House cleaning tips

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Don't do it all at one time. Set aside time for that one part, nuke it to hell and then do something else another time. That way you don't have the psychological block of having a huge mess to clean.
Oh and don't overload your dish washer. I found that out the hard way. Gave it too much to do in one shot and broke down on me and then I had to give her some time off to watch you tube videos before I put her back to work.
... What, you don't put your succubusususususususes to work too? Oh wait, this isn't the LARPing thread.
 
What useful tips can you share to make house cleaning faster?
Click to expand...
See this is the problem, you can't just clean "fast" and expect to do a good job. It takes effort and a thorough job to make sure the house is clean, neat, and tidy.

Anytime I clean something not only do I take my time, but afterwards a feeling of pride and accomplishment washes over myself and i feel much better. Cleaning is good for the body, mind, and soul.
 
General home cleaning
1. Organise your loose stuff first. Books, toys, electronics, anything loose, stow them away and try to have as much surface area on both tables and floors open.
2. Dust all flat table surfaces. You can do this with a feather duster or a damp towel and a spray bottle of your preferred cleaning solution. I personally like to use eucalyptus solution, it has a sharp smell at first but it quickly dissipates.
3. Deploy your vacuum cleaner. I like to mentally section off parts of my rooms and vacuum in rectangles. Wearing socks can be pretty useful here as it can mop up dust while you move around.
4. If you've got wooden or tile flooring, bring out your mop and follow through. Wear sandals or indoor shoes to avoid getting soggy socks.
5. Allow your mopped floors to dry. This is a good time to go clean the bathroom or reorganise your closet, or just kick up your feet and relax for a job well done.

Bathroom
1. As a general rule, clean your bathroom once a fortnight and your shower stall/bath every month. If the latter is prone to "pink" grime, clean it in the fortnight as well. If you are also cleaning the rest of the house, do the bathroom before you vacuum and mop.
2. Clean methodically from top to bottom, the bottom being the toilet. Start with any mirrors, using whatever glass cleaning solution that you have on hand. You can use wet-wipes or spray+towel for any cabinet fronts that you have.
3. Use a hand scrubber/hard brush for shower stalls, and a scourer/sponge for baths. Fill a bucket with warm water and your preferred cleaning solution (make sure it's tile-friendly) and scrub between tiles, eliminating grout before it can get established. If it's well entrenched already, you'll have to seek more specialised solutions for it, so just sud it up briefly and wash down everything with your showerhead or several buckets of water thrown in.
4. Use an old toothbrush combined with bleach+solution to clean drains. Make sure to always have rubber gloves on when handling bleach. If you can, bin any hair or foreign objects found on the drain.
5. Use an forsaken towel or disposable wipes/towels combined with antiseptic solution for toilet surfaces. Before you start wiping, apply toilet bowl cleaner and pour a bit of bleach in.
6. Once you've finished wiping down the toilet, flush the toilet and rapidly poke the toilet brush down the pipe while it's flushing (gloves are good here). If your bowl is already stained, brush a little harder with the toilet brush and apply some more bleach. Flush again once you're satisfied.
7. Clean up and bring in your vacuum and mop. Try to use a brush attachment with your vacuum.

That's all I'll do for now, if people are interested in similar tips on the kitchen I'll post it later.
 
For maintaining cleanliness, clean as you go. If you have a morning rush, set aside time specifically for cleaning up after yourself. Keep the tools you use to clean specific objects near said objects. For things you simply cannot make time for, such as washing dishes after a morning breakfast, schedule times each day specifically for cleaning what you mess. Maintain a routine, and within a month of doing so, it will become second nature.

Also invest in an electric air duster, and learn how to open your computer to clean dust out of it if you don't know already, keeping the parts and screws in a bowl so you don't lose them. Normal cans of air are nice for cleaning dust out of towers and keyboards, but they have zero longevity and are troublesome to use versus an electric air duster, although you may want to take dusty electronics outside before you clean them. But with one, you can clean things besides simple electronics, such as blowing dirt off of tables or out of hard-to-reach places to more easily vacuum, or cleaning out electric razors. Gunk gets in bothersome places, and an air duster can clean things you can't even fit a needle in to pry out, such as the creases of phones or divots in light switches. Just watch so your eyes don't get debris in them.
 
I live in a small apartment and I find it easier to maintain cleanliness than to let the mess build up over a short period of time. I never leave dishes in the sink, I always put trash in the bin, I always put clean clothes away after laundry is done, etc. The rest is usually just an hour or two of maintainence scrubbing, dusting and vacuuming every Saturday morning.
 
When cleaning and a raw granite countertop in your bathroom, use Windex spray instead of Clorox wipes. Take a folded paper towel, spray some on and wipe it in a side-to-side motion to get the best shiny results. Using clorox wipes will make it look rough when used too much.
 
What I have done is create a list of things to do in each room of my apartment and then keep notes about when I last did them and when they should be done next, and then spot-clean things that get dirty on a regular basis. Over time I have learned what needs to be cleaned the most often vs. what doesn't need to be, saving time, effort and money on things that don't need to be cleaned as frequently. E.g. this time of the year I am not using my stove or oven very often, so I don't need to clean those much if at all, maybe just dust the stovetop with a cloth.

Other incidentals like laundry/trash/dishes are ongoing, generally it's not hugely time-consuming to do a load of laundry during the day (especially during mandatory WFH) and I just put the dishes in the dishwasher, it doesn't cost much to run it even if it's fairly empty.

I also bought a Roomba which has massively cut down on the time that PITA used to take.
 
Hey. Do you know something about robotic cleaners? If you have money, you can buy such device and it will make a lot of work. I saw such thing in my friends house and he said that it is not necessary to vacuum floors now. If you want to know about robotic cleaner I can share article which will describes it.
 
yeah those scrubby sponges for dishes clean lots of crap
don't buy bleach spray, buy a jug of bleach and a spray bottle and just dilute it
get in the habit of bleach spraying as you finish using stuff, especially stuff like shower stalls where it's going to get hosed down next use anyways
 
Start at the top and end at the bottom when dusting so you do not have to redo areas you've already cleaned. Don't forget the baseboards either.
 
According to the chick from Clean My Space, get a rich husband and a boobjob. That's all you really need.
 
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