How to Keep Your Home Clean All the Time

Are you constantly dealing with a messy house and want to learn how to organize it and keep it clean?

Keeping up your home when there’s so much to do can be a big challenge. However, it doesn’t have to be. If you’re able to make a little cleaning part of your routine, you can keep your home in great shape all the time. Here are some tips on how to do that.

Keep a To Do List

When it comes to getting anything done, including your daily chores, a to do list is a powerful tool.

Every day, write down the date, then a list of things to get done. Early on, you may want to start off listing everything we’re about to cover, from making the bed to starting the dishwasher at night. Eventually, you may be able to cut this down to one entry only, “Straighten up.”

At the Start of the Day

When you first get up, make your bed. A neat bed makes the whole room look organized, and this is a good start to the day. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to tuck in all your blankets. Just make sure the pillows are in place and the sheets and blankets are straight, and go on with your morning.

If you have a dishwasher, go ahead and empty it, putting everything away in the cabinets. A great time to do this is while your bagel or bread toasts and while your coffee brews. That way, your dishwasher will be ready for new dishes throughout the day.

Throughout the Day

Perhaps you go to work and come back in the evening, perhaps you’re a stay at home parent, or perhaps you work from home. Whatever the case, when you are home, keep up with your messes as you make them. When you cook and eat a meal, clean up the counters and do the dishes after. If you eat takeout at home, throw away the trash and do the dishes. If you don’t have a dishwasher, this means washing them and leaving them to dry, then putting them away the next time you walk by the kitchen. If you have a dishwasher, this means giving your cups, plates, and silverware a good rinse before loading the dishwasher.

You should also keep your sinks and faucets clean. After you do the dishes or brush your teeth, simply wipe them down with a washcloth or disinfecting wipes. Do this regularly, and it won’t take but a moment. Wait too long, and you’ll have to scrub off caked on grime.

The same goes for toilets. Have a toilet brush beside the bowl, and whenever you see residue in the toilet, scrub it with the brush. Do this regularly, and you’ll keep it clean. You may also want to spray it nightly with bleach and give it an additional scrub. In any case, if you don’t bother to do this, the toilet can get disgusting pretty fast and be really tough to clean.

If your neighborhood recycles, separate your papers, cans, and so on as you produce them. Finished a soda? Put the can in recycling. Got a bunch of junk mail? Toss it in recycling immediately. On the subject of mail, keep an inbox for your letters and bills so you’ll have them at hand, in an organized area, when you’re ready to respond.

Keep a floor mat outside your front door, and perhaps one just inside as well, so that you and guests can wipe the soles of your shoes before entering. Making taking off shoes in the house a rule as well and you’ll avoid getting much dirt tracked onto the hardwood floors and carpet.

Make Time for These Tasks

Do your laundry as soon as you have a full load ready to go. Depending on your lifestyle and the size of your family, you may need to do one load a week, or one load a day.

It doesn’t have to take long, since all you really need to do these days is load a washer, wait for the load to wash, switch the clothes to the drier, wait for them to dry, then take them out and fold them. If you need to go to the laundromat this can take a chunk out of your day, it’s true, so bring something to do. You can watch television or listen to something you enjoy while you fold them.

Sweep your floors every day or two, depending on how quickly dust and small items gather, and vacuum your carpets every couple of days. These tasks combined will help get rid of dust and dirt, which will make your home not only look better, but smell better.

Take out the garbage and recycling every day or so as well. Again, this will make your home look nicer and help keep the air fresh.

Making Chores Easier

We’re aware that cleaning can be dull. So, while you’re doing those daily tasks, turn on your favorite music, continue with a great audiobook, or put on your favorite podcast. Aside from when you’re folding clothes, don’t have the television on while you’re cleaning, as it will command your visual attention and can draw you away those tasks.

You may be wondering how much of your day this is going to take up. However, if you follow these tips and don’t let messes pile up, you’ll put in about 15 minutes or so a day. This can be different if you live with others and have to clean up after them, of course, so try to get them on board with cleaning up after themselves. Share this article with them! These tips are meant to help everyone keep a clean home, after all.