Cleaning a private house is not at all the same as an apartment. There is more space here, and there are larger windows, and higher ceilings, and there are also stairs. It's no wonder that the thought of deep cleaning the cottage terrifies some homeowners.
Luckily, there are tricks and hacks you can use to clean your home faster, more efficiently, and with less time and effort. We present 7 tips for effective cleaning from professionals - cleaning companies that work in absolutely any home.
Tip #1: Put everything in its place
This is a general principle, since scattered things are the main cause of clutter. Things thrown hastily anywhere, scattered cosmetics, books, accessories, children's toys - all this creates a feeling of chaos in the house.
Advice from the cleaning company - think in advance about where to store all your things. If there is not enough furniture in the house, buy shelves, bedside tables, ottomans with a container inside, wicker and cardboard boxes - all these items can be found in any home improvement store. They're inexpensive and come in a variety of colors, patterns, and sizes, so you can find the perfect option for any room.
The most affordable solution is plastic containers or wicker baskets. They do not take up much space, but are very roomy. They can easily be hidden under the bed or in the corner of the room. All you have to do is think about what things you will store in them and arrange them accordingly. Don't forget to label the containers with a marker so you always know where to look for what.
The second piece of advice from the professionals is to talk to your spouse, children and everyone else living in the house. Ask them to always put things back where they got them. After this, keeping your home in order will never be a problem for you again.
Why are you too lazy to clean?
Before asking the question of how to force yourself to clean the house, understand the reasons. You can build on them.
Perhaps you live with your parents and you don’t have a sense of personal space that needs to be tidied up. No person likes to clean a place that does not belong to him, at the direction of someone else and under the close supervision of the owner. In this case, separate your room - and clean only that. Better yet, move and live separately.
Perhaps you really don't have time, and you, secretly even from yourself, don't like the fact that responsibility for household chores rests with you. It is extremely difficult to force yourself not to be lazy when other family members are watching an interesting movie, reading books or surfing the Internet. Try to involve your husband and children, distribute responsibilities - things will go much faster and more fun.
Perhaps you’re just not used to it, and you’ve really always been too lazy to clean your apartment. There are two ways out: hire a maid or accustom yourself to household duties.
Tip #2: Use the 15 Minute Rule
Did you know that you can clean your house in just 15 minutes? At least that's what cleaning companies say.
Absolutely in a quarter of an hour you will be able to:
- Collect and wash all the dishes left over from lunch;
- Put all clothes and items that are scattered around the house in closets;
- Wipe the countertop, furniture, appliances, window sills with a damp cloth.
Not bad, right? Moreover, in these 15 minutes you have already completed a huge amount of house cleaning work! If you make it a rule to do these “15 minutes” every day, then your house will always be clean. Add a vacuum cleaner to this and you will forget about dust in your home forever.
Where to start general house cleaning?
Express cleaning differs from general cleaning in that the room is tidied up in the most contaminated places (hallway, kitchen, bathroom and toilet). During the general cleaning, in addition to the entrance areas, hard-to-reach places in each room of the apartment or house are cleaned. For example, floors behind cabinets, distant shelves, chandeliers, cornices.
Thorough restoration of order will go faster if you figure out a work plan. It is advisory in nature; small deviations necessary for convenience are acceptable.
The first thing you need to do is get ready for work and choose a date.
Next, identify those rooms that need cleaning. This could be the entire apartment (house), or the most cluttered room.
Third, audit and purchase of necessary equipment and cleaning products.
After the preparatory stage, the cleaning itself begins.
Tip #3: Clean walls and surfaces from top to bottom
Cleaning experts always adhere to this principle. So it’s worth listening to them.
In a nutshell: the floor is always vacuumed and washed last. Otherwise, you will have to clean it twice, after accidental drops from a damp cloth, falling dust from furniture and a window sill.
The same principle of effective cleaning works well not only with walls, but also with floors and even individual rooms:
- You need to start cleaning from the top floor, finish with the bottom, basement (if there is one);
- You should start cleaning with the living rooms and end with the bathrooms (because during the cleaning process you are highly likely to spill something, for example, a cleaning product).
In general, the main advice is to try to do the cleaning so as not to do the work twice.
How to get in the right mood for cleaning, where can you find motivation?
For many, the cleaning process turns into a hated routine . People vacuum their apartment or clean the stove because they have to. But you can get aesthetic pleasure from cleaning.
Firstly, you need to set your mind to the fact that cleaning helps you get rid of negativity, get organized, and renew yourself. A person takes control of a small part of the huge world in the form of his room and structures its space.
Surrounding dirt and clutter paralyzes productivity, and there may be zero productivity throughout the day. And a tidy room stimulates a lot.
