I have been SOOOOO behind (as I've already complained about in previous posts) putting the new house together, painting, unpacking boxes and whatnot... add to that my husband's slow recovery from surgery and a sprinkling of family drama and you've got yourself a girl who is completely behind in EVERYTHING. WHY am I so fatigued and WHY is it so difficult to catch up? Maybe I just needed a little R&R, a little "me" time to veg in front of the TV. So off I went, remote control in hand ready to sit and veg except...... OH YEAH, that's right! I'm behind on housework as well and the dang handprint someone left in the dust on the TV is suddenly a distraction that cannot be ignored. In fact, its the only thing I can see when I look at the screen. Time to clean, and clean I did!!! In fact, I've never cleaned faster and I want to share my 5 tips to speed cleaning (plus a bonus). And once I got started, a little burst of energy was a welcomed perk.
#1) Buy a Roomba! YouTuber Malitose79 has the CUTEST video on a pretty inexpensive model (click HERE) and says EXACLY my sentiment about the Roomba. "It vacuums for you!" Let me tell you how freeing it is to be vacuuming AT THE SAME TIME you're dusting!!! That is speed cleaning at its best when you're cleaning and not actually doing the work!!!
#2) Set a timer. No one likes to spend hours cleaning, but when you make it into a game its incredible how much you can get done. So I set a timer and raced myself. I wanted to see how much I could get done in 1/2 hour. I spent about 5 of those minutes actually planning my attack. First I turned on the Roomba, put a load of laundry in the washer and started dusting. No joke, I got three rooms cleaned in the remaining 25 minutes and left the laundry for my husband to fold later that night.... GENIUS!
#3) Do double duty. When you're cooking, wash some dishes. It is always recommended to clean as you go, so why not spend 10 extra minutes emptying the dishwasher while you're in there or clean a few extra dishes beyond what you're using to prepare your meal? When you're in the bathroom getting ready, why not wipe down the sink or clean the mirror? Doing a little something extra only takes a few extra minutes. Maybe if I'm lucky, this little trick will become a habit for me. Fingers crossed.
#4) Have a cleaning hub. I actually have a cleaning cart that I roll from room to room. All of my cleaning supplies are always in one place and I don't have to run back and forth gathering supplies....think of the time you'll save not having to round stuff up!!! On my cleaning cart is my broom, a large garbage bag, Swiffer duster, Mr. Clean Magic Reach telescoping scrubber, Rubbermaid Reveal mop and a cleaning caddy filled with Comet, Method All purpose cleaner, Home Tech polish for glass (this stuff is a miracle cleaner and leaves a see-through film on all glass/mirror surfaces that lets you clean with just water for 6 months), Pledge, paper towels, microfiber clothes AND.... Microfiber SOCKS.... yes, socks (wait for it). If you don't have the resources for an actual cleaning cart, a cleaning apron does the trick as well at a fraction of the cost. Make sure it has divided deep pockets in the front and loops on the sides to hold cleaning supplies to make your cleaning time efficient.
#5) Fluffy Socks!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fluffy socks. I reserve their use to warm my feet during winter, but fluffy MICROFIBER socks are WONDERFUL for cleaning. Put a sock on each hand and go to town. Women's World magazine says that using both hands to clean is the way the professionals do it and gets the job done twice as fast because you're using both hands. The beauty of socks is that you can still grab cleaning spray bottles without having to put down and then pick up cleaning cloths.... they are already on your hands. This one is probably my favorite tip!
#6 Bonus) Gather yourself for bed. At the end of each night take 5 minutes to simply "pick up" from the day. My husband ALWAYS leaves his socks in the living room so I make sure to pick them up on my way into the bedroom where the dirty clothes hamper lives. Papers are cleared off of surfaces and dishes are placed in the kitchen sink (oh how I HATE the dishes that pile up in the living room!!!). It is just a nice feeling to wake up to a clean looking house. It also lays the groundwork for some faster cleaning when you don't have to take the extra step to pick things up.
I'm sure there are plenty more ideas out there on how to speed clean. Please leave a comment if you have one. I'm ALWAYS interested in ways of cleaning faster as I HATE CLEANING!!!! Oh... and one more bonus for ya. Here's a little video I found on YouTube on how to clean your bathroom in 3.5 minutes (click HERE). Please note.... this only works if you already have a cleaning hub.
Whew...I'm just a tad bit closer to getting caught up!
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| Pic courtesy of walmart.com |
#2) Set a timer. No one likes to spend hours cleaning, but when you make it into a game its incredible how much you can get done. So I set a timer and raced myself. I wanted to see how much I could get done in 1/2 hour. I spent about 5 of those minutes actually planning my attack. First I turned on the Roomba, put a load of laundry in the washer and started dusting. No joke, I got three rooms cleaned in the remaining 25 minutes and left the laundry for my husband to fold later that night.... GENIUS!
#3) Do double duty. When you're cooking, wash some dishes. It is always recommended to clean as you go, so why not spend 10 extra minutes emptying the dishwasher while you're in there or clean a few extra dishes beyond what you're using to prepare your meal? When you're in the bathroom getting ready, why not wipe down the sink or clean the mirror? Doing a little something extra only takes a few extra minutes. Maybe if I'm lucky, this little trick will become a habit for me. Fingers crossed.
#4) Have a cleaning hub. I actually have a cleaning cart that I roll from room to room. All of my cleaning supplies are always in one place and I don't have to run back and forth gathering supplies....think of the time you'll save not having to round stuff up!!! On my cleaning cart is my broom, a large garbage bag, Swiffer duster, Mr. Clean Magic Reach telescoping scrubber, Rubbermaid Reveal mop and a cleaning caddy filled with Comet, Method All purpose cleaner, Home Tech polish for glass (this stuff is a miracle cleaner and leaves a see-through film on all glass/mirror surfaces that lets you clean with just water for 6 months), Pledge, paper towels, microfiber clothes AND.... Microfiber SOCKS.... yes, socks (wait for it). If you don't have the resources for an actual cleaning cart, a cleaning apron does the trick as well at a fraction of the cost. Make sure it has divided deep pockets in the front and loops on the sides to hold cleaning supplies to make your cleaning time efficient.
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| Pic courtesy of gearxs.com |
#6 Bonus) Gather yourself for bed. At the end of each night take 5 minutes to simply "pick up" from the day. My husband ALWAYS leaves his socks in the living room so I make sure to pick them up on my way into the bedroom where the dirty clothes hamper lives. Papers are cleared off of surfaces and dishes are placed in the kitchen sink (oh how I HATE the dishes that pile up in the living room!!!). It is just a nice feeling to wake up to a clean looking house. It also lays the groundwork for some faster cleaning when you don't have to take the extra step to pick things up.
I'm sure there are plenty more ideas out there on how to speed clean. Please leave a comment if you have one. I'm ALWAYS interested in ways of cleaning faster as I HATE CLEANING!!!! Oh... and one more bonus for ya. Here's a little video I found on YouTube on how to clean your bathroom in 3.5 minutes (click HERE). Please note.... this only works if you already have a cleaning hub.
Whew...I'm just a tad bit closer to getting caught up!
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I am planning a dinner/get together with some local bloggers next weekend and wanted to see if you were interested in joining us. Just shoot me an email and I'll send you all the deets! abusybee24 at yahoo dot com
Carri~Abusybee