After a thorough spring deep cleaning, your home can
usually be maintained by consistent routine house
cleaning - the key to a clean and neat home is
regular upkeep.
Regular upkeep consists of dusting, sweeping, mopping
and vacuuming at scheduled intervals - or, cleaning
up small messes while they are still "small".
The bathroom is always cleaned and sanitized -
including toilets, shower, sinks and floors.
The kitchen area always receives scrupulous attention to detail -
especially food preparation counters and
making sure floors are clean, never allowing to become sticky or soiled.
Dropped food should immediately be removed and
stains wiped up before they dry.
When you get ready to do your house cleaning,
begin in one room, finish it and go on to the next.
Concentrate on the room and the job at hand until
you are satisfied that it meets your
special standards of order and cleanliness.
A good habit is to begin at the back and
top of the house and clean your way, room by room,
down to the front.
This strategy will also help you
achieve your goal of cleaning the entire house.
If you begin with the living room and work back,
you might find yourself becoming tired and
find yourself in the old trap of putting off until
tomorrow that which you should do today -
rest assured, tomorrow never comes!
Don't be sidetracked! Allowing yourself to become
distracted by picking up a book or discovering an
interesting project that you had previously started
and not finished can cost you precious
hours later in the day. Five or ten minutes of
losing your focus can turn house cleaning into an
all day chore.
It's difficult and distracting to multi-task while
house cleaning! Don't try to get your laundry washed
and dried while working on your cleaning.
As you go from room to room, pick up scattered
clothing and put them in a laundry basket.
Do the laundry later.
Enlist your family's help in cleaning,
diplomatically, of course! Hand your 3-year old a
cloth or a sponge and let her wipe dust from a table
or help clean up that spilled milk! And surprisingly,
10-year old boys can do a great job of vacuuming -
maybe something about the noise and controlling
the power is appealing.
When house cleaning chores are finished, it's time to
relax, settle back and enjoy the satisfaction of a
job well done. The secret of house
cleaning is having a strategy -
plan your route through your house,
stay focused and organized, and enlist
help from family with jobs that are
appropriate for them to do.
Start at the top and work toward the bottom
This applies to all aspects of housecleaning. Start
on the highest floor and work your way down.
If you are dusting, start at the ceiling (cobwebs),
work your way down the walls, tops of picture frames,
doorways, mirrors, wall lamps, mantles, etc.
Clean the baseboards last.
Clean from back to front
If you are vacuuming, start in the corner farthest
away from the door. Backup towards the door as
you vacuum, without leaving footprints on the newly
vacuumed carpet. In the kitchen, start with
the outside of the cabinets, moving to the back
of the stove and counters throughout the kitchen,
then the drawer exteriors.
Tips for De-cluttering and Organizing:
Pick up all used dishes, glasses, cups, snack bowls,
etc., and take them into the kitchen.
Grab a plastic trash bag, pick up all pieces of paper
that are not important and put them in the bag.
While you're at it, include empty pop cans, candy wrappers and the like.
Put important papers in your office, briefcase,
or wherever you customarily keep such things.
Pick up all magazines, books, newspapers, catalogues,
etc.; decide which are worth keeping and set to the side;
throw out the rest. Sort the "keepers" into orderly stacks and put them where
they belong – in a magazine rack or bookshelf.
Gather all articles of clothing, towels, shoes,
slippers, etc., that may be lying around. If they
need laundered, take them into your laundry area. If they are just out of place, either notify the "owner"
to put them away, or return them to where they belong yourself.
When you have decluttered the rooms and they look
organized, give a quick dusting, polish the
furniture, and run the vacuum around. The result
will be a clean, fresh-smelling and inviting environment!
Tips for De-Cluttering and Organizing Your Kitchen:
Gather all dirty dishes and either put them in the
sink where you will wash and dry them, then put them
away, or put them in your dishwasher and turn it on.
Look at your kitchen counters. Pick up every item
that doesn't belong there and organize by putting it
in its proper place. Kitchen counters are
attractive places to put stuff –
the daily mail might be next to a ketchup bottle
and the salt and pepper shakers. Put everything where it
needs to be.
When you are using your kitchen cabinet, take a
moment and do a little shuffling around to make the
appearance neater. If you keep canned and/or
dry goods in a cabinet, sort the products
according to category and according to size –
taller items in the back, smaller packages
in the front.
