The situation—your mother-in-law just called and she is on her way over to pay you surprise visit. The problem—it looks like a bomb has exploded in your house. What do you do? You’re not worried, you’ve prepared and trained for this moment. It’s time to speed clean! Easy as 1, 2, 3 Start by throwing away, move to putting away, and finish with cleaning the surfaces. This 1, 2, 3 method of cleaning will help you any time, but especially when it's crunch time. Rather than making a mad dash from room to room, clean one room at a time. Speed cleaning works best when you keep your house relatively neat—try to clean a little every day. If you are hurrying to clean before guests arrive, begin with rooms you know they will see. Otherwise, just start where it bothers you most. The Kitchen
The kitchen is a good place to start because guests usually gather in this room and when it’s a mess it looks disgusting. It can also take the most time to clean. By checking this room off your list you will feel more able to tackle the rest of the house. 1. Throw away any garbage in the room. If you want, you can take the garbage bag out of the bin and walk around to gather all of the garbage in the house. Tie it up, and throw it out. Look at that—one step down, two to go! 2. Put away any clutter on the counters. Rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. If your dishwasher is full of clean dishes, put them away and fill the dishwasher. If your dishwasher is full of dirty dishes (it happens), start the dishwasher and fill the sink with hot, soapy water to let your additional dishes soak. A sink full of soapy dishes isn’t as gross looking as a sink full of dirty ones. 3. Finish off by wiping down the surfaces, including a quick swipe of the floor. Just make sure to toss that dirty rag in the laundry before your guests arrive. If you are not in a rush, wipe the counters with a hot soapy rag. Follow wiping with a rag rinsed in cold water and finish with a dry towel. This will kill any germs and eliminate soap scum, which is a breeding ground for germs. Also, (obviously) it leaves your surfaces looking clean, dry, and streak-free. It’s especially important to disinfect in the kitchen where food can contaminate surfaces after being touched with your hands. Germs from your hands are transferred to door handles, the refrigerator, and light switches. Once a week, at least, go through your house and swipe all of the things you touch frequently with an antibacterial treated towel. The Family Room, Bathrooms, and Laundry First take a breath, the kitchen is done and the garbage is out—that’s at least half the battle. 1. If you have not already done so, go through the house and pick up any garbage. 2. Gather all toys, mail, clothes, and clutter that can be put away. Return everything (that has some sort of organization) to its proper place. Sort the rest out later. If you are really running short on time, throw laundry in washer or the dryer (it’s a good hiding place for laundry), pile paperwork and mail on the desk, and stash the rest in your clutter closet. This is unadvisable, although it’s understandable. After all--you might want some time to get a little cleaned up too. 3. Make sure all the toilets are flushed—hopefully they are. Quickly run a toilet brush around the inside of the bowl and a disinfecting wipe around the seat. Put out clean towels and toss the dirty (or even slightly used) ones in the bin. Guests do not like drying with a damp towel. Have a candle? Light it to freshen your home’s scent and open a window. If the house smells like chemicals, you’re busted. Again, if you have a little more time, do extra work. To keep your paperwork clear from the desk, try another 1, 2, 3 system—inbox, pending, filed. Pick up new mail daily and put it in the “inbox” pile (or box). Once opened, either throw it away or put it away. Your pending file is for things that are still pending, and your filing cabinet is for things you might need to reference later. This way you stay organized and avoid a mess. Run a quick vacuum, sort and fold laundry, and dust any surfaces like table-tops, lampshades, and shutters. Divide any chores that take a long time and do them intermittently throughout the week. Or, if you prefer, you can dedicate a few hours on the weekend for things like scrubbing the tub, mopping, and organizing cupboards and drawers. It’s easy to stay on top of cleaning by doing little things every day. Load your dishwasher and start it at night. Unload it in the morning or after work. Throw a load of laundry in every morning, fold it at night before bed. When you are in a crunch to clean, just remember . . . 1, 2, 3!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorExamples of blogs I have written for clients. Archives
December 2015
Categories |