Several weeks ago, we began discussing ten tips that would make our cleaning routines less of a strain on our time and busy schedules. This week, we’ll look at the final five tips that will make cleaning easier for any and every schedule!
10 Ways You can Make a Difference in Your Home
*Put everything away as soon as possible: does this actually make any practical difference? This tip might feel a little be like an overachievement—or, at least, it might feel like we’re overdoing it. But in the grand scheme of things, putting things away when we’re finished with it does save time. Think of it this way: instead of rinsing and putting a cup in the dishwasher, you set it by the sink. Pretty soon, plates, forks, and a few pots and pans have been left by the sink—all to be put into the dishwasher later. Putting them in the dishwasher immediately would have taken only a few extra seconds, but now it’ll take several extra minutes to rinse them and put them away. If food has dried on it, you have to soak the dishes to loosen it enough for it to wash off in the dishwasher; and by that time, even more time has been wasted—just to get the dishes into the dishwasher.
This is just one of many ways putting things away immediately after use can save a great deal of time! And the tidier our homes are, the easier it is to clean!
*Tidy the kitchen and bathroom daily: doing a little bit here and there in the kitchen and bathrooms can prevent both rooms from becoming a real chore to clean. Often times we dread cleaning either of these rooms because of how much work it entails every time they’re cleaned. But by investing a few minutes every day to keeping these spaces clean, we make it infinitely easier for ourselves to tackle the kitchen and bathroom cleanings. It can be as simple as wiping down the counters every night, cleaning spills in the kitchen immediately, taking two minutes to scrub the toilet, etc. Upkeeping the bathrooms and kitchen not only saves time, but it can also take away the mental dread that goes hand in hand with cleaning an otherwise overwhelming room.
*Clean and organise as you go: this tip builds off of the previous two cleaning tips. Making it a habit to clean and organise things as you go is so very important if you’re looking to make your cleaning routine easier. We say it often here on the Maid to Shine blog, but this is because it’s true. It’s a practical, important step to the cleaning routine—but it isn’t hard. It just takes a little bit of discipline for this to become a natural habit. Eventually, you won’t even think twice about putting this away and cleaning as you go.
*Clean from top to bottom: here’s a tip that’s pretty self-explanatory! Cleaning from top to bottom is an obvious time saving hack: by implementing this tip, you pull all the dirt from the top to the floor. If you clean what’s in front of you and then clean something above it, you’ll have to clean something previously cleaned. The top-to-bottom method prevents going over your work again.