Dish cupboards need to have drinking glasses and cups
in separate areas, plates arranged and organized
according to size; same with bowls,
odds and ends serving dishes
Kitchen drawers may just need to have some quick
organizing by placing like utensils together – forks,
spoons, knives, etc. and wiping the trays.
Periodically empty the cabinets and drawers and give
them a good cleaning.
Gather everything that normally belongs on the
kitchen counter, such as small appliances, coffee
maker, canisters, decorative plant, etc., and remove
them. Then beginning at one end of the counter,
thoroughly wash the surfaces, spray with a sanitizing
spray, dry with a soft clean towel, and
replace the items on your sparkling clean kitchen counter!
Don't forget cleaning the kitchen stove Since you've
already picked up all the dirty dishes, you probably
removed moved the skillets or pots and pans
from the stove, washed them and put them away.
Now you're ready to shine the stove surface which you
will first wipe down thoroughly with a soapy
dishcloth to loosen dried on spills and cut grease
splatters. Then wipe with a clean wet sponge or cloth.
If this doesn't leave the surface sparkling, use a window
spray cleaner for a fine shine!
Cinch by Spic & Span does a great
job of cutting through grease and leaving a clean
shine – it smells good, too.
Lastly, sweep the floor, then use a damp mop to
remove spots
Keeping the Bathroom Organized:
Pick up any "reading materials" that make their way
into the bathroom and either throw them away
or return them to their rightful location.
Pick up and throw away any pieces of litter –
tissues, band-aid wrappers, product packaging – that
might be on the floor or counter top.
Gather loose articles of clothing and soiled towels;
take them to the laundry area.
Remove everything from the surface of the bathroom
counters, and then give the counters a good cleaning.
Finish with a sanitizing spray, then wipe.
Replace everything that belongs on the counter. Put
other items where they belong.
Open the drawers to see if they are in order. If not,
throw away things you don't need, and put like
items together. Organizing trays, available
at most home department stores, are very valuable
in keeping your drawers neat and tidy as they have compartments
for small items that otherwise get "lost" when drawers are opened and
closed.
Give light fixtures a quick dusting, use furniture polish on wooden surfaces, and then spray the mirrors with window cleaner. Dry the mirrors with a clean, soft, lint-free cloth.
Finally, damp mop the washable floors, give scatter rugs a shake, and/or vacuum the carpet.
Decluttering And Organizing Your Bedroom:
To organize your bedroom pick up all articles of clothing; sort according to action needed. If they are soiled, take them to the laundry room.
Organize your closet put shoes and slippers where they belong.
Pick up all reading materials; save those worth saving, throw the rest away.
Clean dresser tops by removing items that don't belong there. Dust and spray with furniture polish, and buff to a soft shine. Then you can put the items back where they are convenient – your clock or clock radio, small lamp, drinking glass and carafe, etc.
Keep your bed made! Immediately upon arising in the morning, shake covers, and pull sheet up to the head. Smooth any blankets or quilts as you pull them up over the sheet. "Punch" feather pillows to freshen and fluff, then put them at the head of the bed. Make sure there are no wrinkles in your bed.
Then you're ready to vacuum your way out of the bedroom. Begin at the furthest corner, and vacuum back to the door.
Stand back and look inside the room. A freshly vacuumed floor, a tidy bed with fluffy pillows, a nightstand reflecting the glow of a softly shining lamp is an inviting scene, indeed!
Decluttering and organizing your home does not have to be an all day chore. As you have the time, pick an area and concentrate your efforts. Do that one area but do it well. Then, in a few days, pick another area to declutter, and so on.
The trick to keeping your home organized and decluttered is to practice regular maintenance. Get in the habit of throwing away things you don't need, keeping dirty clothes out of sight (in the laundry room or in a dirty clothes hamper), keeping dirty dishes corralled in the kitchen, not allowing empty pop cans to be left sitting on end tables, etc.
Keep after the family to help in this process. The earlier children are taught to pick up after themselves, the better – better for you, better for them, and better for their future partner!
Cleaning The Kitchen
"No matter where I serve my guests, it seems they like my kitchen best!"
What a nice thought about the heart of your home. Really, it all begins and ends with the kitchen. We have fond memories of good times, good food, the good old days, and a good loving family.
