Cleaning Hacks!! Help!

zoopsiedaisy · December 2014

So I can't keep up with my house. I need some quick cleaning ideas and hacks.

Today I learned the clean my blinds with used dryer sheets. AMAZING!! They are clean and supposedly going to resist dust. Ha! We will see...but it was quick, easy and dust didn't fly around everywhere.

So please help! I would love to hear what you do to stay on top of things. How often do you do things, wash dishes, dust, change sheets, etc...? How long does it take? How do you make it quick? TIA!!!!!

chichi589 · December 2014

I do a load of laundry daily. Throw it in before I leave for work, put it in the dryer right when I get home, and fold & put away after kids go to bed. Every Sunday on my day off I do all sheets and blankets in the house.

I make dinner and wash dishes daily during so I only have a few to do after we're done eating.

The bathroom I keep Lysol wipes in, so it's easy to wipe the counter as I get ready in the morning. The toilet has the bleach tablets that really do keep it clean I just Lysol wipe the seat almost daily, same with door handles and such to try and get rid of germs. Usually I deep clean every 2 weeks it stays pretty cleans from the daily maintenance which takes a min or two. I also have a dish brush, the kind where you can pour soap in mixes with half vinegar in the shower so I can wipe down the shower walls during. I saw it on Pinterest lol I don't know how well it works but our shower really isn't ever too dirty.

I try to sweep the kitchen and vacuum every other day but that doesn't always happen. Trying to be better about it esp now with chase crawling.

I totally feel where your coming from I feel like I'm constantly cleaning to stay on top of things but I never have a day where I clean all day with the daily maintenance thing. I wish I had a week off to clean my carpets and really deep clean every room.

hordol · December 2014

@chichi589‌ I'm impressed you manage all of that! My house is a disaster.

momofmanyinthemitten · December 2014

Once I was several mos pregnant with #3, DH gave me the best birthday gift ever-a cleaning lady twice a month. Before that, I was using a cleaning chart from the Six Sisters website. I still pick up toys after the kids go to bed, as well as wash dishes, clean the kitchen, and sweep every night. I also have to vac once between her visits. However, I've only had to clean the toilet when we had the stomach flu, and the tub when babies poop in it. She has made my chaotic life a little less stressful, for sure.

hlm184 · December 2014

https://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php

I do that. Kinda.

chichi589 · December 2014

@hordol‌ my house is too small to be dirty. It gets cluttered so easily and gives me anxiety. I wish I could be more lax. If I have a dishwasher I would be so happy. And I asked for a garbage can with a lid for Christmas I have officially crossed over to lame.

pbandjmom · December 2014

We have dark brown bamboo wood floors. Kill me now.

Talltrees82 · December 2014

I'm not the greatest housekeeper since I struggle to keep the pet hair and clutter at bay, but I use a lot of Swiffer products to make things quick! Also keeping a set of cleaning products on each floor makes it easier to clean quick messes.

Abcollins57 · December 2014

We usually put everything away daily, then I do our heavy cleaning on Saturday mornings before too much gets brought back out.
The dryer sheet works great for dusting your whole house by the way!
Oh and if you let the Clorox clinging gel sit in your toilet overnight, you don't even have to scrub it. Just flush and its sparkling!

hlm184 · December 2014

Abcollins57 said:

We usually put everything away daily, then I do our heavy cleaning on Saturday mornings before too much gets brought back out. The dryer sheet works great for dusting your whole house by the way! Oh and if you let the Clorox clinging gel sit in your toilet overnight, you don't even have to scrub it. Just flush and its sparkling!

I figured this out a few months ago and it is awesome!

Abcollins57 · December 2014

Idk if you have an older child but I give my eight year old five extra minutes at bedtime if he cleans up the baby's toys. This is huge in my house when he begs for "just five more minutes."

Lauren0216 · December 2014

chichi589 YOU ARE AMAZING! I feel like my house will be clean one minute and then I turn around and it is a disaster. I swear that my DH is a walking tornado. HA!

chichi589 · December 2014

@mamrotu73‌ rain-x is such a great idea!! Totally stealing that. I'm always looking for Pinterest for ideas at work.

