I hate cleaning, but I LOVE that satisfying feeling of having cleaned. There’s nothing better than knowing a room is really clean and sparkly and you don’t have to bother with it for another few months. I’m joking don’t worry. I clean at least once a month.
I also love finding quicker ways to do things; that make my life a bit easier and the time I have to spend cleaning a bit shorter. I want to be playing with my daughter or looking at super important Reels on Instagram, not sweeping the kitchen floor again.
With the summer starting to come to an end (sorry, but it’s true) you might be thinking about doing a big house clean (an Autumn clean?) at the same time as you begin to put all those pretty summery clothes away (*sob*). If so, I have a few tips for you that I have collected since having my own home that will hopefully make your life a bit easier, or cleaner at least.
Use rubber gloves to remove cat and dog hairs from settees, curtains, cushions and anywhere else you find them. Except for the actual cat or dog; they’re supposed to be there. Put the rubber gloves on and wipe over the hairs.
Keep cleaning products where you need them, not just in one place. So that if you do decide to spontaneously clean the bathroom you don’t have to go down to the kitchen to get everything you need where you suddenly decide you must have a cup of tea, the toddler wants a snack, so does the cat and so does the woman across the roads best friends son and you completely ‘forget’ about cleaning the bathroom.
Keep the bin bag roll in the bin beneath the bag that is being used so that you can quickly put in a new bag once you’ve emptied it. Particularly any upstairs bins.
Keep old toothbrushes to clean around taps and to get to all the tight little bits around sinks and plugholes.
Use an old sock as a duster for things like the bannister or a blind – put it on your hand and wipe over each part so that you can get at all the little bits easily.
If you break a glass (one of my many skills), get a piece of bread and put it over the area and it will pick up the little pieces.
Use vinegar and newspaper to clean mirrors and windows. They work so well and don’t leave it all smeary.
Cleaning wipes (or baby wipes!) are good for doing a quick clean in between the deep cleans or when your relatives/friends (delete as appropriate) have just invited themselves around and you haven’t cleaned for months days. Keep some in the kitchen and some in the bathroom, so that you can just pretend you’re taking a long time in the loo. Better that than a dirty bathroom, right?
Apple cider vinegar is great for cleaning ev-ery-thing. I use it diluted with water instead of a shop-bought anti-bacterial cleaner to clean all surfaces, the highchair, the floor, potty-training accidents; everything AND the kitchen sink. Apple cider vinegar is non-toxic, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so it’s perfect for cleaning. I also use it to wash vegetables, for cleaning windows, as fabric conditioner, and to neutralise smells. Oh, and I also sometimes drink it. But that’s a whole other story blog post.
Get yourself a lightweight hoover so that you can quickly hoover a few times a week and jobs like hoovering the stairs don’t seem like such a mammoth task; use it in between doing a full hoover once a week or so if you need to. An even better idea is to get a cordless one to make it even easier for yourself.
An extra tip from my ‘worn-out-from-fixing-and-cleaning-the-oven-today’ husband: use one of those scrapey things that are to remove paint from glass to clean the oven door; instead of scrubbing and scrubbing at it you just sit there and scrape it off (his words!).
And if you are struggling to find the motivation to get started with your cleaning, remember: housework burns lots of calories! So get cleaning…. and then have a big glass of wine to congratulate yourself for all that hard work!
Have you got any super cleaning tips to make all of our lives that little bit easier? Please share in the comments; I need to know!