Keeping a clean and orderly home is not at the forefront of everyone’s agenda; and besides, there’s almost always something more exciting to do — even doing nothing at all can be more appealing to some than doing housework.
Whether you’re in a full-time hoarding situation, or a house-proud suburbanite, keeping your home clean can be tiresome, to say the least. The average American spends 23 hours and 36 minutes a month cleaning their home, that’s almost an entire day lost to cleaning. Thankfully, there are steps you can take and simple lifestyle changes you can adopt to ease the pain.
This may sound like a no-brainer for some, but in order to “keep” a clean house, you are going to need to start with a clean house. Once your house is in the condition you would like to keep it in, then you can explore ways to ease the maintenance of your home.
Whether your schedule is booked solid or you’re a convenience enthusiast who simply prefers to watch television, these 10 easy ways to keep your home clean can definitely be a game-changer.
5 Easy Ways to Keep Your Home Clean
1. Start Automating
For some, automating may sound a little too space-age, even for the Millennials, but technology has come a long way. There are a variety of products that will happily do your dirty work for you.
Familiar cleaning robots like the Roomba, which followed an early Electrolux model called the Trilobite, have been a household name for some time, but now there are far more automated cleaning products on the market, you’re bound to find a thing or two to help out.
From robotic mops to self-cleaning toilet systems, automated cleaning can make some of the most arduous tasks seem like a breeze. Products that automatically sterilize and clean your toothbrush or robotic window cleaners, can do their job while you’re busy doing something else.
Think about how much time and energy you would save if the carpets, floors, windows, litter boxes, and toilets all seemed to miraculously clean themselves.
2. Employ your Teenagers
Teenagers are the ideal candidates to help with household upkeep. Most high school kids and even middle school or younger, are more than capable of doing a chore or two around the house. Vacuuming, emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash, and even folding laundry are all suitable jobs for teens.
Come up with a schedule and encourage them to stick to it. You can motivate your teenager to complete their household duties by rewarding them with an allowance. If an allowance isn’t an option, things like making their favorite meal, or watching a show of their choice can also inspire teens to do their share of the housework.
Not only does doing chores teach responsibility, but it also teaches kids some of the ins and outs of maintaining a home.
3. Hire a Regular Cleaning Crew
Hiring a regular cleaning crew is by far the easiest way to keep your home clean. It can take some time to find the right cleaning service, so read a lot of reviews to make sure you get a reputable company. Depending on what is agreed to, a cleaning crew can do as much or as little of your cleaning that you want.
Some crews come in and tackle the laundry, bed linens, dishes, and bathrooms, as well as the windows and the floors. Other crews may just do the carpets, floors, bathrooms, and dusting; it all depends on what you need and what you and the cleaning service agree to.
Most cleaning companies do the maintenance part after your home has had an initial cleaning to the standard you want to uphold. You may be asked to do this yourself, or the cleaning company may schedule this as their first visit. It’s always polite to have your home picked up to some degree before they arrive so they can get to work right away.
4. The Ten Minute Rule
The ten-minute rule is a painless way to keep your home clean. Make a commitment to clean for a designated ten minutes every day if possible. Ten minutes doesn’t sound like a lot of time to get much accomplished, but you’d be surprised.
Regardless of the size of your abode, if your home is well maintained, things like organizing and wiping down the refrigerator, or vacuuming the bedrooms shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.
The ten-minute rule works best if you have a set time to do your cleaning, this way it becomes a part of your daily routine, or a household routine.
Think about it, if three household members each commit 10 minutes a day to upkeep the home, that’s 30 minutes a day, or 3 and a half hours a week; sometimes that’s all that’s needed to keep up with your household duties.
5. Put Things Away
The idea of putting things away in the place where they belong may have come from your parents asking you to “pick up after yourself.” Practicing this simple concept can greatly reduce the time and effort put forth on keeping a home.
Like the ten-minute rule, if practiced consistently, this minor lifestyle adjustment will soon become an effective habit with a noticeable impact
Putting things away may take some getting used to. This approach to housekeeping not only involves putting important things like keys and tools in a designated place so they are out of the way but easy to retrieve, it also includes chores like putting away the laundry when it’s done in the dryer and putting dirty clothes in the hamper where they belong.
This simple practice to keep your home clean can make a big difference if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands; it’s a way to maintain order in your home in case an unexpected guest decides to drop by unannounced.
Final Thoughts
Keeping your home clean doesn’t need to take up all your time and energy; besides it’s the 21st Century, we have robots now. Starting out with a clean and organized home is essential if you want to maintain a certain level of standard in your home. Once you have that established, it can take minimal effort in terms of upkeep.
So whether you decide on committing to a long-term relationship with a Roomba or a 10-minute daily cleaning session, any amount of time or energy spared will have an impact. Adopting lifestyle changes that encourage daily upkeep most certainly will boost the results. Ultimately you end up with more time, less stress, and a clean home.
