It can be a challenge to keep a clean house. These ten tips to quickly clean your home can really make a difference!
If your life is like mine, it is crazy. There are days when you feel like you are meeting yourself coming and going. In between getting the kids ready, heading to work, getting to ball practice on time and making sure dinner is ready, the housework can easily fall to the wayside.
Even if you have a crazy life, there are some simple things you can do to keep your house clean and tidy – for just a few minutes every day!
1. 15 Minute Dash
Each evening, take 15 minutes to pick tidy up the house. When you do this, you go to bed with a cleaner home and awake to the same. That can cause your stress level to be down the minute you roll out of bed, rather than seeing piles of dishes or toys lying there waiting to be picked up. You would be amazed at what you can accomplish in such a short period of time!
2. Use a timer
I use my timer for my kids, but I also use it for myself! Set the timer (can go along with step 1 above) and when the buzzer beeps, you are done cleaning. Don’t worry if you didn’t get it all done. The more you get into a routine, the quicker you will become!
3. Don’t allow the clutter to build
This is my number one tip when teaching someone how to quickly clean their home. It is easy to just stack items on the counter or in a closet and forget about them. Don’t allow that to happen! When you are done with something, be it a bill that came in the mail, your child’s school bag — whatever — put it where it belongs. If you don’t just set it into a pile, you will not only know where it is at, you’ll keep the clutter at bay!
Read More: Using My One Touch Rule to Eliminate Clutter
4. Focus on one task
If you don’t have 15 minutes to clean up, just focus on the one thing you need to do. Do you need to get the kitchen cleaned up? Or, are you having a meeting and need to tidy up the family room? Just pick one area on which to focus and don’t worry about the others.
5. Give everything a home
When items have a “place to live” it is easier for you to put them there and keep your home more organized. The more organized you are, the less untidy or messy your home will become. You can start simple by finding a place to keep all of your bills you need to pay each month.
Get into the habit if placing all mail items in this location so you can find them when you need them. You can move from there to the kids’ rooms, kitchen and other areas of your home.
6. Get the family involved
When it is time to pick up, have your family help. Have your kids pick up all of their toys. Ask your husband to tidy up the kitchen while you work on the family room. It isn’t just one person who makes a mess in a home – everyone has a part.
This not only makes easy work of a cleaner home, but it also teaches your kids about being responsible and helping with household chores.
Read more: 15 Habits of People with a Clean Home
7. Multi-task wisely
Know your own limits. You might be able to do fold laundry while helping your daughter do her math homework. However, unloading the dishes from the dishwasher and cooking dinner may not work for you. Multi-tasking can work and help you accomplish more in a shorter period of time – as long as done so wisely.
8. Do one load of laundry nightly
Laundry is one thing that tends to pile up quickly. Get into the habit of tossing a load into the washing machine each evening (or every other evening).
You can start it right when you get home from work and it will be washing while you prepare and eat dinner. After dishes are done, toss it into the dryer and it is ready to be folded before you go to bed.
Read More: Laundry Stain Removal Guide Printable
9. Run the vacuum
If you don’t have time to clean, at least run your vacuum. Just sweeping and vacuuming your floors can make your house look clean. (If you can afford it, get a Roomba so it will do this for you!!!)
10. There is no such thing as perfect
Don’t worry about your home looking perfect. The sooner you can allow yourself to know what “clean enough” means, the happier you will be.
Want to read more? Here are some decluttering tips:
Monica says
May 21, 2014 at 7:03 PMThanks for the tips but the running of the vacuum and the daily laundry just doesnt work for me. Since I work outside the home I have broken down doing household chores on the days that I work to take 15-30 minutes a day. I dont have energy or more tome than that do dedicate. So laundry is for sure out on a work day and vacuuming is only when its on the assigned day that the area needs it.
garman gwynn says
May 25, 2014 at 5:48 PMTips for keeping house clean was good information. Yes I would like free samples.
connie munoz says
May 25, 2014 at 5:53 PMI clean the kitchen as I cook, I have to be in the kitchen to watch, so I will sweep the floors, wash the cabinet, do dishes, what ever needs to be done in the kitchen…I keep all the cleaning stuff for the bathroom beside the toilet and when I see something dirty like the mirror, wash it then, same with sink or shower, I will scrub before I get in to take my shower, I will throw a load of laundry in the washer when I go to bed and when I get up I throw in the dryer, I take them out and put on hangers right away, the load is finished by the time I am done getting ready for work…I got rid of a lot of things, so dusting is a breeze, once a week takes 10 minutes….if you have an organized place it makes cleaning easy…once a month hubs and I will start at one end of the house and meet up washing all the hard wood,bathroom and kitchen floors…we have a 3700 square foot house and we both work full time and our house always looks clean…one day a month I will take a drawer and go through it, like the sock drawer and or the closet, if I don’t need ,want or use put in pile in a tub in the garage for the goodwill…I have those cloth shoe organizers on the back of everydoor in my house that closes,the one in the dressingroom, holds my bras and panties, the one in the bathroom holds toiletries, the one in the pantry holds lids of plastic containers on top rows and eye level are jello and pudding packages, spices that I don’t use as often..just anything to keep organized…makes for cleaning so much easier