How to Clean Your House Quick & Easy

We’re all extremely busy, whether that’s with jobs or children, so taking time out of our busy schedules to clean our homes can feel like we’re wasting precious moments on dusting and polishing, rather than quality time with our families.

If we can find a way to do boring tasks quicker, we would. That’s why we’ve created this guide on how to clean your house quick and easy – with no fuss. Think of it as a speed clean for your home – and don’t forget to pass on your new skills to friends and family.

Choose One Task and Do the Entire House

This is a great tip to get started with. If you’re in the mindset for dusting, it makes sense to pick that as your task and do every single room in your home, rather than switch between tasks in only one room. The same goes for mopping the floors – you’ve got the bucket and cleaning solution ready to go. Make your way through each room and then you’ve completed one task in a multitude of areas.

Create a Checklist of Tasks

Even though it’s easier to remember which tasks you’ve completed if you stick to one task for the whole house, knowing what those tasks need to be will help you get everything completed far quicker. If you have an exact list in front of you, this will give you a sense of satisfaction when you cross jobs off – then you’ll have more of an incentive to get everything done faster. You could even reward yourself when each task is complete with a sweet treat or 5-minute break in the garden.

Organize Your Task List

Although creating a task list is a great idea, it needs to be in a reasonable order, so that you’re not dusting last, and ruining your mopping or hoovering efforts. We suggest putting your tasks in this order, depending on if you require certain tasks on your list:

Tidy up any mess or clutter, removing unnecessary items from work surfaces
Dust and polish surfaces
Vacuum clean
Wipe mirrors and windows
Disinfect any relevant areas, especially the kitchen, bathroom, and door handles
Sweep your wood or hard floors, then mop them

You can see that this list actually isn’t that daunting, especially if you approach the whole house, one task at a time.

Make Sure You Have the Relevant Cleaning Equipment

Before you even begin, your cleaning will be done a lot quicker if you have the right equipment available. There’s no point getting to the mopping stage if your mop is dropping apart and makes more smears and stains that if you just left it.

Keep a handy caddy under your sink with these products and tools:

Wood polish spray
Polish cloths
Vacuum cleaner
Long reach brush and pan
Short reach brush and pan
Feather duster
Multipurpose antibacterial cleaner
Shower/bathtub cleaner
Sponges
Kitchen towel
Newspaper (great for cleaning windows and mirrors)
Any specialist cleaners, such a hardwood floors or laminate

Keeping these products up to date and cleaning your cloths and sponges regularly means you’ll have a clean and tidy home, but you’ll also find that jobs will be completed quicker because smears and marks won’t appear as easily.

A well-maintained vacuum cleaner will also ensure your home is cleaned efficiently, as excess dust and particles are picked up. This will also prolong the life of your carpets.

Time Yourself in Each Room and for Each Task

If you do decide to clean each room at one time, then a great way to speed this up is by timing yourself per room. We recommend the below timings per room. Obviously these all depend on the size of your rooms, but it’s a good standard to follow:

Bathroom – 7 minutes
Kitchen – 12 minutes
Living room – 7 minutes
Dining room – 7 minutes
Bedroom – 5 minutes

Task-wise, spend more time on mopping floors and cleaning surfaces. You could always start timing yourself on each job – then try to beat this next time you decide to clean!

If you don’t fancy that, then just ensure you don’t spend any more than 15 minutes per room, especially bedrooms. If your house is generally clean and tidy, it’s not necessary to spend half an hour scrubbing your window sills and coffee table – a quick and thorough wipe down is all that’s needed.

Do Smaller Tasks More Regularly

Not in the mood for a full house clean? Us neither. Try to break bigger tasks down into smaller, bite-size chunks. If you can do it in under 5 minutes, then do it. For instance, this could mean taking the bins out, or wiping down the fridge. A few smaller tasks each day mean that your house gets clean without you even realizing. If you do have children, you could even allocate these smaller tasks to them, with rewards at the end. This encourages work ethic and clean habits for the future.

Friends or Family Just Called to Say They’re Dropping By?

No need to panic. Although you won’t be able to achieve the above, you can give the appearance that you’ve just cleaned. Simply clear away any clutter and rubbish, adjust towels in the bathroom, and give your favorite air-freshener a spritz. No one will ever know!

Sources:

Cleaning Basics – The American Cleaning Institute (ACI)
50 Cleaning Hacks for Your Home That Will Make Your Life Easier – Lifehack