Cleaning Tips

Here are some tips that help me keep up on the demands of housework. Many are tips I've adopted from friends, family, TV shows and some I just learned through the school of hard knocks:

1) Set aside one day a week to do all of your laundry. I LOVE this tip! Before my friend told me this was how she did her laundry, I always felt like I could never keep on top of laundry and that it NEVER ended. Now when I see dirty laundry at my house, I know it will be cleaned on Monday and I don't think about it again.

2) Use Clorox wipes. I do not know how I would get by without these little helpers. It allows me to clean up a mess right away without having to pull out multiple materials. I also like them to do a quick wipe down of my bathroom cabinets and other surfaces just before guests arrive.

3) Each day (except The Sabbath) I clean something. For example, Mondays I do laundry, Tuesdays I dust, Wednesdays I clean the bathrooms, Thursdays I do the floors, Fridays I "deep" clean the kitchen, Saturdays I clean whatever I didn't quite get to during the week ;). This means I spend about 15-20 mins max a day cleaning so I don't really dread it.

4) Clean up as you go (but not while you're going). I make the beds when I first wake up. Then we play and create. I let the kids do what they want with their toys. They can make all the messes their little hearts desire. Then just before nap time (and bed time), we clean up. Often they help me clean a bit and I take a few minutes (literally) to finish putting things away once they're in bed.

5) Make sure everything has its place.  I love that our entertainment center has two big cupboards that can be filled with toys and SHUT when the children are not playing with them. This allows for plenty of toys to be easily accessible for the children and makes for easy and FAST clean up on our end.

6) If something doesn't have a place, figure out where it can go. If you can't find a place, get rid of stuff until everything you really need has a place in your home.

7) Take time about once a month to reorganize something (the hall closet, bedroom closets, pantry, kitchen and bathroom cupboards, etc) Again, by doing this about once a month (and only doing ONE thing) I am amazed how little time it takes me to organize something.

So there are a few ideas (or perhaps just a window into how very OCD I really am). At any rate, I hope something can be helpful.