5 More Tips for Keeping a House Clean
1. Assign a Cleaning task to each Day
Ok, so I often used to find myself cleaning all day on Saturday or Sunday in an attempt to catch on overlooked areas. Well, I hated it. I felt like my whole day was wasted cleaning. Although I did enjoy not having to clean any other day of the week, wasting my day soon was just not worth it. So, I started to assign one cleaning task to each day of the week. I cleaned the bathroom on Sundays, did laundry on Mondays, vacuumed on Tuesday, and so forth.
This type of cleaning schedule is great for a family or a single person. While you may need to assign two tasks of cleaning to each day for a family, it can still work well for you.
2. Assign Specific Tasks to Family Members
Assigning a specific cleaning task to a family member is a great way for everyone to pith in and clean the mess that they made. You can assign the task and them rotate them as the week’s progress. This is a great way to inspire everyone in the family, especially kids, to pick up after themselves all week long.
I have a little niece who loves to help out her mother around the house. Starting children at a young age is very appropriate if you know what cleaning tasks they can handle. Picking up their toys, picking up their towel off of the bathroom floor, and even sweeping can all be accomplished by even the smallest for children.
If you are a couple without kids, then just divide the tasks up between the two of you. This can alleviate a lot of stress and confusion about household responsibilities.
3. Create a catch All Basket
Ok, so this idea can work in a variety of ways. I personally have a small basket that sits just inside of my door. Mail, keys, and other miscellaneous stuff goes there until it is full. Then, I go through it. It is actually one of my tasks, on Thursday I go through the catch all basket.
Now, I also have one in the bedroom. This is for clothing or shoes that try on and then decide not to wear. I always used to toss them in a chair in plain sight and it was a mess. Now, I have a dirty clothes bin and a clean clothes bin. On Mondays I wash my clean clothes and rehang the clean ones I was too lazy to hang up during the week. I often do not want to see anything cluttering up the clean bin and have found that I am more prone to hang it up immediately now.
This is a tip for children’s rooms as well. Let them have a basket of toys they toss them into overnight before they go to bed. They can sort it out once a week or as it becomes full.
You could also place a catch all bin inside the door of each family members room. A task to one family member could be to walk around the house picking up stuff people have left lying about. All they have to do is drop it in the catch al bin inside the owner’s door. This is a great way to clean the house quickly. Choose a large catch all baskets that have a lid. I like those good looking woven linen baskets that are meant for dirty laundry. You can close the lid and not look at the mess until it is time for the family member to put their things away.
4. Instigate a Rewards System
Ok, this idea really works well to inspire kids antifamily members to keep the house clean. You might be surprised how well this works for a single person as well. For kids you could create a board with their name and either chores or days. Give them a star when they did their cleaning work as required. After a certain number of stars they earn a treat, like a pizza with mom or dad for lunch.
For a single person why not treat yourself to something special once a week for completing all of your cleaning on time. A coffee or even a pair of shoes is a great reward. How about a nice massage, now that is incentive!