The fact is that most kitchens are the center of the house. This is the location that many people go to in order to chat with their family, to pay the bills and to make dinner. Yet, it is also can be one of the most messy and disorganized areas in the entire house.
The most used room of the house demands respect! It also demands constant care and cleaning to keep it attractive, warm and inviting.
A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen .. . so gather your supplies, and lets get down to the basics of kitchen cleaning!
Cleaning Supplies
Household sponges/cleaning rags
Liquid dish detergent/degreaser
Disinfectant cleaner/sanitizer
Soft Scrub® and/or Comet®
Window cleaner
Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
Large appliances cleaned inside and out.
Small appliances cleaned outside and underneath.
Counter tops washed, dried and polished.
Kitchen cabinets wiped with furniture polish.
Dishes washed, dried and put away or stored in dishwasher.
Kitchen sink cleaned out, wiped and polished with cleaner.
Kitchen floor swept and damp mopped.
Trash removed.
Stove
Keeping your stove or kitchen range shining clean is one of the biggest jobs in the kitchen. Most burner drip pans are removable. If they aren't, move the elements out of the way, and spray the pans with a cleaner/degreaser. If they are removable, take them out and put them into the kitchen sink. Cover with water as warm as you can touch, or hot water and allow it to cool until you can put your hand it in comfortably. Add a liquid dish detergent and allow the pans to soak to soften the burnt on grease and drips.
Turning your attention to the surface of the stove, remove the knobs and toss them into the sink with the drip pans. Then spray the stove top with a degreaser (Cinch® made by Spic & Span® does a very good job on this). Use a sponge and scrub the stubborn areas. Then re-spray with the window cleaner and buff to a shine with paper towels. Use a scrub brush on the knobs, rinse well, then dry and replace. The drip pans may need extra attention. If they have not soaked clean, then apply the liquid abrasive cleaner and scrub with a sponge. Rinse well, dry and replace.
Oven
If you do not have a self-cleaning oven, you'll have to spray the inside of the oven with a heavy-duty degreaser/cleaner and apply some elbow grease. Use a scrubby with the cleaner and rub lightly to removed baked on food. Rinse well and dry with a clean cloth. Use window spray for the hood of the stove. Don't forget to remove the filter and put it in the sink. I cover the filter with warm water and a cup of household cleaning ammonia. Just a few moments, dash it up and down in the water, and it comes sparkling clean.
Dishwasher
Open the dishwasher and if it smells musty, sprinkle a cup of baking powder inside and run it through a short cycle. Using an all purpose cleaner, spray the outside and wipe down. Do the same to the trash compactor.
Make sure dishes are always washed and put away as soon as possible after using. If you don't have time, give them a quick rinse and put them in the dishwasher. Don't allow table scraps or vegetable trimmings to accumulate in the sink. Toss them into the trash and give the sink a quick wash and rinse itself. You may shine the faucet with a cleaner/degreaser or window spray.
Microwave
If there's a microwave, wipe it inside and out. Take out the turntable, wash and dry it before replacing. Clean the inside of the microwave as food often splatters when heated. Usually all it needs is a scrubbing with the kitchen sponge dipped in hot soapy water. Wipe with a cloth dipped in clean water and dry.
Using a cloth dipped in hot soapy water, wipe the outside and the top of the refrigerator. Follow with the window spray, then wipe with paper towels to give a soft clean shine.
Kitchen Countertops
Take everything off of the kitchen counters.
Beginning at one end, wash, rinse and dry the entire counter
If necessary, use a scrubby dipped in hot soapy water to scrub stubborn spots.
If your countertops look dull, try using a little furniture polish to make them shine.
Return items to their places on the counter - try to cut down on the clutter!
When cleaning counter tops, remove all items from counter, then wipe the counter from one end to the other. Use the disinfectant cleaner, or hot soapy water to remove grime and grease. Remember to rinse well and wipe dry. Then replace canisters, small appliances, and other items. Be sure to clean the surfaces of the small appliances, finishing off with a spray of the window cleaner to make them shine..
Inspect around light switches and door knobs for smudges and fingerprints. Use a disinfectant cleaner or sanitizer on these areas and wipe clean
Cleaning Your Bathroom
Bathroom cleaning is not high on people's list of favorite tasks. Use these tips to clean it quickly and make your bathroom shine.
