Simple House Cleaning Habits That Make a Big Difference

Simple House Cleaning Habits That Make a Big Difference  

Every home gets dirty and messy, whether it’s big, small, an apartment, a condo, or a vacation home. And while there’s not just one way to clean your living space, cultivating a few simple cleaning habits can make a big difference. From the kitchen and bathroom to the bedroom and living areas, the key to keeping a clean house is to have a routine that helps you stay on top of chores. Don’t catch up, keep up!

Here are a few simple cleaning tips – that hopefully turn into habits – for cleaning your house more efficiently and keeping it that way: 

Get rid of clutter, the opposite of clean

Clutter is any collection of things that is disorganized. Clutter is the opposite of clean and creates a frenzied, messy appearance in your home. It also creates more work for you. The more things you have, the more things you have to put away. If you want to spend less time picking up and clearing away surfaces, get rid of the clutter once and for all. Keeping a clean house means having a place for everything.

Even when decorating, less is more. Too many decorative things make a house look messy too. You might spend several hours a week removing the canisters and small appliances from your kitchen countertops to wash or dust them. In addition, those items can get pretty grimy from flying grease or food particles and need to be wiped down. Less clutter throughout your home will allow for faster cleaning and less work. 

Use a handy caddy for cleaning supplies

A cleaning supply caddy is a great way to make your house cleaning easier, faster, and more organized. It can be a box, bin, bucket, or tote. A supply caddy allows you to keep your cleaning essentials all in one place, so you can carry them from room to room as you clean. It’s a good idea to keep cleaning caddy for each zone or area of your home so that supplies used in the same or similar rooms are kept together. That way, everything is nearby when you need it. 

Clean more efficiently with a system 

That means cleaning your house in the same order every time, working in one room at a time, and starting and finishing at the same spot in a room so that you don’t waste time running back and forth. To get the time down, you have to be consistent. Do the same thing every time you clean and it becomes a routine. The routine is the method and speed comes from the method instead of from hurrying.

You really can clean your house in half the time by working smarter, not harder. Always start at the top of the room and work your way down as dust filters down from ceiling fans, hanging light fixtures, and the upper corners of the room. That way you will only need to vacuum the floor once, eliminating redundant work. Likewise, cleaning left to right ensures that you cover the entire room instead of darting from place to place. If you work top to bottom and left to right, you’re working once instead of cleaning areas you’ve just cleaned.  

Make your own natural cleaner  

If you are worried about toxins in store-bought cleaning products, you can easily make your own cleaners with natural ingredients. Fill an empty spray bottle with a mixture of 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 1/2 cups warm water, and 15 drops of lemon essential oil. Lemon is a powerful cleansing and purifying agent. It takes approximately 45 lemons to make one 15 ml bottle of lemon essential oil – a whole lot of cleaning power in one little bottle.

Essential oils are effective against tough stains and germs in the home. You can use this DIY spray cleaner anywhere you would normally use an all-purpose cleaner such as kitchen countertops, vanities, floors, the frig, tabletops, and the kitchen sink. 

Spot clean your walls 

The walls in your home get dirty. Most of us don’t even notice our walls like we do horizontal surfaces like floors, counters, and furniture. But considering how much we touch our walls, especially around switch plates and doorways, dirt, grime, and germs can easily build up without regular cleaning. Remove marks, smudges, stains, scuff marks, and crayon art, with the use of warm water, mild detergent, and a moistened cloth followed by a dry cloth. Start at the top of the wall and work your way down using light, circular motions to prevent spotting and discoloration.

In the kitchen, you may find splatters and drips on them. These unattractive marks can make your house look dirty when it really isn’t. If you need a little more scrubbing power you can add some baking soda and scrub very gently. Keep in mind that paint dulls over time, so If your walls are looking kind of dingy overall, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders to freshen up a room.

Don’t wait to vacuum until your carpets look dirty

Vacuuming is a must in any home if you have carpeting. Don’t wait to vacuum until your carpets look dirty. By that time, they are probably due for a deep clean rather than vacuuming. Give high-traffic areas extra attention. Hallways, foyers, and living rooms typically see more action than other areas in the home, so you may need to vacuum those as often as every other day or twice a week. Start with a quality vacuum – preferably one with a high-efficiency particulate air filter.

There are a variety of different vacuum cleaners on the market so make sure you know which works best on your flooring. Carpets and area rugs that have looped fibers or are made from natural materials shouldn’t be vacuumed with beater bars. You also need to use the proper accessories for the job such as a crevice tool to get those corners and edges. If you have pets, you’ll definitely want to vacuum more often to keep up with pet dander, hair, and odors that can quickly accumulate in your carpets. 

Wash dirty dishes immediately

Everybody knows that dirty dishes simply don’t exist in a clean kitchen. The best way to deal with dishes is to clean up after every meal. It’s a pain, but they will pile up otherwise, and letting dishes sit for too long only makes the job harder. Food will get stuck on and you will end up having to soak the dishes before you can wash them. Aim to run a load each night and unload it in the morning. Starting with breakfast, whoever uses a dish can put it right into the empty dishwasher and out of sight.  Even if you don’t mind a messy kitchen, this habit is so time-saving.  

Don’t let laundry pile up

Whether it’s dirty clothes on the floor or clothes that need to be folded, piles of laundry will make your home look unkempt. Laundry is one of those endless chores, especially if you have a family. Between bed linens, towels, and clothes, there’s always laundry that needs to be washed, folded, and put away, making lots of opportunities for it to pile up. Make sure you have a laundry hamper in the rooms where it tends to accumulate.

In addition, hang and fold items immediately after drying. This will eliminate washed, but unfolded clothes from piling up. Consider a laundry schedule such as washing all bed linens on Saturdays, towels on Sundays, and have specific laundry days for each member of your household.  

Mop your floors one section at a time 

Mopping floors should be part of your regular cleaning routine. Clear the area of any items and sweep the floor before you begin mopping. A mop doesn’t do a very good job of picking up dust, solid debris, and crumbs. Mopping floors in small sections can make getting rid of grime build-up much easier. For each section, you only need to wipe the floor with the mop three to four times. Wring your mop out when you finish each section and wipe the section with the wrung-out mop.

Remember to rinse your mop out, so that you’re not spreading dirt on other parts of the floor. Dump the dirty mop water into the toilet rather than the sink where there are dishes. Open a window or a door to let the floor air dry. Once the floor is completely dry, you can begin moving any furniture or household items back to where they belong. 

Hire a professional house cleaning service

Do you have a busy schedule with little time left over for tasks like house cleaning? Why not hire a professional house cleaning service to take care of it for you? The cleaning PROs at Clean Nation Company are ready to get your home spic and span just the way you like it. No worries – no hassles.