Cleaning Pros - I Need Your Help!

Do what TF Plano does!

Only one room requires daily cleaning for me, and that's the kitchen. I do the dishes, wipe counters, scrub the sink, wipe the microwave handles, etc, every day.

I only vacuum about once a week, I hate dusting...so this past Mother's day the kids dusted for me.

My son vacuums the stairs. We have a 3 story, spiral stair case.

I sort laundry weekly,usually on the weekend with the kids going through their rooms for any items that need to be in the laundry for the week, that are typically on the floor now that they are teens, and I work on it load by load through out the week. I wash the whites with bleach last so the machine always self-cleans, before the next round. Good enough for me.

Cleaning supplies in each bathroom are a huge time saver.

And I learned this tip here last month by Suz T, she keeps those fillable handle cleaners in each shower/bath, filled with half vinegar half soap, and scrubs one wall each use. I've been giving that a go, and it really keeps the shower / tubs clean and sparkly and no mold.

GL!

It is a never ending job. My house is far from perfect but I do tidy daily.

As for the shower, we have a glass enclosure and no matter how short of time you may be running... NEVER EVER get out of the shower without using the squeegee. This has saved countless sweat equity hours. I keep a squeegee in the shower so it is super easy access. At least once a week, I spray the glass down with Comet bathroom cleaner. I love this stuff.... spray on, leave on and any scum, etc is GONE next time you turn the shower on.

I do wash clothes pretty much daily, especially towels because we go through a bunch of towels. ANY time I take clothes from the dryer, I have a basket ready and I fold them as I take them out of the dryer. Then all I do is take the basket to the respective room where it belongs.

I LOVE the purple Pine Sol and I keep a spray bottle of mostly pine-sol and water ready and I spray down counters daily. I also keep a spray bottle of vinegar handy and use it on glass.

My stove top is white glass so it is polished at every use to keep it nice and white.

I do not wipe down my furniture daily and with my house.. sitting on a heavily wooded lot, we get a LOT of dust. I focus on the main entry area in case someone stops in and move back toward the family area kitchen so if we have unexpected guests, it is not cluttered in the house.

I HATE to run the vac but I do it every other day. I love my vac but my poodle has to be put in another room because it drives him nuts and he tries to attack it and barks non stop until I put it away. He starts barking the second I take it from the closet.

I keep cleaning supplies in all 4 bathrooms so there is no need to go up or down stairs to find what you need. I also use a LOT of baby wipes and I keep a pack in every bathroom, laundry room, car, etc. My daughter is almost 20 and I never knew the value of baby wipes until I had her. I use those for many many things.

Good luck to you. It is frustrating and I know it is so hard to keep it up. I try to just make a habit of things so it comes naturally.

Fly lady has a plan. Flylady.com

I look at her daily emails and roughly go by them.

She did help me with the bathroom. Really, it doesn't matter the cleaner you use if you clean everyday. I keep paper towels and windex bottle and clean the mirrors first, then the countertops then the toilet. That's about a paper towel and a half. It's really a blessing to not spend more than 10 mins a day on cleaning most of the bathroom. There are busy times that I don't do it. It's nice to have a clean potty to throw up in if that hits!

Another good teaching point of hers is that you can't clean clutter. If you have to fight your way through things to clean stuff, first you need to declutter. My house looks better than it ever has because I have decluttered quite a bit. I'm much more in control now because my kids are in college and I feel I can let go of things I held on to for them. I also ask myself if I died today, would my kids keep this sentimental object-heck no, is almost always the answer- I have boys!

Giver her emails a try! She is anti perfection. Perfection keeps you paralyzed.

Bumblebee:

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the excess stuff. Then you don't have as much to worry about tidying up.

Buy baskets for shoes by the front door - or whatever door you come in.

when the kids (don't know your kids ages) are in the bath? Wipe down the sink and the toilet.

Put seasonal clothes in a rub and store them in the basement or attic. You aren't going to use, so no reason to have it sitting around, getting moved around.

Keeping dust down? That means keeping windows closed and the A/C on. It also means making sure your filter is changed regularly in your home.

My bathrooms? I don't have doors - I have shower curtains - clear ones. So they get "shaken" at the end of the shower so the water runs off. At my parents house, they have glass-enclosed shower. There is a window squeegie hanging from a suction cup on the back of the shower - it is used EVERY TIME you get out of the shower - BEFORE you dry off.

If you can afford it? Hire a cleaning company to come in every other week.

After dinner is done and cleaned up? Swiffer Wet Jet or wet mop - keeps the floors clean.

Bedrooms? Make your bed when you get out of it. It really does make a difference having a made up bed.

Laundry? Wash, dry, fold and put away. You leave it in a basket? It can sit for a long time. If the kids are old enough (say Kindergarten or older?) they can help fold and put away...they wore it, they can put it away.

Counter tops? Wipe 'em down after every meal. I use the Clorox Clean Up for Kitchens. I also have a German cloth that dries completely so I don't worry about germs on a wet cloth.

Hope this helps!

Very good question! Have you ever looked at www.flylady.net? You'll find some good ideas for scheduling your daily cleaning. Once you get the hang of what they're saying, you can adapt their routines your house and your needs.

