If you live alone, cleaning your house can seem quite daunting no matter how big or small your living space is. This is especially true if you’re juggling a full-time job or managing multiple commitments. However, there are ways to speed up your house cleaning process so you can keep your home in tip-top shape in an efficient manner.
Firstly, you’ll need to develop a structured cleaning system. By planning your tasks and how you’ll execute them, you can achieve a more streamlined workflow. Additionally, be sure to set a consistent and frequent cleaning schedule. Infrequent cleaning will allow dirt and mould to gradually accumulate, making them harder to remove. This will make your chores more tedious and time-consuming in the long run.
Secondly, you’ll also need to use quality cleaning supplies. Well-formulated detergents and disinfectants will ensure that grime and stains are completely eliminated. High-quality tools also make cleaning a breeze, so be sure to buy the right ones for the job. If you don’t have time to take a trip to the grocery and purchase items, don’t fret. You can always buy household supplies online to skip long queues and save more time.
With proper planning coupled with the proper tools, you can give your house a quick yet thorough clean. If you need more help developing an efficient house cleaning process, below are four tips to get you started:
Place Essential Cleaning Supplies in a Caddy
Even if you have top-notch cleaning supplies, failing to organise them in one place can slow you down. You might spend a large portion of your time searching for misplaced products or fetching the necessary equipment one by one. For this reason, make sure to place all your essential supplies in a caddy. This compact storage container with dividers can make it easier to organise your cleaning supplies. If you don’t have a caddy, using a tote bag or even a bucket should do the trick to help you carry multiple supplies with you as you go around the house. This way, whatever chores you’ll be doing, you’ll always have the right supplies on hand.
Clean Your Entire House, Not Just One Room at a Time
When doing a specific task, focus on your whole house rather than a single room. This is often referred to as “task cleaning” and involves performing a single task in all the rooms of your house. For example, if you’re vacuuming, then you should vacuum all rooms of the house in one go. Rather than spending hours cleaning a single room, like your bedroom, you can spend those hours vacuuming your whole house.
While there’s nothing wrong with focusing on a certain area of the house—also referred to as “zone cleaning”—this could be quite time-consuming. You might spend three hours cleaning the kitchen, another three for the bathroom, and so on, without having touched other parts of your house. Hence, zone cleaning is best reserved for days when a deep clean is needed. Task cleaning, on the other hand, is the perfect way to leave your entire house sparkling with minimal effort.
Start from Top to Bottom
What you decide to clean first can have a big impact on your efficiency. For instance, you might dust your bedroom side table before dusting the picture frames above it. However, dirt particles from the frames are likely to fall on your newly cleaned table, requiring you to dust it all over again. This is why you should start cleaning any room from top to bottom, rather than the opposite. Once you clean the objects on your walls and ceiling, you can remove any stray dust or dirt that might have fallen below.
Do Your Chores in the Correct Order
It’s recommended that you do dusting, vacuuming, and mopping in that respective order. Just like cleaning from top to bottom, this process keeps things efficient. There’s no point in vacuuming a room if you dust right after, as dusting leaves more dirt on the floor, leading you to vacuum all over again. On that note, make sure that your fans are turned off before you start dusting to prevent dirt particles from flying around the house. Focus on dusting furniture, the underside of shelves, picture frames, television screens, and any small objects that are displayed in your home.
After you’ve finished dusting, vacuum the floor to remove leftover dust and other kinds of debris. Keep moving through the house as you vacuum and make sure to give heavily carpeted areas a good clean. Lastly, a thorough mopping will keep the floors of your home shiny, eliminating dirt or stains that couldn’t be removed by vacuuming. Make sure to rinse your mop each time you clean a 4×4 foot area so you don’t spread more dirt.
Even if you live alone, cleaning your house doesn’t have to be an overwhelming chore. By following the tips mentioned above, you can work smarter rather than harder. With an efficient cleaning process, you can spare plenty of time to focus on other things while still enjoying a well-kept home.
