Lifestyle

5 Tips for Everyday Cleaning

5 tips for everyday cleaningWhile I joke about it with friends, and even dressed up as a ‘50s housewife last October to further illustrate the point, I am definitely not a domestic diva. Let’s face it, running a business from home with three kids and a husband who works unpredictable shift work is challenging. Just to get everyone out the door with shoes on some days is a task (my four-year-old loves surprising me with the discovery of no shoes when we get to school to drop off her siblings!)

I don’t meal plan (I should) and don’t have a cleaning schedule for what gets done each day (I should) so I keep the house from looking like a tornado hit it by staying on top of cleaning with easy everyday cleaning tips. Read on for my tested and triumphant tips.

1. Clean your sink every night. This is an old tip I learned from a website called flylady.net and while I fail miserably at most of her other tips, this one is brilliant. A dirty sink is gross, and no matter how clean your kitchen is, having a sparkling clean sink is what makes your kitchen clean. Load the dishwasher at night (I set the timer to have it run in the middle of the night) and then spray and wipe down your sink before you go to bed. It’s awesome to wake up to a clean sink each day.

2. Your microwave can get gross quickly, and just like your oven a spill can bake/cook on and be harder to remove the longer it sits. If you see a mess, clean it up (that’s the same advice I give to my kids, though they rarely listen).

3. Your bathroom mirror should show you your beautiful reflection, not how poorly your 9-year-old brushed his teeth. This is something (along with the bathroom sink) that seems to be a magnet for toothpaste. Take a moment daily to give both the sink and mirror a wipe down (and then cringe when your 9-year-old sprays it with toothpaste the next morning).

4. Look at things in your house with “new eyes”. The handles on your fridge door, for example. I know, I’ll give you a minute to catch your breath now that you’ve realized how grimy they are. Now, prepare yourself, and go take a look at your light switches. It’s OK, I’m right there with you mom. This is another one of those daily tasks that will make a huge difference if you let it slide. My fridge is white and so the handles can get downright disgusting when the kids continually come in from playing in the yard to grab a quick snack. A nightly wipe down does wonders.

5. Finally, your kitchen counters and table should always be wiped clean throughout the day. This, perhaps, is more of a tip for my husband who considers cleaning up after a meal to be removing items from the counter and table but leaving the crumbs, food, and whatever else behind! Take 30 seconds to wipe down and sanitize your counters after meal preparation and carry on with your day.

I love when being a domestic diva is made easy.

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  • Love the kitchen sink tip. Many people are worried about the bacteria in a toilet, but a sink is worse and much more prone to make you ill.

  • these are all good tips. I’m going to try to take a look with “new eyes” – and hopefully I won’t freak out too much!

  • Love the kitchen sink tip,the sink and counter are the most important places to keep clean I believe

  • The bathroom mirror in my home seems to attract toothpaste all the time.
    These tips will definitely come in handy for me. Great re-cap…thanks!

  • These are all great tips, and it doesn’t take long at all just to do simple everyday tiding up, much better than having to do one big clean!!

  • great tips. just a little tidying up helps keep your house looking clean even when you know it needs a deep clean

  • I love these tips and I buy the Lysol wipes for cleaning up everyday and wiping down the fridge handles, the phone ,counter tops etc.I love these great tips because let’s face it,We live in a grimy world and the germs never stop.

  • I wipe down the kitchen and bathroom sinks daily but am falling behind on your other tips. I will be more vigilant..

  • Great tips. Cleaning as you go keeps things tidy and you don’t have a huge amount of cleaning at once to tackle.

  • You know, you’re right about the kitchen sink, need to make a habit of cleaning it nightly. 🙂

  • I started cleaning my sink at night and love it. It feels great to have the sink clean and shiny when I go to bed.

  • I like the clean the sink each night idea. I often end up making coffee over a dirty sink in the morning, but the times I have cleaned up the night before make a big difference in my mood.