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House Cleaning Tips for Busy Moms

With kids to take care of, work at the office to do, a house to keep clean, and all of the other challenges life throws at you, you’re undoubtedly a busy mom. Keeping up with it all the housecleaning can seem overwhelming sometimes. However, by setting realistic expectations for yourself and utilizing these helpful tips, you can keep your home clean and organized:

Keep Everything in Its Place:

Staying organized will help keep your house from becoming cluttered. Use laundry bins or small tubs to organize your child’s toys in his room. Baskets are also useful for your cosmetics instead of spreading them out over your bathroom counter. Laundry hampers in every bedroom will help keep dirty clothes off the floor. Storage bins are great for organizing crafts and other projects. Before you go to sleep each night, spend a few minutes putting everything back into its place. It will save you time later and help keep your home from becoming messy.

Clean as You Go:

Setting aside enough time to clean your home from top to bottom isn’t always possible. One way to help keep your home clean is by putting things away and cleaning as you go. Make your bed each day to help your bedroom look cleaner. Put your clothes into the hamper or hang them back up when you take them off instead of tossing them onto the bed or the floor. Take a few minutes after each meal to wash the dishes instead of allowing them to pile up in the sink. This will make meal preparation and cleanup easier and faster.

Have a Routine:

Having a regular routine will allow you to get things done more quickly. Schedule your weekly chores for different days of the week so they don’t all pile up for you to do on the weekend. For instance, do all of your vacuuming on Monday evening, all of your mopping on Tuesday evening, and clean your bathroom on Wednesday. Doing one load of laundry each evening will keep your laundry from piling up as well.

Enlist Help:

Make your children part of the team by giving them chores to do. Giving your children age-appropriate chores teaches them responsibility and helps you keep your home clean. Have young children put their toys away each night before they go to sleep. Older children can do the dishes after dinner, vacuum, or do laundry. Remember to show your kids that you appreciate their help, and praise them for a job well done. Chore charts are an excellent way to help keep them on track.

Multitask:

When you can, clean your house while doing other things. When you’re talking on the phone, fold the laundry, do your dishes, or dust. Do a few dishes while you’re waiting for water to boil on the stove. Vacuum a room or clean your sink on a commercial break while you watch your favorite television show.

Keep Cleaning Supplies Close:

Keeping your cleaning supplies close to you means you won’t have to spend time running to and from the cabinet underneath your kitchen sink, laundry room, or closet where you store them. You can fill small spray bottles with household cleaners, and store them in an apron you wear as you clean. Alternatively, you can put the household cleaners you need into a bucket or bin, and carry the bin with you from room to room.

Cleaning your home can be a daunting task, especially when you’re a busy mom. Following our house cleaning tips: cleaning as you go, enlisting help, staying organized, and multitasking can help you save time while keeping your home clean.

Guest post by Maids by Trade, providing trusted and reliable house cleaning services across the United States for over 20 years.

A Squeaky Clean House Is Possible Even With Kids & Pets

I know how important keeping a clean house is. It’s not just about appearances; it’s about how it makes you feel. Spending time in a place that’s a mess can have a big impact on your mood. It can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. Furthermore, it can make you prone to feeling blue and can even lead to depression. Your messy house can impact your mental health; however, a clean house is possible.

No home is always perfectly organized and clean. Occasionally, the mess will take over. This is especially true when you have kids and pets sharing your home. Kids pull toys out and don’t put them away. They throw food and tread dirt through the house. Pets shed hair here, there and everywhere, and are also culprits of walking mud and dirt into the house. However, just because you share your home with children and pets, doesn’t mean it’s impossible to keep it clean. You just need a good strategy.

Become a minimalist

If you want to make the process of keeping your home tidy a little easier, become a minimalist. This means clearing out anything that you no longer want or need, and ensuring that your home is completely free from clutter.

The best way to go about doing this is to focus on one room at a time and then work through each area of the house. Be ruthless. Anything that hasn’t been used in over two months, you most probably don’t need. You can choose to sell your unwanted stuff, or you can donate it to charity.

Always keep your cleaning supplies stocked. If you don’t have cleaning supplies you can’t have a clean house. It’s as simple as that. So it’s a good idea to stock up on your cleaning items so you can keep your home in shape.

Keep cleaning products that you use regularly stored. Make sure that your cleaning products are out of reach of little fingers or that it has a childproof lock on it.

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Invest in the right cleaning equipment

If you want to keep on top of chores, you need the right equipment. With the right pieces of equipment, having a clean house can be much quicker and easier.

The chances are that you already have a mop, but do you have a steam mop? Steam mops make cleaning so much simpler as there’s no need for a bucket of water or chemicals to clean the floor. All you need is a small amount of water. Steam mops clean with steam that can kill 99 percent of bacteria. Fill them with water, plug them in, and clean the floor using the same motion as you would when vacuuming. You can get six-in-one steam mops that have different head attachments and can be used for all sorts of cleaning. From cleaning the windows to refreshing soft furnishings, and many other areas of the home. If you’re going to invest in a steam cleaner, it’s best to opt for a multifunctional design, so that you can use it for various chores.

A good vacuum cleaner is also a must for keeping your home clean. What is important to remember is that not all vacuum cleaners are equal. Some are better than others. For instance, pet hair vacuum cleaners tend to have better suction and be more durable than normal vacuum cleaners. Plus, if you’ve got pets that spread hair everywhere, they’re ideal for keeping on top of the problem. To learn more about this type of vacuum cleaner, read reviews of the best pet hair vacuum cleaners of 2016 online.

It may also be worth investing in a handheld vacuum to use when you need to quickly vacuum up small messes. The great thing about handheld vacuums is that they’re just as powerful as normal ones but are ideal for spot cleaning.

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Use containers to keep your home tidy

Place containers around your home. Store toys and other odds and ends. This simple step will help keep your home tidier. To make it easier for kids to keep their toys neat, label each container with what belongs in them, such as ‘cars’ and ‘farm animals’. Use pictures if you’re children are too young to read.

Containers can also be used in the kitchen. Containers can be kept in your cupboards as well as the in your fridge. By having labeled containers, not only is it easier to keep things neat and tidy but it’s also easier to know where everything is.

Keep on top of the washing

Make sure you keep on top of the laundry. If you get behind with your washing, it can be a nightmare to catch up with. Having piles of dirty laundry everywhere can make your home look a real mess. Keep all dirty clothes in a laundry bin.

It’s a good idea to have set days a week when you do the washing. This will ensure that you are able to keep on top of all the washing and don’t get behind with it. Have a laundry basket for each family member. Place each member’s folded clothing into their basket. This makes putting the clean laundry away much easier.

Having a clean home when you have kids and pets can sometimes seem impossible, but the truth is it’s not. If you are smart about how you keep on top of a clean house and have a good strategy in place, it doesn’t have to be so much of a struggle.