A 10 Step Guide For Cleaning Your House

Cleaning your house can be a chore, and putting off cleaning can make the task even more unbearable. With school starting back up, and many people having to adjust their schedules, cleaning typically gets pushed aside. Sometimes, having a cleaning schedule helps when you feel overwhelmed… cleaning one area everyday can often help make the task less dreadful, and knowing that you only have one area to clean at a time, you will be more compelled to actually do it each day. One complaint that I hear often, mainly from my children, is that they don’t know where to start! The secret is simple: start somewhere! If you don’t start somewhere, nothing will ever get done. That actually applies to most things in life, however, this article is about cleaning, so here is a list I put together that I typically stick to when cleaning:

1. Pick up the trash. Go through all the rooms and pick up all the trash. Empty all the trash cans too.

2. Gather and wash all the dishes. I usually walk through the house to make sure there aren’t any cups or dishes in the bedrooms.

3. Clean the Kitchen. Start with the dishes, then clean the microwave and oven. Wipe down all the counter-tops and the cabinets. Clean the walls and the light switches, and then clean out the refrigerator. The last thing I clean in the kitchen is the sink.

4. Clean the bathrooms. Get your bleach. I clean the sinks first when cleaning bathrooms, then the tub and showers, then the toilets.Then clean the mirrors, walls, and light switches.

5. Put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket! I understand that it is hard to keep up with laundry if you don’t have a washer or dryer. Going to the laundromat is not a fun chore for me. At least putting the clothes into the baskets helps a lot. This should actually be done everyday.

6. Put away the mess. Anything laying around, put it away. If it doesn’t have a place, either throw it away or make a place for it.

7. Dust. Did you know that dust is a mixture of dirt and dead skin cells? Yep. Something to think about before you decide not to dust. Don’t forget to get the ceiling fans. Sometimes I will dust or wipe the walls too depending on if they need it or not.

8. Vacuum/Sweep. After everything is picked up, cleaned, and put away/thrown away, it’s time to clean your floors. I don’t think the order is important here as long as the floors get swept or vacuumed.

9. Mop. After you sweep, then you mop. If you don’t sweep first, your floors will not get clean. If you don’t believe me, try getting two piles of dirt outside. Sweep one away but not the other. Now mop them up...which spot is cleaner? Exactly.

10. Clean your carpets. Once absolutely everything else is done, you can clean your carpets if you want. This way your house is completely clean (you don't have to shampoo your carpets everyday, but I have cleaned my carpets every week before and spot cleaned in between).

And there you have it. You’re only 10 steps away from a clean home! This is the order I clean in because it works for me, but if it’s easier for you to do them in a different order, then do! As long as it gets done. I do choose this order though for my own reasons. Dusting before I vacuum so that I get the dust up too, Mopping after I vacuum so I don’t track anything onto the floors, Dishes first so that there is room for other things and the counter- tops get wiped afterwards. The sink last in case I need to use the sink for anything else I’m cleaning. Any extras you decide to do, (light fixtures, baseboards, etc), should also be done before cleaning the floors.

Hopefully this list will help anyone who, (like myself), suffers from messy-house-syndrome which only pulls you further into procrastination. Now, I must take my own advice and go clean something! Thank you for reading!