The worst thing our homes ever do is have the temerity to become messy, untidy and unclean again after we’ve already cleaned them. Unfortunately, this is the case. A clean house is worth keeping, but of course, a house can only be so clean, and so it’s easy for us to either overdo it, or underdo it out of apathy.
Of course, even if you enjoy cleaning well enough, it’s unlikely that spending two or three hours out of your schedule sounds like fun, depending on the size of your household. On top of that, little efforts to clean up, like cleaning the carpet with appropriate tools after you’ve spilled red wine on it, or cleaning up after children or a dog can add to the headache.
For this reason, you might wonder if making cleaning less of a tiresome task is even worth considering. We believe it is, which is why in this post we hope to discuss a few measures of helping you thrive, and clean, and clean again without a frown on your face.
After all, most people won’t have the funds to pay for a cleaner, or feel that they need to in the first place. So, what actually in-touch and practical advice could we render? Let’s consider that, below:
Invest In The Right Cleaning Tools
The right tools can make cleaning much easier for you to deal with. For instance, extendable handles on your disposable mops can make it easier to easily mop up small rooms or vinyl areas around the kitchen so that you don’t have to bend over and twinge your back.
An investment in a great cylinder vacuum cleaner is also worthwhile, because here you’ll have the flexibility to vacuum many different nooks and crannies, as well as maintain its condition quite comfortably.
For some, hand vacuums, easy bathroom-friendly wiping clothes, anti-bacterial wipes, a set of washable cleaning cloths, and polishes can help out too. In some cases, the products you use can make things simple, like bathroom spray you can leave for five minutes and then simply wipe to make sure the shower unit it sparklingly new.
When you have all of this, and it’s organized properly in a little cleaning holder you can bring with you around the house, you don’t have to constantly search for your tools, making sure you move forward with care.
Do Each Room Separately
It’s good to do each room separately. No one said you had to clean the entire house in one day. If you have an apartment, perhaps a day job is possible, but still, cleaning is much more enjoyable when you only have to do a little bit here and then throughout the week. Perhaps on Sunday mornings you enjoy cleaning your kitchen a little, you clean your bathrooms on Mondays and Fridays, and your bedroom surfaces are polished when they need it.
You don’t have to do every single area of the house at once nor clean every single thing in every single room at once, you just have to keep on top of the basic measures, like vacuuming, mopping, and making sure your bathroom and where you eat is cleaned correctly. If you have pets, then of course making sure the place they sleep is clean can be important, too.
Listen To Podcasts & Audiobooks
No longer do you have to clean the home with a stony face and nothing but boredom to accompany you. With podcasts and audiobooks available from a wide range of publishers and authors, you can use this time to hear a great story, listen to a hilarious comedy episode, or perhaps keep up on your news and politics.
Of course, cleaning is a great time to listen to music as well, so why not make a playlist on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music ahead of time? When you have a little energy in your spirit, cleaning becomes a fun, brainless activity you can keep on top of without even thinking about it.
Audiobooks can also benefit you as a person, pretty much meaning that when you do clean, you’re effectively reading a book being narrated. So – is it really cleaning time, or have you just found three hours a week where you can read once again, even in a busy schedule?
Moreover, you don’t even have to listen to dry narration all of the time, as many audio dramas exist with real voice actors and high-end professional audio production granting you a fantastic new piece of media to enjoy.
Enlist Help From Your Family
If you don’t live alone, then others living in the space should also clean and do their part as well. Of course, your infant baby and pets are unlikely to clean after themselves, but if you have teenagers, they can certainly be told to clean their bedroom, and to make sure they do it each week. You can oversee this of course, to make sure they’re not just throwing all of their dirty laundry in the closet and wiping their television with a cloth.
Moreover, you can incentivize them to help out with pocket money each week, which might extend to other cleaning efforts like washing the car and saving you a trip there. It all adds up, and there’s no reason you have to do the heavy lifting all alone.
Keep Certain Rooms For Certain Messy Activities
Of course, one mistake that many people make is becoming afraid of seeing their home ‘lived-in.’ You’re allowed to live in your home, and it’s okay if your space doesn’t look like a magazine catalogue in its current form.
However, you can make sure that localising certain activities in certain rooms will help you reduce the mess in general. For example, you might feed your dogs in your garage, as the concrete floor doesn’t have to be supremely clean at all times, and it’s not that big of a deal of your dog slobbers onto it as they eat, you can sweep this up and spray some disinfectant later.
If you enjoy arts and crafts, having a spare room where you can place sheets down will be useful, or allowing the kitchen table to fulfill that function can be ideal. Depending on the activity, finding the right space for it may help you avoid such an intensive cleanup.
Keep A Schedule & Routine
The best way to do any chore is to keep it consistent, so you can prevent small jobs from accruing and becoming too much to handle. We mentioned above that different rooms on different days can be worthwhile – but what time will you do this? Having that set in stone makes it much easier to just get on with, rather than having to negotiate with yourself every time.
It’s good to get into small habits, too. For instance, having a place for everyone to neatly store their shoes at the front door can prevent them from being kicked off. Buying some nice storage areas for your children’s toys can help encourage them to keep them safe at night, rather than leaving you some nice LEGO bricks to step on barefoot in the morning. Routines always help when it comes to dealing with tasks we’d rather not do, as you no doubt know from elsewhere in life.
If It’s Clean Enough, You Might Be Okay
It’s only natural that certain areas of the house will always need to be cleaned and regularly, like the kitchen sink or the toilet seat. But you don’t always have to wipe down certain areas like pulling out all of your books and wiping down the shelf if you can dust the books themselves, or bringing everything out of your pantry at once just to clean it, at least any more than three weeks to a month or so.
Of course, you get to decide what you need to clean based on your own preferences, but don’t think that obligation applies in every single scenario at every single time. If it’s clean enough, you might be okay.
Use Organisational Tools
We mentioned a carrier for your cleaning products can be very useful, but don’t be afraid to step that up a little. A small holder for your bathroom cleaning supplies in your bathroom saves a little time, as can keeping your bleach in the kitchen. Of course, be mindful to keep your toxic cleaning chemicals higher than a child can reach if you have any in the home.
On top of that, a small whiteboard with the rooms listed can allow you or your partner to ‘tick off’ a room if you’ve cleaned it that week, and then you can reset that on Sunday night ready for the next seven days. This way, you know who might have cleaned what, and what jobs are now yours.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily make cleaning your house less of a tiresome task, and more something you keep up with because it’s easy, convenient, a break from the natural pace of life, and leaves you with a lovely home.
Of course, if you have pets or children then you’re always going to be fighting a rising tide, but the best you can do is always enough.
Nb. Collaborative post.
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