This post was sponsored by P&G as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.
Taking care of a household is a lot of work. To be honest it can be quite overwhelming with all of the tasks and chores that need to be done. But there is nothing I love more than a clean home. When my home is clean, I just feel like I can relax at a deeper level. I feel like my mood is better, so I have been implementing some things into my daily, weekly and monthly routines that have helped me to achieve a cleaner home. They aren’t super tough to do, in fact they are easy things but they really help a lot. So I wanted to share with you my 7 Easy Tips for Keeping a Clean Home:
1. Clean Up the Clutter Daily- I feel like at my house, clutter is my biggest enemy. Everyone’s stuff just piles up and it can really make the house look like a disaster. if you have ever let it go for a couple of weeks or more, then you know what I am talking about. It is so much easier if everyone picks up everything and puts it into its rightful place daily. The best way I have found is to set a time of day that works for your family, and have that be the clutter pick up time. Whether you are a morning family and right after breakfast works for you. Or if you’re not a big fan of mornings, like us, after dinner and just before bed tends to work well. It doesn’t matter when it happens, just that it happens each day. And if you miss a day, don’t get discouraged, just start again the next day. With little kids, I have found it most effective to make them little piles of their things on the stairs (or on the floor if you don’t have stairs) and they can grab there pile and take it to their room.
2. Dishes, Don’t Let Them Pile Up- I really hate a sink full of dishes. It drives me crazy. Yet we tend to have a sink full of dishes quite often at our house. I am trying to get into the habit of doing the dishes each day so that I don’t have that awful dirty sink pile up that makes me so frustrated. I find that right when I get up in the morning is the best time for me to do the dishes, because I feel the most motivated and energetic at that time. But I also know other moms who love doing them at night before they go to bed. Just do what works for you. I really like the Cascade Complete Action Pacs because they do a really great job at getting my dishes clean and I don’t have to spend a lot of time pre-scrubbing.
3. Make Your Home Smell Great- For me, having my home smell good and clean, is a big part of it feeling clean to me. My favorite choice is Febreze and I am loving the Air Effects Sprays. I like that it actually takes away the bad smells, and leaves a fresh scent that makes me feel like my home is super clean (even if it isn’t completely and perfectly clean). Right now they have a limited Edition Happy Spring scent that is so good!
4. Clean Your Bathrooms Once a Week- Bathrooms seem to be the biggest pain for me and the area of my home I dread cleaning the most. Obviously because the grossest things happen there, I am sure I am not alone in this. But one thing that my sister has actually taught me is just how much easier and less dreadful bathroom cleaning is when you do it once a week. I’ve let my bathrooms sit uncleaned for weeks, even months before, and it gets disgusting (that is probably an understatement). I am not proud of this but, life happens. Getting into the habit of cleaning them (especially the toilets) once a week has really helped to make it seem like a less daunting task, because it really doesn’t take as long to clean them. One of my favorite go to bathroom cleaning products are the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They really make cleaning easy and I find when I use them I don’t have to scrub as hard. Another tip: clean the shower when you are in it taking your shower. It is so much easier that way because you don’t have to worry about getting wet.
5. Deep Clean One Area Once a Month- Rather than saving all the deep cleaning for once a year, pick a task or area of your home and make that the priority for the month. For example, in January you clean the floor boards, February you organize the basement, March the windows, April you focus on cleaning the blinds, etc…That way everything doesn’t build up to a monumental cleaning job that just feels too overwhelming to complete. Having a whole month helps to make it feel less overwhelming and be sure to have the husband and kids help out each month. I love how many multiple cleaning uses you can get out of Dawn Platinum Advanced Power. Besides being awesome for cleaning dishes and getting stuck on food off easily, you can use a drop or two of Dawn in warm water and use it to clean counters, tile floors, windows, floor boards and more. If you have a pool you can put a few drops of Dawn in the middle of the pool and it will make all of the dirt, leaves, and sunscreen go to the edges of the pool for easy clean up. It is also great for getting greasy products like vaseline out of kid’s hair, if you have had a toddler get into vaseline you know what I am taking about 😉
6. Set Aside a Laundry Day- I used to be the worst about laundry. My family was lucky that I washed and dried it and they always had to fish it out of the laundry hampers or off of the dining room table. I really hated folding it. I know I am not alone in this. So I started setting aside my Sundays, because this was the day I didn’t have to work, for Laundry day. I sort it all, wash it all, fold it all, and put it all away in that day. Sometimes it is throughout the day, sometimes it is all at night. But I make myself fold it all and put it away in everyone’s rooms before I got to bed on Sunday night. After doing this for about a month or two I really got into the habit and I don’t dread it anymore. I actually feel accomplished and proud and my family really appreciates being able to grab their clothes out of nicely folded piles in their drawers rather than out of a huge pile. My favorite detergent is Tide, and I recently started using Tide Advanced Power detergent. I love how clean my clothes are and the don’t fade like with other detergents.
7. Don’t Let Small Spills & Messes Sit- Another thing that is super small but really helps and adds up in the grand scheme of home cleaning, is small spills and messes. Sometimes I just don’t feel good, sometimes I feeling lazy and I just want to ignore that small mess on the counter or table or floor. But it is always so much easier if you just tackle it right then, rather than having to go back and scrub it up later. Bounty Advanced Paper Towels are perfect for cleaning up every day messes and I like that they are strong and don’t break easily, even when using them for scrubbing. Another thing I really like is that these select a size sheets are now a little longer which I think makes them the perfect size. Not too big, not too small.
I hope these tips help you to have a cleaner home, less stress, and more time to enjoy life! I would love to hear your thoughts and cleaning tips in the comments section below this post.
All of the P&G products mentioned above are available at Costco and I love that they are in big sized packs and containers so that I have more of these great products to use and have to run to the store less.
If you need extra help, consider a maid cleaning service.
