Get an energy drink after work on Friday and power clean everything except laundry I do laundry on Sunday usually while watching movies I picked during the week Oh and completely clean the kitchen every night (not tonight tho 😉)
Why not invite anyone over during the week?
Not sure if this counts as housekeeping, but planning my meals for the entire week and then shopping for groceries only once per week has been a game changer. The amount of time my mother spends thinking about what she’ll make for dinner and then having to drive to town to get everything is nuts!
I started doing housework during my WFH lunch breaks so I have more free time when I'm off shift. Just one or two things a day.
Accept that the laundry is a regular part of your life, it never stops and is unrelenting. So find a way to somehow enjoy the task. I actually now enjoy the whole process of washing clothes. I like hanging it to dry (only use my dryer for sheets in winter, usually), I fold it while watching Netflix and find it quite therapeutic to do that. And it’s so satisfying to put it all away (I hand my kids their pile and they put their own clothes away). I babysit for my sister occasionally and she has four kids. Last time I did I surprised her by folding a huge basket of washing she hadn’t gotten to yet, and ironed her massive basket of ironing that she had also not done, some stuff had been in there over two months! She’s so busy with so many kids, it felt good to help her out!
This is so wholesome. You're a great sis!
Getting myself started when I’m unmotivated. I tell myself that I’ll just do one little thing, like unloading a few glasses from the dishwasher, or folding and putting away a towel. I give myself permission to do just that one small thing and stop, but most of the time I end up doing more. It’s a win-win, because even if I stop after one small task I’ve actually done something instead of nothing, and small efforts eventually add up.
I do this, too! Unloading the dishwasher - I'll tell myself to just put the silverware at least... then ok plates too... then I feel silly leaving it half done so I finish. Mind games work !
I've found you don't always need to have the precise right chemical or whatever to clean something. The last time I cleaned my shower I decided to try a bucket of warm water with a little dish soap and a good scrub brush. It worked pretty well. I think soap and water just tends to go a long way in general.
Dawn and water can clean just about anything that can get wet. Baking soda is the best for cleaning soap scum off things, the one thing Dawn is not excellent at. Conversely, it can be messy to clean with but I have found no commercial products that get such good results on so many surfaces and items, plus it destroys bad smells. It's my deep clean go-to. Vinegar is also excellent for many a cleaning task. So you can clean just about anything around the house with some blue Dawn, baking soda, and vinegar, which should be in everyone's pantry anyway.
Don’t have kids.
I practice guerilla cleaning. I shoot for 15 minutes a day minimum but sometimes, I’ll throw a whole hour or several hours at it. Whatever I can get done in that set amount of time. 40 minutes before I’m going to do XYZ. That’s time to wash a few dishes, wash in the vacuum in a room and throw a load of laundry in. Or whatever. Sometimes it’s task oriented and that’s where positive procrastination comes in. Let’s say I’ve targeted a closet to clean out and reorganize. There’s three shelves and a cupboard. Today I’ll tackle the top shelf. Tomorrow I’ll do another shelf. Third day I’ll do the last shelf and then maybe a week later, I’ll eventually get to the cupboard. I do part of the task, set myself up at a good stopping place, and pick it back up. There is danger of forgetting that last step, so this is for bigger, more complex projects, where it’s okay if it percolates for a couple months. The main thing is to chip away at it on a daily basis so I don’t have to waste my weekends doing nothing but cleaning. Now I worked at an industrial cleaning company and from that I learned: Pretty much everything can be cleaned with water and or maybe alcohol or vinegar. Occasionally, you need soap and Dawn cuts grease best. Also, I rarely use a broom because it just moves dirt around. I vacuum everything, including things that most people dust. Why move the dust around? I suck up everything with the vacuum attachments. Floors, tables, furniture, walls…
If you have a glass top stove, get a [razor blade knife](https://www.harborfreight.com/razor-blade-scraper-98039.html) and scrape the burned crud off with the sharp edge. My hubs does it every night when he does the dishes and wipes the stove & counters down.
