Simple ways to make housework easier with speed cleaning
By: nicole
TAGS: chores household housework time saving
Do you ever think up ways to save time on housework? I’m always on the look-out for top tips that turn cleaning my home into ‘Speed cleaning’. Below I’ll share some simple tricks and processes that can make household cleaning a much easier task.
Try out these speed cleaning tips at home…
1. Get organised
If you want to clean quickly, then you need to have your cleaning supplies stored ready for easy access. I have a basket in the main bathroom that contains all the necessary products to clean this room. As all the stuff is there, you can even give the mirrors and benches a quick wipe down when the kids are in the bath of an evening.
In my kitchen there’s a dust-pan and brush, clean up cloths, and paper towels easily accessible for the kids – so they clean up their own mess. Much quicker for me if they do it themselves! I also have cloths, paper towels and scrubbers together in a convenient place to use when wiping down the benches and stove-top.
2. Invest in the right tools
Cleaning can take you twice as long if you have old cloths, dusters etc. Take the time to do an inventory of the cleaning tools you use regularly and make sure they are in good condition. I recently bought new micro-fibre cloths and they made such a difference to how quick and easy it was to wipe down the benches.
3. Plan it
If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that if you have to think about what to clean, you will procrastinate and delay getting started on a job. I now have a routine of jobs for each weekday. It is a guide for what I tasks I can attack when I get in from school drop-off. Before this, I found I would often have taken just as much time working out what to do as I did doing the actual job once I got started!
If you have an iPhone, there is a great app you can purchase called Home Routines. It takes planning your cleaning tasks to a whole new level. It lets you create routine checklists and even has reminder notifications. This level of planning would see you whiz through the cleaning tasks!
4. Set time limits
Ever notice how you can start on a small cleaning job, but it ends up taking you over half an hour? The best speed cleaning tip I ever received was to set a timer before you start a task. I use 15-minute blocks to speed clean and the timer does two things for me:
- It makes me focus on the task at hand only and I work hard to finish it in that time.
- It seems achievable because it is only 15 minutes.
5. De-clutter
The more stuff you have about, the longer it takes to clean. Every night before I go to bed, I spend 10 – 15 minutes doing a quick whip around the house, getting rid of stuff and putting things back where they belong. Doing this at night means I can get it done in half the time as I don’t have my little helpers following me from room to room. So in the morning when it comes time to tackle my 15-minute speed cleaning task, I can just spend the time cleaning, not tidying the area first before I can clean.
6. Keep emergency cleaning supplies
There will always be those occasional days when you need to get the house looking smarter… in less than 10 minutes. Have disposable cleaning wipes or paper towels on hand for these emergency speed cleaning occasions. They let you quickly wipe down bathroom benches and mirrors, or even the toilet seat (which is nearly always in need of cleaning in my house with so many little boys!) before visitors arrive. Then with the last remaining minutes, I can speedily remove some of the sticky fingerprints on the windows in the main living area too!
7. Use online resources
There are some fantastic online resources to help you get further into speed cleaning:
- Flylady – has almost a cult-like following. Don’t be put off by the daggy website, there’s some amazing info in there like her Routines and Declutter tips.
- Real Simple – their speed cleaning tips actually break-down every minute of the cleaning block. If your pantry needs a speed clean check out this post Speed-Clean Your Pantry – or if you have a play area for the kids that’s in a mess, try the 20-minute task, Speed-Clean Your Playroom.
- Good House Keeping – has detailed time saving tips for cleaning most rooms in the house. While you are there, also check out the Home Speed-Cleaning Guide.
Want more cleaning short cuts? Read the Kleenex Mums Top 50 Clever Cleaning Tips
What have I missed? Share a tip of your own in the comments below:
nicole
Nicole is the mother to five gorgeous children aged from 11 to 1. She is slightly obsessed with to-do lists, spreadsheets, music and playing with her kids. You can also find her blogging at Planning With Kids, where she shares ideas to help put organisation into the happy chaos that is a family with young children.
Showing 15 comments
Completely helpful content and hashing out ideas ...
It takes me 2 hours tops to clean my house. I live in a small apartment. I manage to clean it whenever I have time off from work. I guess that's the beauty of living in a small apartment. It's so easy to clean. Hehe!
Tyler Perkins
Wow, These all the great way. Speed cleaning has nothing to do with liking or disliking cleaning. It has to do with getting cleaning over with so that we can get on to better things. We're all working these days, and the weekends shouldn't be bogged down with cleaning the house. It should be spent going to the park with the kids. To do that, you need a cleaning system so that you know where to start, what to do first, what to have in your right hand, what to have in your left hand - those kinds of things - so you will finish cleaning as quickly as possible.
Hi Helen,
Very sorry to hear that you have had a bad experience with the Viva Glass and Mirror Wipes. We would love to find out more about the issues you encountered and would ask you to get in touch with us via http://www.kleenexmums.com.au/... Thanks again for getting in touch, Melissa
Tried the new viva shower glass and tile cleaners! Sorry they dont work!!! Very dissappointed as I have just spent $5 for nothing!
I dance to the music too while I do the nasty cleaning jobs, look at it this way ,You get a good free workout.
30 min??? really? You may be don't include dish washing in this but still... hmm I think cleaning can't take me less than 50 min. And my home is not big. May be I have to change something.
Time limits! YES! I can clean my entire house in 30 min when I set my mind to it. Great tips Nic.
I bought a cleaning bucket recently that has a caddy that sits in the top with all the cleaning products, so you can lift it out and then use the bucket. It's great for me because I have a very small laundry (if you could call it that), so space is a rarity. This really helps.
Yup. Me too! Music is great. Especially 80s hits for me. Of course, there's always the risk I'll spend more time dancing than cleaning, but that's not all bad is it? ;)
I've just downloaded the iPhone app HomeRoutine! I found it a little confusing to work out how to set it up to my liking, but I'm getting it now! I love that I can allocate jobs for each day, and allocate 'Zones' that need to be cleaned each day as well.
Of course, you don't need an iPhone to do this - just a piece of paper with a routine written down. Same/same!
Great post. Thanks for the tips!
Since I created myself a work plan - a guide for what jobs I do first, it has made a real difference. So often it is just the getting started which is the batte.
I also crank up the music too. Makes it much more bearable!
I would save myself a load of time by not procrastinating… I spend so much time thinking about getting started on housework, that by the time I get round to it, it could have already been done! Decluttering is essential and I also find it helps to be able to carry all the cleaning supplies that you need around with you. I have a really cute retro cleaning caddy that just fits in everything that I need, which saves me having to go back and forth to my cleaning cupboard. If only my kids could work the real vacuum as well as their toy one, then I’d really be in business!
I agree with you, routine is vital! If you hate hate housework then set the timer, crank up the music and just do it. Give yourself a reward at the end. You will enjoy it more with clean floors/bathrooms/toilets/kitchen!