Monday Motivation

General House Cleaning

Each Monday I do an overall cleaning of my house. This takes anywhere from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour (depending on how many times little man interrupts me). This is just a basic, all around dust n’ vacuum.

Only about an hour? Really?

Yes – my home isn’t tiny, but not that large. Upstairs is 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and the hallway (more like a landing – the cat condo and 2 book-shelves are in it). Downstairs is the living room/dining room combo, kitchen, bathroom and office (aka bedroom #3). Then there is also the family room and laundry area in the finished portion of our basement.

Having the tools ready to go, and a systematic approach to tackle the cleaning makes the job easy and fast.

Tools of the Trade

I make it easy to clean house. I created a tool kit – all supplies are in a bucket, ready to go at any time. Here are my tools:

• Swiffer dusters & handle
• cloth diapers (makes a great rag!)
• all purpose cleaner
• a disinfectant
• toilet brush
• hand brush
• rubber gloves
• a 1″ wide paint brush (dusts the cracks & crevices nicely)
• a toothbrush (get’s behind the faucet and in other hard-to-reach places)
• Swiffer Sweeper
• Swiffer Sweep & Vac
• Extra Swiffers
• Hoover vacuum cleaner
• an extra vacuum cleaner bag

The System

I start at the top and work my way down, going room-by-room. In every room, I work left to right, top to bottom.I first tidy up, then dust, then polish (if needed) or wipe down, then a sweep/vacuum.

I only vacuum the carpeted areas that are accessible to my Hoover. This general cleaning session isn’t time to move furniture! To sweep I use my Swiffer Sweep & Vac.

I also “mop” the tile floors (kitchen, bathrooms). Because I have the smallest kitchen and bathrooms, I get down on hands-and-knees and do it by hand. I use my all purpose cleaner and a rag.

My living room and dining room have laminate floors. To clean these, first I use the sweep & vac. Then I use my sweeper with a cloth diaper on it instead of a Swiffer as a mop. I spritz all purpose cleaner and wipe.

That’s It!

Now that I’ve typed this all out, it looks like a lot. But because I have simplified my tools, and have a system, it takes no time at all. It’s surprisingly easy!

Motivation

Starting off the week with a clean house is refreshing. It also puts my mind at ease to tackle other projects for the rest of the week.

How easy is your general housecleaning routine? Make it easier and faster. Go through all your supplies and create your own tool kit. And begin to use a systematic, almost routined, approach to doing it!