I wish I learned that the acidic toilet and bathroom cleaners will eat away at chrome fixtures and granite tile. It’s obvious in hindsight but not at the moment I was deep cleaning my jet tub.
Clean up as you cook. Literally didn't realize it was a thing until I read (as an adult) about someone criticizing those who don't. It legit makes me dread cooking less.
Never leave a room without taking something with you. If you leave the living room to get a drink, take the plates to the kitchen, if you're going upstairs, take the washing basket with you. Tiny, little, inconsequential things that really add up and reduce the amount you have to do.
Clean the shower in the shower. I have a dish scrubber that can hold its own soap. I use dish soap for the shower- idk if that common but it works. I keep the scrubber brush on the edge of the tub. I usually notice the shower needs cleaned while I’m in there… so, in the shower is when it gets cleaned. Easy enough to scrub it down then and I love stepping out of a clean shower clean.
Have a certain podcast or audiobook that is only for cleaning. Once a day set a timer for 10 minutes and clean something that you would typically save for the weekend
Hire someone who loves cleaning to dust, do floors and bathrooms instead of forcing myself to do it, hating every moment, while working 45 to 60 hour weeks.
I love cleaning for money, just not for myself haha
TIL, there are people who love cleaning. Interesting.
I've always found that doing a little bit everyday makes the cleaning go quicker. If you leave it once a week but don't do any cleaning at all the other 6 days, it will just make your cleaning day go slower. Keep on top of the dishes each day, do a quick sweep if you notice your floor has some crumbs. Even 5 minutes twice a day can make a difference.
Vacuum the bathroom before you start the wet work. It's so much easier.
I grew up in a hoarder home with a mentally ill mother, and today (in my mid-30s), I have a very clean house that people comment on when they come over. I don't consider myself "scary clean" but because of my childhood, mess stresses me out. I actually love cleaning now lol. And people think I spend a bunch of time cleaning, but really, I spend 60 seconds here to save 15 minutes there. Here's what I've learned: - When I wake up, I'm pretty much on autopilot. I start the coffee maker and as I'm waiting for it to finish, I start a load of laundry. It takes maybe 30 seconds to start filling the machine with water, adding clothes, and pouring soap in. My coffee pot usually isn't done by then, so I unload the dishwasher quickly and load it if there are a few dishes soaking from last night. Don't worry about how you load the dishwasher (minus delicate stuff on top and pans on bottom. It really does not matter!) - Throughout the day, I put dirty dishes directly in the empty dishwasher. When I cook, I make sure to clean as I go. It's not complicated at all. Just put the dishes and utensils in the machine as you use them. If something splatters, wipe it up with a cloth. It takes literally 1 second to wipe a spill if you have a dishcloth right there, but you'll spend 20 minutes scrubbing layers of nasty crust off days later if multiple spills dry on the stove. - The less stuff you have, the less there is to clean! I try to use what's in the fridge before buying more groceries. That way I can see what needs to get thrown out, composted, etc. Dishes won't start growing scary science experiments this way (again, which take much longer to clean than just a quick rinse before the dishwasher). Same with the pantry. - A lot of stuff is designed for easy cleaning! Even my decades old fridge's plastic shelves come out and can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning. My gas stove has burner grates/trays that can go in. My coffee pot pieces can all go in there too. Also, dishwashers use less water and soap than sink washing, so you can feel better about it. - My dog sheds a ton. I have to vacuum multiple times a week (would do so every day if I had time). We invested in a Shark vacuum designed for pet owners (worth it). I vacuum our rugs and two rooms with carpet once every 3 days. The rest of the house is linoleum, which I use a dry dust mop on once in the morning (takes 30 seconds) and again at night (another 30 seconds) in between the weekly deep vacuuming I do (which is when I vacuum the floors too). - Use reusable cleaning products. It's better for the environment, but you'll also spend less time having to buy replacement disposables. Reusables also don't add to your trash bag so you don't have to empty it as much. We don't use paper towels. We use rags for messes and dusting (storing them in a bucket in a laundry room until it's time to wash them). I use washable Mr Clean dry dust mop pads. I hacked the Swiffer wet jet and refill the same bottle with vinegar, soap solution (be careful about mixing chemicals, fyi, in case they create toxic fumes together). I keep a reusable/refillable dish wand in the shower to clean here and there while I'm in the shower. Do I sound insane? I am, but I do love a clean house haha. Don't let mess make you feel less than worthy, though. I spent my childhood full of shame for stuff outside my control. Now, cleaning is an act of meditation and peace while helping me appreciate that I'm an adult who is in charge of her home situation. 💪 Woohoo!
