How to clean your home once and for all
In spring, thoughts about updating come: wardrobe, home interior, life in general. To start the process of positive change, it is worth starting with a general cleaning. What should you get rid of in the first place and how to make cleaning as efficient as possible?
Do not confuse cleaning with regular cleaning. If you want not just to clean the dirt and dust off, but to arrange a real general cleaning, get ready to conduct an audit, get rid of unnecessary things and put everything in the house in its place.
Divide the cleaning into zones and stages, plan the time with a margin. For example, start by decluttering cabinets and surfaces – you can devote a couple of hours to this on weekdays. Allow at least one day off for wet cleaning, mopping and large-scale washing.
Assess how much you need the accumulated belongings. Disassembling the wardrobes, we divided things into groups. The first is what goes to the trash heap; the second is for things that can be sold, donated or donated to charity; the third is what you plan to leave.
Jeans one size smaller, which have been waiting in the wings since the 2000s, souvenirs that do not evoke emotions and only collect dust, things that duplicate each other – all this takes up space in wardrobes and on shelves as a senseless load.
First of all, get rid of expired cosmetics and medicines, old clothes, broken objects. There is no point in keeping things “just in case” and unnecessary gifts for years. Be ruthless to anything you haven’t used in over a year.
Assign a place for each item
The habit of storing each item in a certain place and returning it there after use, among other things, helps to save time on cleaning. To remember where you put this or that item, adhere to logical principles. Store things by category: place of use, functionality, or even color.
Keep frequently used items in plain sight. Take away what you won’t be using in the coming months. For example, with the arrival of spring, winter clothes can be moved deeper into the closet, warm blankets can be conveniently placed in special vacuum bags and hidden in drawers under the bed.
A first aid kit and emergency documents should always be kept in the same place. For a passport, policy, medical insurance and documents for an apartment, you need to create a separate folder. Files with colored stickers can be used to store invoices, receipts and work certificates.
Even in the refrigerator, it is worth storing food according to a certain principle: perishable food close to the door, vegetables in special boxes, and meat and fish, if you are not going to cook them in the next day or two, in the freezer.
To speed up cleaning, some processes can be carried out in parallel. For example, start the wash first, soak the dirty dishes in the sink, apply a cleaner to the stove, and do a damp mop. The main way to put things in order in the apartment as efficiently as possible is to follow certain algorithms. How to save time and effort and make the cleaning process as efficient as possible, told the cleaners of the online personal services YouDo.com.
1. Divide cleaning into zones. It is convenient to start cleaning from less dirty areas – usually rooms and a corridor. The kitchen follows. Last but not least, clean the bathroom and toilet. If you first clean the toilet and sink, then after you change the water more than once and rinse the rags, you will have to repeat the cleaning of the bathroom.
2. Work from top to bottom. This principle will also avoid duplicate work. So that dust and small debris from the shelves does not end up on the washed floor, start cleaning from the cornices, chandeliers, go to furniture and horizontal surfaces, and lastly, wash the floor.
If you vacuum at the beginning rather than at the end of cleaning, you can achieve a greater effect. During operation of the vacuum cleaner, dust gets into the air and settles on surfaces, and it must be wiped again. For the same reason, before I start cleaning, I make the beds first.
3. Don’t get distracted. While cleaning, there is often a desire to switch to something else – you want to be distracted by a TV show or have tea, check the news on your phone. Sorting out old photos, you can indulge in memories and completely forget about cleaning. To prevent this from happening, try the “tomato method” popular in time management: set the alarm for 10-15 minutes and devote this time to completing a specific task without being distracted by anything.
4. Keep track of the time. The standard cleaning time for a one-room apartment is 2,5 hours. Estimate how many minutes you will spend cleaning each room, and stick to that schedule.
“20-30 minutes is enough to clean things up, collect garbage around the apartment and start cleaning,” comments Artem, a cleaner with 6 years of experience. – Cleaning the rooms and the corridor takes about an hour, the kitchen – 40 minutes. Another 30 minutes is needed to put the bathroom in order. “
5. Use the right tools. The right rags and cleaning products are the basis for a good cleaning. Many people use old clothes, towels or microfiber wipe the surfaces that are not suitable for this. Rags are not suitable for windows and mirrors, which leave fibers and streaks. It is wiser to buy a special glass cloth and use it when cleaning mirror surfaces and plumbing. A rag made of artificial suede perfectly absorbs moisture.
There are universal means, but they are not suitable for general cleaning of the entire apartment. The minimum set Anna recommends for cleaning includes:
– grease remover,
– glass cleaner (also suitable for laminated facades),
– a bleach-based agent for cleaning the bathroom; – an abrasive agent for sinks and bathtubs.
Instead of most eco-products, “grandmother’s” recipes are suitable: citric acid as anti-fat, baking soda instead of cleaning powder, ammonia or vodka as a glass cleaner.
It is very important to clean thoroughly and not to damage the surfaces, so use special rags and carefully read the instructions on the packages.