Do you ever feel like your house is a mess again the day after you have cleaned or had a tidy up? This happens when you don't have a routine. Routine helps you, it’s a plan to follow daily to avoid having to clean a big mess at the end of the day/week. In this blog we want to share with you our top ten tips to keep up with the routine!
Wake up 10 minutes earlier
If you work outside of your home and it seems like you are always rushing and usually or nearly late to work, we suggest setting your alarm 10 minutes earlier. Whilst we are getting ready for work, we like to do quick tidy before we leave home, so placing items back where they belong or washing up after having breakfast. This is useful if you want to come back to a clean home so you can relax!
Start your day off by making your bed first!
Some people think that making the bed is a waste of time, but because your bed takes up most of the bedroom space it immediately makes a huge difference in terms of tidiness. It also only takes you a couple of minutes to make the bed and if you have cats like us, we wouldn’t like to jump into a bed covered with pet hair when your furry pet decided to have a nap in.
Put it back where it belongs
Get into a habit of keeping the items in same place so when you are looking for something you will know where it is. Not only does this save you time, but it also helps with a mess which may build up when trying to find something. Plus, it just looks tidy, and you won’t need to tidy up again as it will always be in the same place.
Brush your furry pets
This tip is a must if you have pets. We have cats and we aim to brush their coat twice a day – in the morning before we leave for work and in the evening. Brushing their fur is important as you will be able to pick up any fur that’s falling before it reaches a floor. If you keep this up as a routine, you will have much less hair around the house (and your clothes).
Never leave a room empty-handed
Just had a cup of tea in your room and going downstairs to grab a snack? Take a cup back into the kitchen with you. This will make a room tidier and you won’t need to do a big tidy up when all dishes or rubbish gets built up. Get into a habit of picking up what isn’t supposed to be there.
Keep basic cleaning supplies close to where you use them
This is a great tip when you need to do a quick clean in case accident happens or just when you want the area to look tidier. For example, keep a cloth in the bathroom to clean the gross toothpaste spit in the sink. And if you make a mess you won’t need to run downstairs to your cupboard to grab whatever you need. You will save so much time.
Get family involved
It is important to get your family involved in cleaning activities and we know it is often easier to just do the cleaning yourself. But this tip is also great to spend time teaching children how to do age-appropriate jobs that will be useful in the long run and help with being independent in the future. Teach your kids to put toys back after playing so you won’t need to go around and pick after them or putting dishes in the dishwater. These simple things will again save you so much time and will make a huge difference in overall tidiness of the house. However, we know it may be hard to get kids into a habit but there are many ways to motivate your children for example, offering treats or pocket money.
Declutter
If you are struggling to keep up with the mess and if it feels like you’re always cleaning and it never gets done, maybe it’s time to declutter. Decluttering is also useful to get rid of items you no longer need, the more space you have the better and it will save you time on cleaning. And you never know you might earn some cash from clothes you no longer wear and sell those online or even donate it to the charity!
Clean as you cook
Cleaning as you go is a total time saver – you need to do this when you cook. We hate having to do a pile of washing up and because it looks a lot, it makes you think it will take you a long time. Our tip is every time you cook and use something, wash it immediately, it will reduce washing up needing to do in the end. Throw away scraps or empty packages as you use them, and it will also give you much more space around kitchen which is a great tip if you have a smaller kitchen.
“Power-clean” before bed
We hate going to sleep knowing our house is a mess, so we have a “power-clean” which is around 10 to 30 minutes of cleaning. This prevents a pile of clutter forming in your home and will be very useful in the morning when rushing or needing to find something. Focus on the biggest mess in the house whether it’s a kitchen or lounge, then move to the areas that see most of the traffic. You can leave any little areas for another day.
We hope that these cleaning and de-cluttering tips have helped and inspired you to build a routine and save lots of time! Follow our social media for more cleaning tips, ideas, before and afters and much more.
If you are struggling or need our help, give our friendly team a call and we will discuss your requirements.
Stay safe, stay clean
with Cleaning Queen
