Even the tidiest homes need a thorough cleaning. Use these room-by-room tips to get yours looking like new.
We talked to house cleaning Dallas professionals for their favorite tips to help you clean more efficiently. Whether you’re deep cleaning or just doing some maintenance, these expert tricks will make the job much easier.
1. Set a Schedule
If you want to get your home clean on a regular basis, it’s time to make a cleaning schedule. “It’s important to look at your available time and figure out how much you can comfortably fit in each week,” explains professional organizer Wendy Silberstein, founder of The Aesthetic Organizer, as quoted by Woman’s Day.
You should also consider how many rooms you can realistically keep up to your standards all week. For example, if you have just two essential rooms that need to be consistently tidy, focus on them daily, then work on the other spaces in your home from most to least important.
It’s a good idea to try your new cleaning schedule for at least a month before making any changes. This will give you valuable insight into how well it works for your home.
2. Make a List
When it comes to cleaning, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. That’s why it’s important to make a list of all the things you need to do. This will ensure that you don’t forget anything and that your house is cleaned thoroughly.
The best way to create a cleaning checklist is to walk through your home and write down all of the tasks that need to be done. This will give you a realistic idea of how long it will take to clean your home.
It’s also important to consider your lifestyle when creating a cleaning schedule. If you live alone, you may only need to clean your home once a week. If you have children, you may need to clean more often.
3. Prioritize
You can often spend hours cleaning and still leave feeling like you didn’t get everything done. Getting your priorities right is important to prevent this. Things that take longer to clean, or those you don’t particularly enjoy doing, should be done first. For example, dusting should be done before vacuuming so that you don’t have to go back and re-dust everywhere. And, if you’re using cleaning solutions that need to sit for a while, such as toilet cleaner, it’s good to do this before mopping.
Then, focus on high traffic areas, such as living rooms and kitchens, followed by bathrooms and then bedrooms. Doing things in this way will keep you motivated. It’ll also save you time by avoiding repetitive cleaning tasks.
4. Make a List of Every Room
When it comes to whole-home cleaning, a checklist is essential. Whether you’re hosting guests or it’s time to do a deep clean, a room-by-room checklist helps you stay on track.
Bathrooms and kitchens require more attention to detail than other rooms, so make sure these are first on your list. Start with dusting surfaces (including light fixtures), then wipe down baseboards and vacuum floors. If the room has a rug, make sure to vaccum and then steam it.
Next, focus on the living areas. Fluff pillows, straighten throw blankets and organize knick-knacks. Then, move on to the dining room or home office. Organizing these spaces helps them look cleaner and stay that way. It also makes it easier to find things when you need them.
5. Get Organized
Cleaning is much easier when you have everything you need right at your fingertips. Gather all your cleaning supplies in a caddy or bucket and place them in one spot to keep them handy.
Keep a cleaning schedule to prevent getting behind and having to do an entire house at once, recommends Bailey Gaddis, founder of Feng Shui Mommy. She suggests focusing on high-traffic areas like doorknobs, countertops, and kitchens. She also recommends establishing a shoes-off policy to help prevent toxins, dirt, dust, and leaves from dirtying up your floors.
She advises saving ‘wet’ areas like bathrooms and kitchens for last so that the cleaning solutions can soak in. And finally, she recommends cleaning from top to bottom so that crumbs and dust from higher surfaces don’t fall on lower ones.
