Your favourite TV show’s about to release a new season, yet here you are, endlessly sweeping the floor. Can this day get any longer? Household Cleaning takes time, especially deep cleaning. It’s like a task with many subquests, from dusting the appliances down to making the floors shiny again. And by the time you finish one, another clutter awaits you.
On average, Australian women spend about 33 hrs/week on household cleaning. This includes laundry, sweeping, and other house maintenance. If you think about it, it’s almost the same amount of time we spend at work.
But, what if there’s a way to reduce this weekly average and have spare time for your hobbies and favourite TV shows?
Well, lucky you! Here are 10 household cleaning hacks that will help you make the most of your time.
Best Household Cleaning Hacks
1. Plan well
Just like in everything else, planning ahead saves you time from dealing with unexpected scenarios, just like your children playing around while you’re sweeping the floor.
With this, it’s best to set the following things before cleaning:
- Date and time
- Cleaning materials checklist
- Cleaning route
- Time for each cleaning task
It’ll also help if you identify which tasks take extra time, like refrigerator and oven cleaning.
2. Use a timer
Before cleaning, make sure to divide your time efficiently on the tasks you’ve listed down. Say, for dusting, 15 minutes will usually suffice. To stay faithful to the time you set for each task, use a timer.
Furthermore, tracking the time will keep you motivated. Knowing that you’ll only need 15 minutes to scrub the toilet somehow gives a sense of relief that it’ll be over soon.
3. Practise the basic household cleaning patterns
Déjà vu? Nope. You’re just doing it all wrong.
Cleaning feels like forever because we often forget the basic cleaning patterns, which should go like this:
- Highest to lowest
- Outside to centre
- Cleanest to dirtiest
If you follow these, you’ll only have to collect dust and grimes once. Hence, saving you from sweeping or dusting the surfaces repeatedly.
4. Wipe your windows with a dishwashing liquid
The joy from wiping your windows with water is short-lived. After some time, the windows will dry, and you’re now left with white streaks. You’ll have to start wiping again.
To prevent this from happening, add a drop of dishwashing liquid to your bucket of water. With this combination, expect your glass windows to be streak-free and shiny.
5. Rock and roll with a lint roller
You might think that lint rollers are only used on clothes. But, it’s actually more versatile than you would like to think.
With its adhesive part, lint rollers can collect dust from lampshades, remove pet hair, and even find glass shards quickly.
6. Use rubber gloves for pet hair
We all love our pets. But their hair all over the place can be annoying. After all, these tiny strands of hair are difficult to remove from carpets and upholsteries.
A DIY solution to that is a rubber glove. You can either let the static energy between the glove and the fabric do the work or apply a little water to attract Mr Snuggles’ hair.
7. Use microfiber cloth
Microfibre cloth is made of polyester and nylon fibre. With these materials woven together, a net-like surface is created, capable of absorbing and trapping moisture, dust, and other particles.
A 2002 U.S. EPA study found that only 5 gallons of water are necessary to clean 100 rooms with microfibre mops. Since it uses less water, microfibre cloth is more time-saving and eco-friendly.
8. Carry a basket around
As you clean one room after another, you’re bound to encounter misplaced items. It’ll take too much time to make trips just to put them in their proper place. But, by carrying a basket around, you’ll only need to collect them once as you visit different rooms.
9. Make decluttering a daily routine
To save time during big cleaning days, you can do a little decluttering every day. Just take 10 to 15 minutes to tidy up misplaced items or to organise your rooms.
10. Work with others
But, the best way to make the most of your time is to work with others. By dividing the tasks among family members or friends you invited over, you’ll cover more ground in a small amount of time.
The key to saving time is to work smarter, not harder. Why stick to traditional ways when you can obtain the same cleaning quality with less time? Follow these tips, and you’ll find yourself having more ME time.
But, if you really lack the time and still want to keep your home tidy, consider hiring reliable house cleaning companies, like Cleanrific. By doing so, you’re not only saving time, you’re owning it.
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Cleaning
