1. Make a cleaning list or break down your cleaning.
This seems silly, but if you're just not sure where to start, these can be helpful at first. I have things I do "Daily", things I do "Weekly" and things I do "Monthly" and I stick to them.
2. Try to clean at least a little every day.
Cleaning EVERY DAY? That's preposterous! But stick with me here. Have you ever heard that saying "A stitch in time saves nine?"? Well, this applies here. If you make it a habit to pick your house up every single day, you will find that you have much less mess by the end of the week (when you do your "weekly" cleaning). I'm not saying go ninja on dust bunnies daily, but just pick up stuff! Pick up stuff off the floor, or clean off your counters. In fact, one of the best things to do is clean as you go. I know it's tempting to sit that plate on the counter or put it in the sink with food on it, but take the extra time to scrape it off or rinse it off.
3. Multitask
It's quite easy. Just pick up the house while you're cooking or watching your shows. If food needs to simmer for 30 minutes, that's 30 minutes of cleaning! :-)
4. For the love of all things holy, DUST ONCE A WEEK!
Dusting once a week makes the job less tedious. And make sure you dust EVERYTHING that needs it. Don't forget about your vents and ceiling fans! As well as running a swiffer over your floors if you have hardwood. Dust is disgusting and makes people sick (especially allergy people). I'd rather dust a thin layer once a week than dust a 4 inch layer every month. Just look up what dust is and you'll be dusting every day! And don't forget to change your air filter ONCE A MONTH!
5. Save BIG projects for monthly cleaning.
Every month, I do the things that I HATE doing most. I clean out the fridge, I wash the baseboards and clean out the dryer vent. If it is a big complex job, I leave it for the monthly cleaning. But it STILL needs to be done! You will feel a lot less overwhelmed.
6. Don't omit the outside of your house.
For some people, this is all they ever see. Make it look good!
So, as you can see, I do a LOT to make sure that my house stays clean, but I'm not 100% consistent with the daily things. Sometimes, if I'm sick or need to study, I'll let them slide for a few days. Sometimes, my weekly turns into the only time I clean, but I try really hard not to let that happen. Now that I've went through the basics, I have a few secrets I've picked up along the way! (Okay, these may not be secrets, but we can pretend, right?)
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1. How to keep your whites WHITE!
The above socks are an experiment I was doing a while back. They are both CLEAN but look at how gross one of them looks? Up next to the one on top, it looks GREY in real life! As it turns out, there really isn't any secret to keeping white their whitest. Are you ready to hear how?
SEPARATE YOUR LAUNDRY.
That's it! The secret's out! Wash all whites together and use bleach. I have always added some lemon juice, but I haven't done a formal experiment to see if that works. The sock on top was washed with whites only with bleach, the sock on the bottom was washed with colors.
2. Don't use dryer sheets on towels and wash your vent with soap weekly
This might sound weird, but dryer sheets actually coat your dryer vent with a thick film. Wanna test that theory? Take your dryer vent and run water over it. Does it go straight through or just ball up and roll around? Chances are, it balls up. If water won't go through, how can you expect air to? You'll save money and time and your clothes will dry quicker if you do this. Also, that same film will coat your towels and make them less absorbent. :-)
3. Use windex on your glass top stove, oven fronts, and microwave window.
If you really want to make them shine! You'll probably have to clean it with regular cleaner first if you have stuff caked on, but windex is the best to make it shiny and streak free!
4. In fact, use it on your laminate or hardwood floors!
I recently was told to try windex on my laminate floors and I was AMAZED at the results. It's not sticky, it doesn't smear or streak, it's AWESOME! The only problem I have is that, it doesn't smell as good as the cleaner in my swiffer wet jet, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice.
5. Speaking of Swiffer, you know that pesky bottle with the unremoveable cap?
Y'know, the bottle that comes on your wet jet that you have to keep buying replacement bottles for? HOW is that good for the environment? Having to buy bottle after bottle? Are these recyclable? I'm not sure. Probably. You can actually remove the cap though! You have to know the mechanics of the lid. Underneath the cap, there are several little prongs that keep the cap on the bottle. I destroyed a couple of them trying to figure this out. So, the trick is to make those little prong soft without damaging the lid (you'll need it). So, I googled how others did this and found that they were using boiling water. What a great idea! I'll make it soft and not destroy it! IT WORKS! Hold the bottle with the cap down into some boiling water (BE CAREFUL). Hold for about 2 minutes and then, use a rag and give it a HARD TWIST. It'll pop right off!
Then you can see those little prongs at the bottom. Simply snip those off! I used nail clippers, but you could use anything you had (even scissors). This ensures that the cap is permanently removable. Now refill it with your cleaner of choice and reuse! :-)
6. Invest in some Barkeepers Friend
This stuff is the bomb diggity (do they say that anymore?) I had a cookie sheet and a frying pan that was stained beyond belief and I couldn't get it off. Some bar keepers friend in that took it right off! Just squirt it on and let it sit, then scrub it off! Be sure you clean the pan afterwards with regular dishwashing liquid. I also use it on my glass top stove weekly to keep it looking band new.
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