@Lauren0216‌ haha well my mom was always on us about being clean so I'm used to always cleaning as I go. My boyfriend wishes I would relax. I've gotten much better since the toddler started making messes with toys. I just feel like daily maintenance lowers my anxiety and days off get to be spent with the family more! I wish I could afford a maid.

zazu13 · December 2014

We regularly eat off paper plates to reduce the amount of dishes I have to wash. I wish there were disposable bottles.

zoopsiedaisy · December 2014

These are all great! @chichi589‌ That is so helpful! I can't afford a cleaning lady even once a month, but I don't think I will feel the need for one if I could get on top if this.

In going to make an effort to do things in the moment and make it a part of my routine. Finish my make up....wipe down the counter. I guess I feel so overwhelmed that I think I need to deep clean before I get the minor stuff done, but its the opposite. I need to get in a routine with the little stuff and i will have time for the big things, like decluttering.

Holljade · December 2014

chichi589 said:
@hordol‌ my house is too small to be dirty. It gets cluttered so easily and gives me anxiety. I wish I could be more lax. If I have a dishwasher I would be so happy. And I asked for a garbage can with a lid for Christmas I have officially crossed over to lame.

See my house is small and I feel likening makes it that much easier to be dirty! I don't have enough space to put stuff, can't figure out how to organize- even with bare minimums the whole place looks cluttered most of the time! How do you do it???

Holljade · December 2014

Op-

Look up "the fly lady"

She is a little obsessed but I hear it can't change even the messiest of people- a friend of mine did it and completely changed her life. I keep meaning to try it.

ksulli · December 2014

We bought big toy bins a few weeks ago, and it makes a huge difference. Toss all the toys, suddenly there is no clutter and it's much easier to clean.

I also force myself to put things away every night- shoes, dishes, hair elastics, nail clippers, books... Whatever little things are around- otherwise when I try to do a good clean, it takes an hour & a half to get everything picked up before I can even start cleaning.

nicole mackenzie · December 2014

I get anxiety when things are dirty/cluttered, but then think I have to deep clean every square inch and get overwhelmed with anxiety and end up doing nothing...

My councelor is working with me on compartmentalizing.

I have to make a conscious effort to be ok with not getting everything done. I had a list of rooms and I'd try to do one room a day.

I've fallen out of the habit...

I try to clean the bathroom and sheets once a week to biweekly

J&NL · December 2014

I try to keep the counters clean and stuff off of it every night before bed. I wash dishes right after I use them. I pick up around the rooms and try pick up everything off the floors before bed too. Our house is super small and it gets cluttered so easily so I feel like I'm constantly cleaning and it never stays clean. I have found that maintenance is the most helpful rather than just one day of cleaning.

hlm184 · December 2014

I'm vowing to start anew when we move. I've already told DH that he can't have his messes in the new place. He gets one room to do with as he will.

chichi589 · December 2014

@Holljade‌ I have one of those 9 cube organizers in the bedroom & the hallway by the kitchen. Everything literally has a place or I go nuts haha. I have one drawer that I stick junk in that I clean out occasionally and usually toss everything. I use those expandable file folders for bills/receipts/important documents etc which drastically reduced clutter on the counters. I love the cube organizer box I have one that's empty so I can stick random things in it and go through it later when I have more time.

In the kids rooms I have big toy boxes as well. It doesn't make sense to organize in there because it all gets dumped anyway. All toys are kept in kids rooms after they are done playing as well.

My Achilles heel is shoes I haven't figured out how to have my shoes without making a mess we don't have a closet by the front door so shoes end up in the kitchen and my boots take up a lot of space.

vettymama · December 2014

Late to this but I loosely follow a cleaning schedule, plus I have things I do every day. The following is what I have come up with. Obviously, there are weeks that some of it doesn't get done but it's just kind of a reminder to me. Also, none of this takes more than half an hour a day to get done. The monthly and 6 month items I do through out the month during slower weeks. I like to declutter and purge pretty ruthlessly a few times a year too. It includes toys, clothes, household items, everything.