Gather your cleaning supplies and tools which include a bucket, scrub brush, an old toothbrush, sponges, your disinfectant, mold and mildew remover, etc.
Spray the bathtub and the shower with your bleach or mold and mildew remover and let it sit. After you spray down the shower and bath tub, spray the commode inside and out with disinfectant.
pour some disinfectant into the toilet bowl and wipe down the rim, the outside of the bowl, and the base of the toilet and the seat. Take your scrub brush and scrub the inside. Flush and then the worst part of cleaning your bathroom is done.
Move on to the sink, take all items if the counter and then spray the sinks and countertops with your disinfectant. Use the toothbrush to scrub any mold or mildew in the faucet or the sink. Then wipe the faucets, counter and then the sink.
Now start scrubbing the bathtub and shower which you spayed down previously. Since the stain has been sprayed with mold and mildew remover, the job is 1/2 done already. Soap scum build up can be a pain. Tackle it with a scrub brush and scrub the tub and enclosure. When the tub and walls are scrubbed clean, take a toothbrush out and scrub the faucet and the drain. Rinse the tub and shower. Wipe it down with a dry clean rag
Steps To Clean Your Bathroom
Remove any knick knacks and put them away.
Shake out your rugs
Sweep and/or vacuum the carpet and floor.
Spray the countertops and let the cleaners work.
Spray the mirror with glass cleaner and wipe it down.
Spray the commode with disinfectant inside and out. Let the cleaner sit.
Wipe down the counter tops.
Spray the shower and the bath tub.
Scrub the inside of the commode with a scrubber brush. Flush and rinse the bowl. Wipe the outside, behind the seat and the outside of the commode bowl and base.
Scrub the tub and rinse it.
Mop your linoleum or tile. If the area is small, do it by hand.
Replace the rugs and knick knacks
Cleaning Bathroom Tubs and Shower Stalls
The alkaline in water causes spots on your glass shower doors. Squeegee them after each shower to prevent buildup. You can eliminate soap scum by switching to liquid soap.
Clean your showers once a week, (I use soft scrub with bleach), if the soap scum has built up and will not budge (some elbow grease may be necessary) get some kaboom or other acid-base cleaner, spray on, let it sit then simply scrub it off. Use a scrubby to get stubborn areas. Test a spot to make sure it won't scratch the fiberglass.
Cleaning The Commode
Ring around your commode? Either alkaline water or other deposits will cause those rings. Depending on the hardness of your water, pour one or two cups of white vinegar to stop those rings..
Toilet bowl rings? Follow these instructions carefully or you will scratch the inside of the toilet bowl. First, turn off the water and then flush. Saturate a handful of heavy-duty paper towels with plain white vinegar. Place the towels around the edge of the ring stain and cover all areas. Keep the paper towels in place over night or at least for several hours, until the water spots or stain starts to dissolve.
If the white vinegar does not work well to dissolve the stain, get a cleaning pumice stone (available at the grocery store) and find an old stiff toothbrush. Wet the pumice stone and make sure to keep it wet. Gently, rub the pumice stone across the stain. Keep the pumice stone wet. When pumice has built up on the sides of the stain, use a stiff brush and keep scrubbing at the stain. Keep scrubbing until the stain disappears. Pumice will damage and scratch the toilet if not used correctly. Be gentle.
Organizing a bedroom is crucial to your mental state. You will feel more calm and relaxed in a clean, neat, orderly room. At night are you barraged with the clothes pile you should really pick up, the mess on the nightstand, and the pile of shoes on the floor? Once you finally force yourself out of bed, are you rushed in the mornings searching for something clean to wear?
Once you organize your bedroom, the results will be felt immediately. You will most likely fall asleep quicker, and you will wake up with a better attitude.
Your bedroom should be serene and inviting. Cluttered spaces are neither. You should have nothing but essentials on your nightstand and tops of dressers – lamps, tissue, maybe a water carafe, and maybe a remote control for a television.
Lighting in your bedroom should be soft. Most people notice a huge difference between regular 60 watt light bulbs and 25 or 40 watt bulbs. Remember that you are winding down when you are in your bedroom. Harsh lights don't promote a relaxing atmosphere.