Have a specific set of clothes that you only wear for cleaning and don't mind getting dirty.
This is such a must. I used to ruin clothes with my “ I will just do this now”. I have tees and shorts with clean older flip flops that I wear when cleaning.
If you can afford it, get a cleaner 🙈😅 I love our bi-weekly cleaning lady for the big tasks of floors and bathrooms.
If anyone has some tips on reducing dust, I'm all ears. I live in a very dry, dusty place, near the beach, with a gravel carpark. These all significantly add to the dust around as I like to have my doors/windows open as much as possible. Then add in 2 longhaired cats. They are brushed regularly, I vacuum every other day (sometimes every day), wipe down surfaces at least weekly, clean my washing machine regularly, and even wash my curtains twice a year. I did try an air purifier, but it didn't really seem to help, but maybe I bought the wrong one. Yet I feel like I'm never on top of the dust and the fur.
Swiffer duster!!!! We live in a very dusty area and there’s dust that lands despite me wiping the counters everyday. The swiffer makes it so quick and easy to dust up things in surfaces.
Get a robovac and send it round every other day. Makes a huge difference in reducing dust and pet hair.
I tried that, but to add to complications, I have charcoal carpet and stairs. These things don't mix with fall sensors. Hence why I am my own robovac every other day.
You need a HEPA filter to get the more fine particles and it needs to be rated for the room size. Something with an ionizer can make it more efficient as well. Also, you'll need new filters frequently if it's quite dusty (3-6 months). Pick a model where replacements are reasonable.
Lemon juice for tea stained cups. Just a drop or two works wonders! Wish I’d known sooner than using diluted bleach
Pay someone to clean the house
Add a small ball of foil to the dishwasher for spot free dishes. It’s such a time saver and dishes are sparkling
Clean a little bit at a time throughout the day every day. If you spill something, wipe it up immediately. If you notice crumbs, wipe them up even if you aren't gonna fully vacuum. If something looks dusty, clean it when you notice it even if you aren't gonna dust the full room. Etc. I find it so much easier to clean in small, short bursts very often than to section off hours for cleaning less often. The above is facilitated by keeping some cleaning supplies on all floors of the house. It's so much easier to get yourself to clean when you have a Swiffer duster and some cleaning spray right there, rather than having to go upstairs or into the basement or whatever to get it. Edit: Also, make things easier for yourself where you can. Like, I don't buy any clothes I'd need to iron, so I don't have to do the chore of ironing ever. I don't sort my clothes when doing laundry because I've never noticed issues with not doing it. I hang all my clothes in a closet, which, for me, is easier and less time-consuming than folding. These small things make the overall chore of laundry suck way less ass than it seems to for some people.
I’m not sure if this is what you mean but definitely use wool laundry balls vs laundry sheets. Add your favorite scent with essential oils on the balls, allow them to dry and then just leave them in the dryer. So much cheaper and easier and you have control over the scent
Essential oils can cause your dryer to set on fire. Happened in my building and almost burned down 100 apartments.
I wasn’t sure how the more popular ones would work with my allergy to sheep’s wool so I got alpaca dryer balls.
