Speed-cleaning, my way!
Hello hello!
Long time, no see! I know that’s completely my fault because I’ve been busy moving countries (again!) and settling and basically getting my life in order. But I wanted to get away from it all today, so decided to blog. To be completely honest, it’s not that I haven’t been writing, but it’s just that I haven’t had the extra mental capacity to edit and actually post what I’ve written (who else is in the same boat?)
So today’s topic is about speed cleaning.. not as glamorous as speed dating I’m afraid, but hopefully more useful than that! Let me begin by saying that my house is not sparkly clean and tidy all the time. I have a 4 year old who leaves a trail of mess wherever he goes in the house, and I find it pointless to clean and tidy up all the time. We have been trying to get him to tidy up, but clearly it’s not going very well! Plus I cook meals everyday and I’ve realised that I need too many pots and pans and spoons and equipment to cook. It’s just how I cook (note to self: get on board with one pot cooking asap!) Anyway the point I’m trying to make is - it’s impossible for me to always have a neat and tidy house and I’ve made peace with that!
But, I also like to entertain and have friends around for dinner and drinks. Some get-togethers are planned, most are last minute! I actually love the idea of a last minute dinner plan, or tea party or breakfast even! A lot of the time, I don’t have enough time to plan anything, let alone clean! It’s not like I mind an untidy house, but I do like to keep the house in a presentable state for my friends, so they can feel relaxed and calm and cosy. Well, hopefully that’s the vibe I’m giving!
So if I have really less time to clean the house (like 15-20 minutes max!), these are the things I do. The list may seem long, but it really does take very little time.
Set a timer and keep my son occupied - Very, very important! I always work best under pressure, so having a deadline really works for me. This way, I know I can’t be spending an hour rearranging all the cushions in the house! :D Before beginning to clean or tidy anything, I make sure my son is going to be busy for 20 minutes - so TV time, or a puzzle or anything that will stop him from creating new mess or coming in my way is just fine. If he learns how to tidy up his own room, that’ll be the best thing ever! But we’re not quite there yet.
Get rid of clutter - Then, I take a bin bag and literally dump things that I don’t need in that - any rubbish lying around the house, old flowers in the vase, random junk that comes in the post, boxes, etc. (of course, recycling where I can). I try not to have any paper lying around the house, because I find that it creates a lot of visual clutter. So I try to keep all the post, recipe cards, free magazines that I always pick up from the grocery store etc. out of sight!
Use storage boxes/baskets - I have storage baskets or boxes in every single room in the house, because it just makes it easier to tidy up quickly. And it’s also a great hiding spot for clutter that you cannot throw away, but still don’t want it lying around the house. So if I don’t have the time to deal with it at that moment, I just keep it in my trusty ‘clutter-box’ and deal with it later!
Clean all glossy surfaces - By glossy surfaces I mean any glass, TV, windows and basically anything that shows fingerprints or hand marks. I just find them a bit distracting. Cleaning these surfaces make a big difference! I don’t always clean all the wooden surfaces because you can easily get away with it! So my tip is - when you’re pressed for time, choose your surfaces wisely.
Don’t go room-by-room - So this has been such a life changer for me! Earlier I used to pick a room, clean it fully, and then move on to the next room. But I’ve now realised that going room-by-room is more time consuming than doing task-by-task. Let me explain - if I’m cleaning surfaces, I clean the surfaces of all the rooms in question before moving on to the next task. This way I’m not constantly switching between cleaning material and jobs! Plus I can check off an entire item in the list once I’m done! Also, if you’re living in a house which has multiple floors, a very useful tip is - before going upstairs or downstairs, ask yourself ‘is there anything I need to take with me?’ You can save yourself multiple trips up and down the stairs, and save time in the process! I’m not even kidding, when I was setting up the house after our move, I did not go up or down empty handed! Not even once!
Invest in a good hand-held vacuum cleaner - I swear by my Dyson handheld vacuum cleaner. It’s cordless, has great suction power and battery lasts for a long time! So once I’m done with cleaning surfaces, I just vacuum the high traffic areas like the hallway, kitchen and living room. Nothing too elaborate.
Use a micro-fibre duster/ sticky lint roller - If I’m not in the mood of vacuuming or there’s literally just no time, then I use my amazing micro-fibre duster that just knocks off all the dust instantly! It’s also very useful for getting rid of any cobwebs! For quickly cleaning carpets and sofas (especially spot cleaning) I use my sticky lint roller which picks up small crumbs, hair or anything tiny.
Clean the guest toilets/replace the towels - This is quite obvious, I never skip this step, takes about 3-4 minutes and makes all the difference!
Add finishing touches - Finally, I light a few candles or incense sticks, put on some mood lighting and plump up my cushions before opening the door to my guests! Just in time! :)
Is there anything else you can add to this list? Any cleaning hacks? I’d love to know!
xx