Secondly, cute gadgets help you fall in love with cleaning . Don’t use old rags; buy a special multi-colored broom or bright dust cloths.
Good music saves you in any situation. So turn on your favorite tracks and cleaning will go like clockwork.
A pleasant aroma also perfectly motivates you to take action, so drop a little essential oil into a humidifier or light aromatic candles.
Tip #4: Create a cleaning plan
A good plan is half the battle. Thanks to a pre-made plan, you will not miss anything and will clean your house in the right order and with the least effort.
As a rule, cleaning companies develop not one, but three different plans for cleaning apartments and houses:
Daily plan
This includes the duties that need to be performed every day to keep the house in order. These include:
- washing dishes;
- wiping surfaces from dust;
- cleaning up scattered things;
- cleaning the hob.
Weekly plan
This includes duties that are performed on specific days of the week. For example:
- on Monday - washing clothes, bed linen and ironing them;
- on Tuesday - dry cleaning of the floor with a vacuum cleaner and wet cleaning with a rag;
- on Wednesday - disposal of old food from the refrigerator and garbage removal;
- on Thursday - cleaning kitchen cabinets, chests of drawers and dressing rooms;
- on Friday - cleaning the bathroom.
Of course, the plan doesn't have to be exactly that. You can tailor it individually to suit your needs and the features of your home. You can also repeat certain actions several times a week (for example, vacuuming if you have pets in your home).
Monthly plan
This includes complex and time-consuming house cleaning tasks. Fortunately, doing them once a month is enough. Among them:
- window cleaning;
- cleaning the oven, multicooker, deep fryer;
- cleaning the refrigerator;
- washing carpets, etc.
A schematic plan for cleaning a house might look like this:
Preparatory work
Any cleaning will be hampered by things lying out of place. Usually a lot of such things are discovered. Because of this, moving “uninvited guests” from one room to another or to the bathroom and kitchen takes a lot of time. Especially if you look for a place separately for each thing. Therefore, first it is better to find some kind of box to put all the unnecessary items there, and then distribute them around the apartment.
You also need to initially prepare garbage collection bags. Then, while cleaning, you won’t have to be distracted by picking up something that needs to be thrown away and carrying it to the trash can every time.
You can clean your room or apartment much faster if everything you need is always at hand. Therefore, it is better to find some kind of basket in advance and put the necessary cleaning products and tools in it, and then move around the room with this basket.
Before you start cleaning, you need to clear all horizontal surfaces and the floor as much as possible. It is better to immediately take what needs to be washed or washed into the washing machine, dishwasher or sink. Don't forget about various ceramic decorations and kitchen towels.
Additional Information. There is no need to remove curtains every time you clean. They can be washed once every six months.
Dishes and other items in the sink can be filled with water and detergent. While order is being restored in other places, the old dirt will have time to soak away. By the end of the cleaning, the washing machine and dishwasher will finish their work.
It is best to pre-apply a cleaner to all surfaces that require extensive cleaning. You can return to washing them after it has softened the dirt.
Tip #5: Involve other family members in cleaning
Cleaning a private home is an activity that requires a lot of time. And if you also have work, cooking, and childcare on your shoulders, it is very difficult to cope with such a task alone. That's why it's worth delegating cleaning responsibilities and sharing them with everyone who lives in the house. After all, if the house is clean and well-groomed, everyone will benefit, right?
To distribute tasks, it is best to create a table in which you should indicate who takes on what responsibilities, and hang it in a visible place - for example, on the refrigerator. This way you will always know whose turn it is to take out the trash or wash the dishes.
What is emergency cleaning
Emergency cleaning is a special occasion that goes beyond our long-term cleaning and organization goals. With an emergency cleaning, you're trying to get your home into a state where a guest can stop by—and yes, even sit down and stay for a while. You need to pay attention to everything at once, without being distracted by unnecessary things and not wasting time cleaning areas that will not make a special contribution to the overall picture of cleanliness.
During an emergency cleaning, you will be distracted by many things that require attention, and you will feel like it's time to get rid of them. But that's not true. You'll want to tidy up your bookshelf, clean out your refrigerator, or finally sort out your pile of socks. Do not do that. Now is not the right time. You need to reduce the level of clutter from ten points to five or four - or whatever you can achieve in the allotted time. Don't waste time on specific tasks that won't make a significant difference to the overall picture of the mess.
Tip #6: Remove stains and dirt as soon as they appear
This is a very simple and time-saving technique, but for some reason many people forget about it. Yes, sometimes we don’t have time to immediately wash the dishes or clean up a random stain left on the stove or carpet. However, professionals working in cleaning companies strongly advise against doing this.
Why? The fact is that while the stain is fresh, it can be removed in just a few seconds, but when it dries, you will have to spend 20-30 minutes or more removing it. And at the same time, it’s not a fact that you will be able to clean it at all.
