Cleaning in Less Time

by Gillian Markson | More from this Blogger

16 Jun 2006 04:19 PM

For most modern families and individuals, time is of the essence. It is more and more difficult to find the time to keep your home keep, healthy and livable. Yet, there are essential tasks and chores that every person must do, including doing the dishes, taking out the trash, vacuuming the floor and doing laundry. Here are some quick tips to help you maximize your time while keeping your house clean on a regular basis.

First and foremost, it is imperative that you understand that cleaning your house should be worked into a daily routine. There is time to stay tidy. For example, taking the trash out takes no more than two minutes. Loading dishes into the dishwasher takes no more than five, even if you pre-rinse them. Vacuuming takes five minutes per room, maximum. Laundry takes up to ten.

The real time-robbers include ironing clothes, dusting, mopping and intensive organizing. By understanding that cleaning only has to take no more than half-an-hour a day, you will be more able and positive about dedicating time to necessary tasks. Often time, cleaning only requires a change in mindset that will make all the difference in your overall attitude to taking care of personal responsibility.

Simple changes you can embrace involve placing clothing directly into the hamper after use, instead of on the floor. Taking a moment to rinse your dishes and place them in the dishwasher instead of letting the dishes pile up and then having to entirely scrub them to get dried food out. Picking up items from the floor as they fall, rather than letting them stay there until later. Regularly taking laundry to the washing room so that you can load them when you want to rather than leave them sitting on the floor in your room.

Next, you can dedicate an hour or two every other week towards deep cleaning, like washing and protecting furniture, vacuuming and ironing. To save even more time, you can put a few dollars towards taking your laundry to the laundry mat for cleaning and ironing. In many cities, for only a few dollars a visit, you can drop off your entire sack of laundry (even underwear) and have it returned to you entirely washed. If you pay for water in your home, then you may even come out even, financially speaking, by having someone else do your laundry for you.

Many busy families choose to hire a professional cleaner to help them keep their space tidy. You can hire a professional cleaning company to come several times a month for several hundred dollars to get a truly thorough cleaning job, or you can hire a student. If you are on a budget but would still like some regular cleaning assistance, then consider paying a local college student to spend some time in your home simply tidying up after you. Students love the money and you will have all of your chores taken care of for a fraction of the cost and time involved with doing it yourself.

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