Housecleaning Day! Even without the best alarm ever, your eyes pop open like Frisbees.
You’ve been blissfully dreaming of it all night!
You throw on your old prom dress and grab the feather duster.
Glancing out the window, you smile…
Is that huge rainbow outside real?
Or… you just THAT happy?
As you sing ‘Let it Go!” you ballerina to the dishes avalanching from the kitchen sink. What an AMAZING FUN SATURDAY this will be!
Wait…What?
That’s not you?
Us ether.
But you’re out of dishes. You can play tic-tac-toe on the furniture, the bathrooms smell of warfare, and oddly, the cat doesn’t meow to come inside now.
The situation is critical…
Use suggestions from the pros!
We’re the ex-owners of a company that cleaned large businesses such as Lockheed and Learjet. So we got this! Apply the following tips and you’ll finish so fast, there’ll be time to binge watch net-flicks later. Saturday afternoon Popcorn! Yay!
First off, get some motivation and put on some music!
a. Imagine how great the house will look when its clean.
b. Remember hygienic home makes us feel good. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Psychologically, clutter wears on us mentally and emotionally.
c. We don’t want to appear in an episode of the ‘Hoarders’ show so it’s time to get busy.
JEDI CLEANING TIPS:
1. Rock it out.
That’s right. Slap on those earphones and listen to some motivational music. Dance while you work. You’ve seen it the movies plenty of times. Janitors dance. With vacuums, brooms, mops and whatever else is handy. OR, if you feel intellectual, put on audio book. It’s not like we’re talking brain surgery here. You can work on auto pilot.
2. Pretend you’re a professional.
Don’t clean a little, play on social media then pause to watch TV. No, no, no. You’re in and out. Lean-mean cleaning-machine. Cleaners have a set amount of time to complete each job. Three to five minutes per fixture. If you have three fixtures in your bathroom (toilet, shower, sink) it should take you 10-15 minutes for a sparkling and thorough result that would a wink out of hot Mr. Clean.
3. Keep your tools in a toolbox.
THIS IS IMPORTANT. Use a bucket, tote or caddy, and carry your equipment with you. It saves time, trips and frustration. If it helps, pretend you’re an emergency first responder guy. Its not that far-fetched. Bathrooms can be deadly gross.
4. Choose your tools wisely.
Feather duster, dusting mitt, sock…it’s your choice.
Here’s my personal first aid equipment list
- A One bottle of vinegar and water (mix it yourself or buy glass cleaner).
B One bottle of lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide (mix yourself or buy disinfectant).
C Ajax
D Furniture oil (can be homemade as well)
E Toothbrush (for around faucets, drains, cracks and corners)
F Med. size paint brush (for dusting corners, window sills and small objects)
G Four clean clothes. One each for cleaning, drying, mirrors, and furniture oil.
H Scratch sponge
I Squeegee for showers
J Duster with longer handle
5. K.I.S.S.
Apply the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid). Quit buying every chemical on the insanely insulting commercials! Invest in some plastic spray bottles, microfiber towels and make your own solutions.
6. Start out right.
Place your equipment in the a room where you want to begin.
You will need:
- A large dust mop, or a vacuum with an extension cord (don’t waste time moving the plug). Vacuums can be used on hardwood floors, not just carpets. Use the attachments for corners, counters, curtains and window sills
- An empty garbage bag to dump trash or to de-clutter as you go
- A laundry basket to collect objects that must transferred from one room to another. If there’s a mountain of dirty clothes, take two baskets. Remember, if you MUST take something to another room, try not to return empty. Look for something that needs to be transferred back to your work area.
- Your neatly packed first responder cleaning kit.
- Mop and bucket filled with water and ready to go.
- Step stool (optional).
- De-clutter first. Put things away and use your laundry basket to collect everything that doesn’t belong on the floor. See item C. above.
- Dust Smart. Don’t spray cleaning solution on the surface of things. Lightly spritz your dust cloth then wipe. It collects dust better. Start at the highest point and work down so that debris is knocked to the floor. Remember moldings, but don’t fret the smaller dust collectors. Save them for a once a month clean. They’re less visible than you think.
9. Bathroom Fun!
Dust parallel surfaces first.
b. Spray surfaces and add toilet cleaner to the bowl. Use Ajax on the sinks if needed.
c. Dump trash and clean the mirrors while the shower, toilet, and counters are soaking in the cleaning solution.
d. Wipe everything with a sponge.
e. Rinse and dry the faucet, sink and counters.
f. Use a squeegee to wash, rinse and dry the shower.
g. Finish the toilet bowl.MOVE! In ten minutes you should have a sparkling, disinfected bathroom.
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Houseclean with Hellooooo Mr. Clean!!
10. Floors all at once.
Don’t sweep and mop room by room unless you have a good reason for it. We professionals do it all as one step which cuts time.
11. Trust the system.
When we started a new account, and cleaned a location for the first time, we noted how long it took to complete the job. Why? Because we knew after four weeks of repetition (cleaning the same space, in the sequence) we would be able to cut that first in half. Do the same (effective) routine, week after week, and you’ll fly through.
Now you really can sing the song “Let It Go” and mean it.
PS. Debbie Downer Spring Cleaning cut in half.
Add one of the following to your normal routine each week and you’ll breeze through spring cleaning.
- Week One: Dust smaller objects, higher shelves, and wipe switch plates.
Week Two: Oil all the furniture.
Week Three: Do a deeper scrub on tub, showers and toilet.
Week Four: Dust window sills, vents, and ceiling fans.
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