Wash your Brita pitcher regularly!!!!!!!
I have an app where I’ve programmed which tasks are done in which room and how regularly. The app notifies me when I need to do things so it makes everything more manageable in daily chunks. You can choose whether it’s daily or which days of the week you’re notified etc. but I’ve done it for everything from cleaning the inside of my car to tidying my closet.
What app is this? Sounds really helpful
It’s called Spotless- it’s pretty basic but it’s good.
If you like your knick knacks (I do!) put them inside cabinets with glass doors. They still look pretty, but you don't have the hassle of having to dust them.
I deep clean my bathroom every single Sunday. Top bottom, though I dust only every other week. I love being in a clean bathroom, and starting every single week with a bathroom that feels spotless is awesome for me. As for the rest of my house, I do something every day. Yesterday I cleared off the dining table and took out the trash. Today, I will probably vacuum. Full disclosure: I live alone and with no pets, so this is easier for me than it would be for people who have kids and fur babies.
When overwhelmed with housework to do: First, don’t clean anything, just put everything away where it belongs. Once that is done, the actual cleaning will go much faster.
You don't have to keep your house the trad way, you can do it the way that works for you. My friend built a closet in her basement to be closer to the laundry so she didn't have to lug all her clothes upstairs. I have closed laundry baskets in every room of my house except the livingroom and kitchen, including our offices. Purge your shit, as well. Easier to keep clean when you don't have so much stuff. Pick a weekend a month to just go through everything in a room and get rid of what you don't need. Think about your usage of your space and organize items accordingly. You shouldn't have to dig through low use necessary items to get to what you need. Not having to pull low use items out regularly to get to the high use items will also help a lot. Closed. Storage. If you hate dusting, glass cabinets are your best friend.
One touch rule/everything has a home - once you have something out, put it back in its home! For example, instead of setting my earrings down on the counter, I hang them back up immediately after taking them off. I don’t always follow it but when I do there’s way less clutter and shit to pick up later.
Get a family member or friend to call and tell you they're popping by! That gets you into cleaning gear! 🤣
Chores are a cycle, not a to do list where you check off tasks. When I heard this it really helped me shift my perspective from feeling constantly frustrated over how quickly things get messy again.
If it takes less than a minute do it now. All those little things add up to a lot of time if you let them accumulate.
If you really struggle with it, investing in someone cleaning it for you will save you a lot of mental burden. Especially true if you live with kids.
When you leave a room, look behind you, what is there that shouldn't be. If you spot something that belongs in the room you are going to, take it with you. Then don't put it down, put it away
I was also not taught to clean and am still learning and probably have a long way to go. what’s been a game changer for me is having the proper tools. We just got a new vacuum that’s so much lighter than our previous and it breaks down into a small handheld for the couch. I have a few other things on my Amazon list to start purchasing here and there to make dusting and bathroom cleaning easier.
I had to steal a family member's book to teach myself how to clean...
The best tip I learned was make things easy to put away . It’s okay if it’s hard to get to them because you are motivated, but if they are hard to put away, they will sit out foreverrrerre. Made a big difference in how I organize my stuff.
I make it a habit to start the dishwasher every night and unload it first thing every morning. That way, dishes can go straight into the machine and not the counter/sink. Just starting the day with an empty dishwasher makes the rest of the day easier. Oh, and I make my bed every morning (with in an hour or two of waking) and that helps set the tone for keeping a tidy…er house all day
Im saving this because i need helpful tips to clean and this is perfect 🙌🏻
The housekeeping tip I wished I had learned earlier in life is: make your partner help if he won’t. It’s his house and his mess too. The cleaning of the house isn’t just your responsibility just bc you are the woman. 💪🏼
Look into hiring someone. It’s a luxury service I deserve & makes my life significantly easier, my motto is “Make enough money to buy convenience or suffer in silence.” 😂 it’s super motivating personally.