MONDAY: clean kitchen

TUESDAY: dust

WEDNESDAY: clean bathrooms

THURSDAY: vacuum, wash dog bedding

FRIDAYS: change sheets & crib sheets

SATURDAY: grocery list, meal plan

SUNDAY: vacuum (quick over high traffic areas), mop entryway & kitchen, wash dog bowls

EVERYDAY:

laundry
sweep
tidy up the house

MONTHLY:

Wash windows
Dust baseboards
Rotate toys
Rotate dog toys
Wash rugs

EVERY 6 MONTHS:

Change shower curtain liner
Wash vacuum filter
Vacuum under furniture
clean air purifier filter

zoopsiedaisy · December 2014

vettymama said:
Late to this but I loosely follow a cleaning schedule, plus I have things I do every day. The following is what I have come up with. Obviously, there are weeks that some of it doesn't get done but it's just kind of a reminder to me. Also, none of this takes more than half an hour a day to get done. The monthly and 6 month items I do through out the month during slower weeks. I like to declutter and purge pretty ruthlessly a few times a year too. It includes toys, clothes, household items, everything.

MONDAY: clean
kitchen

TUESDAY:
dust

WEDNESDAY:
clean bathrooms

THURSDAY:
vacuum, wash dog bedding

FRIDAYS:
change sheets & crib sheets

SATURDAY:
grocery list, meal plan

SUNDAY: vacuum (quick over high traffic areas), mop entryway & kitchen, wash dog bowls

EVERYDAY:

laundry

sweep

tidy up the house

MONTHLY:

Wash windows

Dust baseboards

Rotate toys

Rotate dog toys

Wash rugs

EVERY 6
MONTHS:

Change shower curtain liner

Wash vacuum filter

Vacuum under furniture

clean air purifier filter

I'm impressed by this schedule! I guess I feel like I need to do it all every day. That's why I can't get a routine. I need to be ruthless when it comes to getting rid of stuff. We just went through a bunch if my crap that's been in storage and I got rid of over half of it. It was stressful at the time but I actually feel lighter. I need to do it at home too. I feel like everything should have its place and things don't in my house. Clutter is everywhere!! I need to do a little at a time.

zoopsiedaisy · December 2014

nicole mackenzie said:
I get anxiety when things are dirty/cluttered, but then think I have to deep clean every square inch and get overwhelmed with anxiety and end up doing nothing...

My councelor is working with me on compartmentalizing.

I have to make a conscious effort to be ok with not getting everything done. I had a list of rooms and I'd try to do one room a day.

I've fallen out of the habit...

I try to clean the bathroom and sheets once a week to biweekly

I'm the same with getting so overwhelmed that nothing gets done. I actually took adderall briefly because I thought I was depressed, went to the psychiatrist, found out it was more likely ADD and it helped a lot. I just didn't care for the medication and stopped taking it. It was a vicious cycle type thing where I could see what needed to be done, would want to do a little of each thing, would have so much to do that there was really no progress, see that I had done nothing with so much left to do and I would stop altogether. That's where the depression piece came in because I felt like a failure which keit me stuck. It was very interesting. I hope you and your counselor can work through this.

The sad part is that as I'm typing this my kitchen is dirty and I have only two clean bottles for tomorrow. But I'm going to bed instead. I have to say we've been keeping the living room cleaned up. Its a start!!

Jodash24 · December 2014

I so need help with housework, jobs never get finished to the end. I'm still on maternity leave and had loads planned to do around the house and I've not done any of it

. Clutter and washed folded clothes everywhere, this lo doesn't let me do anything!

vettymama · December 2014

I used to feel like I needed to do it all in one day too otherwise I felt like the house was never clean! But now, after doing a little every day, I feel like my house is alwats clean since it's just maintenance now. You'll get there, just a little bit at a time.

chichi589 · December 2014

@Jessieann1020‌ thanks for the bookshelf suggestion! I will absolutely do that!

ksulli · December 2014

Oh- this is more of a preventative measure, but I re-covered my kitchen counter seats with outdoor fabric. Looks good, and when my 3yo spills her milk/pasta/whatever it wipes right off.

Lauren0216 · December 2014

zazu13 Ha, I saw these the other day. Too bad my baby would be too picky with the shape of the nipple because these would be great when you are out and about all day or on airplanes & traveling!

https://steribottle.com/

CalinAZ · December 2014

Anyone have good cleaning hacks for non-carpet floors? Ours our constantly dirty, even with frequent mopping. Any "experts" want to share how they keep their floors nice?

Dixon813 · December 2014

CalinAZ said:
Anyone have good cleaning hacks for non-carpet floors? Ours our constantly dirty, even with frequent mopping. Any "experts" want to share how they keep their floors nice?

We have hardwood (tile in the kitchen) and we use a swiffer wet jet. It's easy and quick!

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