Ever since I became mother I'm dreaming of a perfect world, where the glass would be full every time, burgers would be healthy food and professional cleaning team would appear every time I spill my beverage on my dream velvet light blue sofa.
Unfortunately the reality is different - glass is often not only half full, but simply broken, burgers don't always kill, but sure give heartburns and for me personally it is hard to maintain even my ordinary brown living room furniture. And the worse part is that I really hate cleaning. I like my home to be tidy and clean, I just wish that I wouldn't be the one to maintain it. Although I'm working from home I still get tired at the end of the day. But what has to be done just has to be done so during the years I made up few tricks to help me deal faster and easier with the maintenance of the house. If you have the same issues you might take a glance at the tips bellow.
Tricks That Ease the Actual Cleaning
List of tasks. I always make plan in my head how to proceed according to the house condition. This is advice that is good for any kind of activity - when you know what you have to do, step by step it definitely gets easier. I also prepare the things that I will need before I start. Another time saver and actually a very helpful cleaning habit is to do it from top to bottom. The cleaning is more efficient when you do it this way.
Cleaning after home party or family gathering. If I house is really dirty - after family gathering for example I always ask my children to help me with gathering the cups and dishes spread around the house and my husband helps me with moving of the furniture and other suitable tasks. They are not too happy with that but they always help. I explained them that it is easy to do this when we are alone but when there were guests the house is dirtier and if I have to deal with it without help, they would have to wait for dinner until I'm done with cleaning.
Distribute the tasks reasonably. If there is too much to do you will feel enslaved if you try to finish everything in just one day. So, take your time - one day you can dust the bookshelves and vacuum around the house, another day - to clean the bathroom and do the laundry.
Use proper equipment for cleaning. No matter if you are stay home or go to work if you have a family to take care of it is impossible to manage with your bare hands. To keep your home properly cleaned you need powerful vacuum, preferably with water filter. Another great tool in your fight with dirt and bacteria is the hot steam cleaner. You can find good one almost everywhere today and they come in very reasonable prices. I clean my bathroom, kitchen and sofa with steam. I like it because it's a very fast method and steam is proven to eliminate microbes and bacteria.
Prevention
This is no secret. Every person who lived alone even only for few months knows that the best way to clean is not to let your place get dirty. Of course this won't cancel the cleaning but it will help you a lot. Some ideas for precaution:
Area Rugs. I have small area rug in my living room near my favorite armchair and this is my favorite place for reading. But my rug contains wool which makes it problematic when it comes to cleaning, and particularly drying. This is why I usually roll the rug and put in the closet when I invite many guests to a home party. I put it away for the summer too. I don't wear slippers in hot weather and I like the feeling of the wooden floor so I don't see why I have to let the carpet dust when it's not necessary. It may seems funny but the fact that I don't have to vacuum it for few months is a real reward for me.
Sofa. Food stains could be too difficult to clean, so I try not to eat when sitting on my sofa. I taught my children to eat only at the kitchen. Some of my friends think it is too drastic, but actually this built very salutary habit for their own sake. They never stuff up with junk food while watching TV and after all I don't have to remove greasy stains and chips crumbs from my couch. Few minutes more off my cleaning routine.
Carpets. The best way to prevent carpet of getting dirty too fast is to use doormats. There is doormat at each entrance of my home and we usually use slippers so vacuuming twice a week extract the dust from my carpet and keeps it in pretty good shape until it is time to clean it thoroughly. Another precaution that became good habit for my children - I let them play outside as much as they want, because it is so hard to get kids outside nowadays, but they must take a shower and change their clothes before laying on the carpet in their room playing on their xbox.
I am busy mom working at home. I write about cleaning and family issues. Recently I write extensively about methods for cleaning upholstered furniture , but I decided to write this article because after research on internet I saw that many busy moms like me wonder how to clean easier and involve their family in home maintaing.
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