Use a Hamper
The most important organization tool to have in your bedroom is a hamper. All clothes should be placed in the hamper when they are dirty. Also, make a rule that no clean clothes can enter your bedroom unless they are put away where they belong. This means that you have to make this step a part of every laundry load. Tonight before you go to bed, tackle the "chair of clothes" that you probably have waiting for you. Put them away and don't let the clothes pile up ever again.
The mound of clothes is horrible for your mental attitude. Just looking at it brings about guilt and a nagging feeling. Actually getting dressed or choosing your clothes from a pile instead of from a neatly folded or hanging selection guarantees that you will have a day that begins with disorganization. Will you really feel confident and in the mood to take on the world?
Organize Your Closets
If you find that your closets and drawers are too full, take some time on a weekend to get rid of some clothes. Stuffed closets and drawers make you less likely to put clean clothes away where they belong. If you don't have a place for your shoes other than the floor outside of your closet, get an organizer or at least make room on the floor of the closet. The calmness you will feel as you look around to see nothing on the floor just might overwhelm you.
Organize Your Books and CD's
If you watch television or listen to music in your bedroom, any movies or CDs should be in their proper cases and neatly stacked like books. Don't get carried away – they don't have to be in alphabetical or any other type of order. They just have to be put away where they are neat and accessible. DVDs and CDs flung about gives you guilt that you should pick them up and takes away from a relaxed state
Organize Your Kids Room
Kids are kids, and you'll probably always want to shut their bedroom doors when you have company. A certain amount of mess is expected. You don't want to make your children into little neurotic neat freaks, but there are certain tips to organizing kid rooms that will definitely help at least keep things looking halfway tidy.
Toy Chests Are A Short Term Fix
First of all, get rid of the toy chest. Who on earth came up with this invention? It's the equivalent of having your kid shove everything under his bed or in his closet. Toy chests are short term fixes. When someone is about to come over or it is time to clean his room, your child can throw everything into the toy chest. The toy chest, however, guarantees that the room will be trashed again very, very shortly. The grass is always greener on the other side, especially for children. There is always a better toy than the one he has in his hands at that moment. The better toy, without fail, is at the very bottom of the toy chest. This means, of course, that he has to dump out every single toy in the toy chest to get to the toy he wants. Voila! His room is a mess.
Install Shelves For Toys
A much better solution is to have shelves, preferably with doors or a curtain to hide the mess. The secret to shelving is that he can see everything right in front of him. He can visually select a toy, and at the most you will have three or four toys on the ground. It is important to mention that toy shelves should be secured to the walls. A standing shelf unit can easily be tipped. Make sure that wall shelves are secure enough that they don't fall, even if your child climbs on them. To help with fairly young children putting toys back into their place, a nice "Teddy lives there and wants to sleep in his special place on the shelf" story will usually help.
Use Hanging Shelves As Closet Organizers
One of the greatest kid room closet organizers is the hanging shelves with a cubby hole for each day of the week where you can put that day's outfit. I've actually seen this nifty tool in practice. The key is to get the child involved on a Sunday evening. Make it a ritual that you both choose and place his clothing for each day of the week. It truly makes getting ready in the morning so much faster and easier. You can also use shelving to keep activity outfits like soccer uniforms (with shoes), karate clothing, etc. If you assign it a place and put it there after every wash, you can skip all of the crazy "MOM where are my shoes?" running around at the last minute before practices and games
Give Old Toys To Charity
When your child's room gets cluttered and he's reluctant to part with any of his toys or possessions, I usually advise either a clutter talk or a charity talk. The clutter talk is where you prepare your child not to end up being a packrat. Explain that he needs room to play, sleep, and walk, and that if he keeps every toy he ever gets, he won't have any room. Lead by example and ask him to give up one toy or other possession for every new toy. You should do the same to keep the house from getting cluttered and to set an example for him.
The charity talk is simply explaining that there are a lot of little girls and boys who don't have any toys at all and doesn't he have a few that he can share with them? You shouldn't force your child to give his toys away (think Mommie Dearest), but you can certainly reason with him and ask him to consider donating some toys. Be sure to reward him by telling him how nice it was and how much the little children will appreciate what he did.
While you won't always have a magazine perfect kid room, applying these tips will at least make your kid room a bit more efficient and neat. His bed might not always be made, but at least mornings will go a bit more smoothly and you won't kill yourself by tripping over toys dumped out of a toy chest!
Room by Room
Friends
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