This is a very important tip for keeping your home clean. As experience shows: most often walls, floors, countertops, kitchen stoves, and plumbing fixtures are contaminated with stubborn stains. And most of them would not appear at all if cleared immediately.
That's why you should make it a rule: when something spills or falls apart - while eating, cooking or other activities, it is better to immediately wipe it up with a sponge and paper towel.
Step-by-step process for cleaning an apartment or house
So that the thought of how to quickly clean the apartment does not interfere with the cleaning itself, you need to draw up a plan in advance and carry it out step by step:
At the very beginning of cleaning, you need to collect all the garbage in bags and throw it away. You can also throw away those things that have not been used for a year - this will immediately make the house much cleaner.- Start cleaning the bathtub and toilet by treating all surfaces with cleaning products, so that after 10-15 minutes, when the products have absorbed dirt and plaque, return and wipe everything off. While this is happening, you can start working on the kitchen.
- It is better to start cleaning the kitchen by applying a cleaning gel to the stove or hob. While it adsorbs dirt and grease, you can begin to clean the remaining surfaces, moving along the perimeter of the kitchen to the right or left. When you return to the stove, its surface will be ready for cleaning.
- In rooms and hallways, it is better to start cleaning from hard-to-reach places where the largest amount of dirt has accumulated.
- When cleaning, you need to move from top to bottom: first the chandelier and cornice, then the top surface of the cabinets, then the windows, shelves, tables and bedside tables, and lastly the floor. Otherwise, dirt, dust and debris may enter the clean area.
- At the final stage of cleaning, it is better to sweep or vacuum the floors first, and then wash them.
On a note!. When cleaning, it is not necessary to try to collect all the small debris at once. Even if it falls on the floor, it will still be removed with a broom or vacuum cleaner.
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Tip #7. If your home is in chaos and cleaning is urgently needed, it is better to entrust the work to a cleaning company
It happens that there is an important event ahead (birthday, New Year, wedding, etc.), but there is absolutely no time to clean the house on your own. It also happens that there is time, but the nature of the contamination is so heavy that it is simply impossible to wash it with your own hands.
Calling a cleaning service to your home will also be the right decision if there is a general cleaning of the house, because only experienced specialists can urgently carry out such a volume of work.
In such situations, it is better to entrust the work to professionals and seek help in cleaning a private house from a cleaning company. This solution will save you time and nerves and you will be able to do more pleasant things (preparing for a holiday, decorating your home, cooking your favorite dishes), instead of spending hours scrubbing the stove, carpet or bathroom tiles until they look neat.
As experience shows, if you need to clean your house urgently and efficiently, cleaning companies are indispensable. Yes, it will cost money, but then you won’t have to spend hours on cleaning, buy a huge number of various household chemicals and equipment, and breathe it all. If you have a large amount of work to do, it is better to entrust this work to professionals - they will efficiently carry out any home cleaning tasks for you, and will cope with even the biggest mess.
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Useful tips
The following recommendations will help you cope with even the most difficult cleaning in 5 minutes:
- Don't litter. This method is optimal for maintaining cleanliness. To prevent general cleaning from taking too much time, try to declutter your rooms for at least 2 minutes a day.
- If you work with preparations containing chlorine and other substances that affect the condition of the skin of your hands, wear rubber gloves. They can be purchased at any supermarket or store. In addition, they keep your manicure looking great.
- Once every 2 weeks, pour a clog-busting solution into the bathroom and sink drains. You can use Tiret, Mole, Sanox, Selena anti-clogging granules, Bagi Pothan to clean pipes. This will prevent blockages in the drains. Simply washing the drain hole with soda and vinegar is also very effective.
- Clean your toilet regularly. If you follow this rule, cleaning will not become an overwhelming task.
- To clean household appliances, use products that relieve static tension. This prevents dust from accumulating on the microwave oven and refrigerator.
Get rid of unnecessary things on time. To understand whether this item is needed or not, remove it for a while. If you haven’t remembered it within a month, feel free to give it away or throw it away.
In the future, such a thing will definitely not be useful. Forget about clothes that you have never worn in the last year. This applies to both shoes and bags.
Also, take a close look at all of your cosmetics and throw out expired mascara, lipstick or blush. Your skin will thank you for this, and in addition, you will get rid of excess junk.
There is no need for a collection of old magazines and newspapers in the house. This can be ignored if such prints form a collection or are very dear to your heart.
Re-gift or give away gifts that are not useful and are not close to your heart.
Toys, souvenirs and other small items clutter up and visually reduce the space.
Following these rules will help maintain cleanliness at all times. In the future, cleaning in a few minutes will not seem like something fantastic to you.
