The slice.ca Guide to Cleaning Your Home
What is it about spring that makes us want to fill up buckets of hot soapy water and clean our homes from top to bottom? I love a clean home myself, but finding the time to do a regular weekly clean, let alone a marathon spring clean, is beyond my organizational abilities.
Apparently I’m not alone. According to a survey by the cleaning product gurus at Procter & Gamble, 41 percent of Canadians say they don’t have enough time to clean their home. Which is a problem, as 54 percent of Canadians also say a lack of cleaning and organizing is having an impact on their family relationships. It’s good to know I’m in good company.
Before you break out the broom and bucket, get ready by doing the following:
1. Survey your home. The best way to identify what needs to be organized and cleaned in the home is to do a walk through and write down what is messy about each room in you house. I have an ongoing mental list, but if you’re not sure, do the walkabout.
2. Purge your house of unwanted and unused items. Clutter can make even the cleanest house look and feel messy. Grab a garbage bag once a month and get rid of items that are not being used anymore. Items worth saving should be put aside to be donated. Try to follow the “one thing in, one thing out” rule. I don’t, but maybe it will work for you!
3. Make a list of weekly tasks. Do a little or a room every day. Schedule larger cleaning tasks for the days you have more time and smaller tasks, such as dusting your bedroom, for the days you’re swamped. This is probably better than walking around your home muttering, “Who’s going to clean THAT up??”
Now here are some tips for cleaning every room of the house:
The Kitchen:
Forty percent of Canadians say the kitchen is the hardest room in the house to keep clean, which makes sense when you think of how much time and mess we make in there. Cleaning the kitchen comes down to three elementary steps: the sink, the counters, and the floors.
- Dishes should be cleared away and the sink scrubbed.
- Clutter should be removed from all counters and the counters and stovetop scrubbed.
- The floor should be swept and then mopped. I have the Swiffer Sweeper Vac and I love it because it does the job of a broom and a vacuum cleaner.
- Cleaning out the fridge is a weekly job, probably best saved for weekends if you do it all in one fell swoop, or do one shelf a day for a week.
Living/Family room:
Like the kitchen, there’s a lot of living that goes on in this room and a lot of the day’s flotsam and jetsam seem to wash up on its shores. Break it down into these easy steps to stay on top of it.
- Once or twice a week clear the clutter by tossing or recycling old magazines and newspapers. Gather things that don’t belong and return them to their proper place. If certain items frequently find their way here, consider a better way to organize.
- Once or twice a week clear surfaces and dust with a Swiffer-type cloth to trap dust.
- At least once a week use a duster mop on the floors.
- One tip from Merry Maids is to wipe down mini-blinds with a damp fabric softener sheet to eliminate the static that causes dust to stick. This also works for TVs and computer screens.
- I like to use Febreze fabric refresher on the chairs and couch as a finishing touch.
Bedroom:
Is your bedroom a sanctuary, a place where you can relax and recharge at the end of a long day? Or is it a dumping ground filled with homeless items and piles of unsorted laundry? With a little planning, you can reclaim your boudoir.
- Make your bed every morning before you leave your room.
- Once a week, empty the garbage and tidy surfaces and dust with a Swiffer-type.
- Laundry is probably the biggest mess-maker in this room so try to come up with a system to keep things from getting out of control. You can use multiple laundry baskets for easy sorting and washing and determine one or two days a week when you will tackle laundry.
- At least once a month, tidy dresser drawers and the clothes in your closet, and pull items out you no longer want or need.
- Every six months, organize the floor and shelves in your closets to make sure you still need everything you’re storing there. This is the time to dust and vacuum in there.
Bathroom:
Like the kitchen, this room gets a lot of use and if you don’t stay on top of it, you’ve got quite a job on your hands to clean it.
- Once or twice a week, clean the mirror and quickly wipe down the sink and clean the toilet.
Empty the trash and arrange items neatly on the counter.
- For a quick and easy way to tackle soap scum use one of the new Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath Scrubbers on the bath and sink. These make it so easy to clean the bathroom even my kids can do it, which is a big plus.
- Once or twice a week, sweep and wash the floor with a wet mop.
- Replace hand towels twice a week.
- Use dryer fabric softener sheets tucked away somewhere discreet for a great and subtle way to keep the bathroom smelling fresh.
Written by: Reni Walker