A clean, tidy home that sparkles seven every day is the material that Pinterest dreams out of. While it’s a nice thing to dream about, it’s not a reality, particularly when you add children. When there are children, the trail of debris, sticky surfaces, and even a few scattered Legos are bound to be left behind, typically in the area you have just cleaned.
Although your home might not be a magazine-ready space every day (and is it the case that anyone’s home isn’t? ), it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t maintain a generally tidy environment. The trick is to find efficient or labor-saving techniques to complete the job without taking over your entire time. There are eight cleaning tips for parents who are busy to aid you in getting the housework done quickly.
Laundry each day
If it’s just you and your partner, saving your washing for the weekend is possible. However, once you’ve children, the laundry pile increases exponentially, from school clothing and sports uniforms to pool towels and pajamas. A week’s worth could quickly fill up the entire day. To reduce the amount of laundry that accumulates, make laundry a daily task. Putting one small load of laundry in the washing machine daily is much simpler than tackling multiple packs at once.
Do the majority clean-up on the weekday(s)
If you’re like most who do, you’re likely to save most of your house chores for the weekend or Sunday. The weekend is when you can relax and spend time with your children. When you shift to taking care of most of the chores on the weekday(s), you’ll have the weekend free to accomplish that. While you’ll be battling some of the fatigue of a weekday and fatigue, you’ll awake on the weekend with the cleanest house and a neat plan for the coming week.
Cleanse your baseboards using dryer sheets
When it comes to household chores, which are not the most appealing, cleaning your baseboards should be the highest priority; who would want to be standing awkwardly on your feet as you walk through the room, wiping dirt and dust off the trim on the bottom? This trick is handy because, when you apply the method, you’ll no longer need to clean them so often. The trick? A dryer sheet across the baseboards. The same coating that blocks static from clothing will also block dirt and dust from the boards and allow you to remove it with a vacuum.
Place a ball of aluminum foil into the dishwasher
Dishwashers are the ultimate ease of use when you’re feeding your family. However, over time, it may cause your dishes to have an unattractive appearance. Do this trick because no one wants to waste an hour of their time to polish their silverware. Wrap a ball from aluminum foil, put it into the caddy for flatware in your dishwasher, and then go through the process as normal. Because of the chemical reaction between the detergent in the dishwasher and the aluminum foil, it gets rid of any tarnish, leaving with sparkling, clean flatware.
Make your spray for dust repellent
Dust tends to build up quickly depending on the frequency with which you clean your surfaces (and when you have children, it’s often). Use a repellent spray instead of a standard cover cleaner to clean away the dust. Make a mixture of two cups water and the white vinegar, one cup 2 tablespoons olive oil, and one drop of dish soap into the spray bottle. If you spray it on your shelves, tables, and cabinets, it’ll create a layer that lifts dust off of surfaces and onto floors, increasing the time for dusting between cleaning sessions.
Make sure to keep a squeegee near the sink
Do you secretly cringe when your kids ask to help with the dishes, knowing it’s beautiful to let them take on some responsibility, but you worry that your counters will be covered in huge Puddles? It’s not just you. Let them help, but instead of trying to absorb the water using towels, you can use the humble tool, the squeezer. It can squeeze the water that has spilled back into the sink. Bonus: Some models come with bristles at one end, which you could employ to clean crumbs from the counter.
Make this homemade grout cleaner
Bath time for parents is all about relaxation. However, for children, the focus is on splashing and splish splashing. If you’re adamant about cleaning the tub after bathing, your grout will become dirtier in time. While there are products made to remove grout, all you require is the 2:1 mix made of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. It’s safer and cheaper than the store-bought type, yet it is equally effective in removing stains and brightening grout.
Help children with cleaning by playing it up.
Helping kids with chores may feel like an uphill climb. Anything that has the specter of boredom can cause resistance. Enter silliness. The song could be a humorous song you sing when folding clothes, a fun dance routine you do when you vacuum, or a series of silly noises you create while you put toys into the basket. Making the task more enjoyable draws children’s attention and boosts the likelihood of them helping.