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Cleaning your home doesn’t have to be a difficult endeavor, and it doesn’t have to take a full day to accomplish. When you ensure that everything in your home is something you either want or need, something that makes your life better or helps you function, then maintaining order becomes easier. Decluttering and organizing are your first steps to an orderly home, but cleaning is very important.
I try not to spend more than 1 hour per week cleaning my home. There are a few ways I am able to do this:
1) I don’t have (too many) things I don’t want or like or need.
2) I clean up spills, messes as soon as they happen.
3) I have some strict rules, and I don’t care what people think about it because I’M the one who has to clean. (Shoes off; no eating in the living room on the new couches; eat at the tables.)
4) I don’t have kids… yet. (But I’ll try to enforce my rules even then. I might resemble Mrs. Trunchbull, but I don’t care.)
5) I have time — because I give myself the time, plan for it, say no to things that might cause stress — to do it.
If a cleaning routine is something you want to develop for your week in order to help bring order to your life, I highly recommend implementing one or more of the above listed reasons.
Because this is an hours-long task, I always start my cleaning routine by throwing in a load of laundry. I generally do 2-3 loads a week: cold (work clothes, delicates); hot (grimier stuff); towels & sheets. Once a load is in, I start…
Everything should have a use or function or serve some sort of purpose, even if it is something to play with or look at (art; decor). If it doesn’t, consider decluttering, which requires a full day or more. But if you’ve already decluttered and have got your spaces organized, tidy and put away your stuff.
I try to use non-toxic plant-based cleaners, but let’s be honest: sometimes ya just gotta use bleach! After making a blueberry smoothie the other morning, I noticed the blueberries stained my stainless steel sink. I tried everything to no avail, until I called in bleach. Blue stains literally disappeared before my eyes.
I spray and wipe down:
– 3 bathroom sinks
– 3 toilet seats
– 1 kitchen sink
– 1 shower
– 3 bathroom mirrors
– kitchen countertops
Time to vacuum. Recently, I noticed my trusty 5-year-old vacuum was scratching my brand new hardwood floors. I nearly had a heart attack. I still am not sure why it was scratching the floors, but I suspect there are exposed screws at the bottom of the vacuum. Although my goal was to maintain this vacuum that I had received as a bridal shower gift for as long as possible, I had to give in and buy a new vacuum. As I was doing research, I was grateful to find a Reviews.com, company who has already reviewed dozens of vacuum cleaners to find the best products based on a variety of factors. Check out their guide, here.
I vacuum every inch of my house — first floor, second floor, and basement. I’ve decided to keep my old vacuum and use it in the creepy crawly areas of my basement or as an extra vacuum should we need it someplace else. I just have to lift it instead of roll it whenever I need to move it (I mostly use the hose on it).
— Check & switch loads of laundry — 5 minutes
I mop only when the floors need to be mopped. Usually, the vacuum does the trick, but when we’ve had a lot of guests or if some people *forget* to take off their shoes, or if there have been a lot of spills, then I’ll pull out the mop (I use a Shark Steam Pocket Mop).
I go to every single room in the house that has a tiny garbage can, empty them into the big bag, and bring out the big bag and the recycling. I make sure to empty the vacuum cleaner before I empty the garbage bags. Make sure to clean your vacuum after every time you use it!
Then, I finally fold and put away laundry.
DUSTING
I rarely dust. Maybe twice a year. Bad? Yes. Important? Not if you’re vacuuming every week. That really helps contain the dust that might fall all over your stuff. Not to mention, if you don’t have a lot of stuff, you won’t have a lot of stuff collecting dust. There’s not much to dust in my house besides the tops of furniture and some picture frames.
VACUUM VENTS
I do this every change of season.
CLEAN TOPS OF FANS/LIGHT FIXTURES
I clean the tops of fans every change of season, or when we stop using fans and when we start using fans.
CLEAN WINDOWS
This is a “spring cleaning” thing to me, so it only happens once a year.
YARD WORK
This is a new thing for us, now that we’re homeowners. This is a topic for another day! But it’s definitely part of my weekly routine — cut grass, pull weeds, water plants — although I try to get my husband to do it.
Carving out an hour (or a little more including laundry time) per week can be enough to get your home sparkling clean. Living in a clutter-free, organized, and clean environment is crucial not only to your health, but also to your state of mind. I hope you can implement my cleaning routine to bring order and peace to your life.
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