I wipe down the kitchen after cooking dinner so that's always clean (because who wants to eat food from a dirty kitchen?). I keep cleaning supplies in each of my bathrooms so it's easy to wipe things down instead of having to remember to bring supplies into each of the rooms. I also keep brooms and dust pans on each floor of my house for the same reason.

The trick that worked for me when my kids were younger was that I'd clean 1 room a day.It would only take 10-30 minutes depending on which room but it was easier than being overwhelmed by having an entire house to clean.

Pick a day of the week for groups of cleaning tasks.

Monday Dust and wipe windows and reflective items, mirrors, pictures, TV screens, etc.

Tuesday vacuum carpets and sweep/mop all the hard floors

Wednesday pull sheets and wash bedding, towels too if you have time

Thursday clean out 1 closet or storage area. Take it all out and sort through the clothing, toss what you're really not going to wear again into a tub labeled donate/give away. If you finish that one and have more time do another one.

Friday clean all bathrooms. Then shower and go do something for yourself. Plan a lunch with friends, have some fun.

I will never have a perfectly clean house ! As soon as I finish, it's time to start again !

I clean the house the best I can one day a week. Whatever gets done in 3 hrs-- it -is my limit !

DAILY: I wipe the kitchen table, dining table and downstairs bathroom ---- I only use organic cleaners.

Wipe the shower down daily. It makes the cleaning in there less....

I clean well before company comes over....That's it. It's too time consuming !

Clutter makes a rm look out of control...Less is more !

This is by no means the answer to all of your problems, but I like to keep the kitchen clean every night. Every night I make sure all the dishes are clean before going upstairs. I sweep the floor and then take out the kitchen trash.

The other stuff gets done as I have free time.

Have a routine. Some things you do every day. Some things once a week. Some things once a month. My routine is to notice when something starts to get grubby to clean it and then estimate how long it's been since the last time you cleaned and decide how often to clean it. I clean kitchen counters and stove every time I do dishes. I clean bathroom sink and counters every week. If sink and/or counters get more use I'll clean more often. I mop floors and vacuum once a month or when they need it. I don't have a specific routine any more. Internally I clean when I start to see grubby. I only clean one room at a time with days or even weeks before I tackle another room.

I space out tasks in rooms. For example: I may have time to clean the sink one day, the counters another day. Many households deal best with a sspecific schedule. I started out when single doing most of my cleaning on Saturdays. With roommates we divided up the chores and each was responsible to finish it sometime in one week. Then when I had a child I cleaned piecemeal when I could fit it in.

Keep in mind only 2 of us live here. The more people living there and their ages will determine how often one needs to clean.

Lots of great answers from other posters! I can think of a few 'tricks':

For the dust: A high quality air conditioner/furnace filter can cut down on dust quite a bit. When we started using the high-allergen filtrate filters our house dust went noticeably down. Having your air ducts cleaned can also help immensely, especially if you haven't had them cleaned in a few years.

For the bathroom: I usually wipe down counters/mirrors in the kid's bath when they play in the tub, and wipe down counters/mirrors in the master bath right before my shower. Trash in both bathrooms gets taken out with the kitchen trash.

For the kitchen: Everyone has to help clean up. Even my (almost) two-year-old brings his dish and cup to the sink and pushes them in. Every meal starts with clean counters, swept floors and empty sink and ends the same way.

For everything else: Progress not perfection, right? :)

Bumblebee-

Grab a timer, and promise yourself you'll do one extra cleaning job a day for 10 minutes and stop when your 10 minutes is up, or your job is done, whichever you prefer.
work your rooms clockwise, so you aren't going higgildy piggildy.
build cleaning into your routine (keep a spray bottle of vinegar in the shower to keep the mold at bay).
wipe the counters after you cook.
wipe the fridge before you unload the groceries.

We have a no shoes in the house policy, and use a roomba and a scooba (it keeps the dirt and dust down).

Best,
F. B.

Great question! We do a 10 Min tidy every day (okay - let's be honest - at least 4 times a week) - have been doing one for over 10 years now. We have a list of "weekly" stuff to be done - spot check walls, wipe windows of finger prints, bathroom wipe down, dusting, vaccuming stuff like that. We used to do it as a family, put on 10 mins of loud music (3 songs) and cleaned until it was done. Now the kids are older and they get to do it when they want to fit it into their day.
Laundry - once a week.

As for daily cleaning -
DISHES: right after dinner (or as soon as possible). We do not have a dishwasher do we need about 20 if anyone helps outs).
BATHROOM: We have tile, so once a week is fine. Hubby does a total cleaning once a week. I spot check the toilet etc daily while I am doing my own morning routine in there.
ENTRANCE WAY: The oldest is "responsible" for keeping that area tidy, free from shoes to trip over, coats to get tangles up in etc. She does it the moment she gets home from school.
SWEEPING: the youngest is "responsible" for 'keeping kids safe'. That means it is her job to keep the floors clean...because you know, kids put everything in their mouths and we never know when friends are going to stop by with their lite ones.

I have lots of stuff we have done over the years, loud music, pictures on the fridge and in the kids rooms, sticker charts. Best advice I can give GET THE KIDS INVOLVED EVEN FROM A VERY EARLY AGE. If they can take it out to play with, they can put it away too.

If you want my 10 min tidy chart or my other "daily success habits" charts, send me a PM with your email.

B.