House Cleaning Tips

Home Cleaning Tips By The Professional House Cleaners at Mrs. Clean

After a thorough spring deep cleaning, your home can usually be maintained by consistent routine house cleaning - the key to a clean and neat home is regular upkeep.

Regular upkeep consists of dusting, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming at scheduled intervals - or, cleaning up small messes while they are still "small". The bathroom is always cleaned and sanitized - including toilets, shower, sinks and floors. The kitchen area always receives scrupulous attention to detail - especially food preparation counters and making sure floors are clean, never allowing to become sticky or soiled. Dropped food should immediately be removed and stains wiped up before they dry.

When you get ready to do your house cleaning, begin in one room, finish it and go on to the next. Concentrate on the room and the job at hand until you are satisfied that it meets your special standards of order and cleanliness. A good habit is to begin at the back and top of the house and clean your way, room by room, down to the front. This strategy will also help you achieve your goal of cleaning the entire house. If you begin with the living room and work back, you might find yourself becoming tired and find yourself in the old trap of putting off until tomorrow that which you should do today - rest assured, tomorrow never comes!

Don't be sidetracked! Allowing yourself to become distracted by picking up a book or discovering an interesting project that you had previously started and not finished can cost you precious hours later in the day. Five or ten minutes of losing your focus can turn house cleaning into an all day chore.

It's difficult and distracting to multi-task while house cleaning! Don't try to get your laundry washed and dried while working on your cleaning. As you go from room to room, pick up scattered clothing and put them in a laundry basket. Do the laundry later.

Enlist your family's help in cleaning, diplomatically, of course! Hand your 3-year old a cloth or a sponge and let her wipe dust from a table or help clean up that spilled milk! And surprisingly, 10-year old boys can do a great job of vacuuming - maybe something about the noise and controlling the power is appealing.

When house cleaning chores are finished, it's time to relax, settle back and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. The secret of house cleaning is having a strategy - plan your route through your house, stay focused and organized, and enlist help from family with jobs that are appropriate for them to do.

Start at the top and work toward the bottom

This applies to all aspects of housecleaning. Start on the highest floor and work your way down. If you are dusting, start at the ceiling (cobwebs), work your way down the walls, tops of picture frames, doorways, mirrors, wall lamps, mantles, etc. Clean the baseboards last.

Clean from back to front

If you are vacuuming, start in the corner farthest away from the door. Backup towards the door as you vacuum, without leaving footprints on the newly vacuumed carpet. In the kitchen, start with the outside of the cabinets, moving to the back of the stove and counters throughout the kitchen, then the drawer exteriors.

Make every move count

Clean in one direction. Whether it is left to right, or right to left. Be efficient and clean everything the first time, moving on to the next. Organize your supplies. Turn off the lights as you go.

Know your cleaning products and surfaces

Many commonly used cleaning products can be harmful to you and/or the cleaning surface if used incorrectly. Bleach containing products mixed with products that contain ammonia or other acids can give off a very deadly gas. Even common and simple household products can be harmful. Read all product labels and instructions prior to use.

Wipe it dry

This applies to the bathrooms, kitchen, and floors. Always dry metal and wood surfaces to eliminate water spots.