THE SMART WAY TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FAST THAT WILL FREE UP YOUR TIME

THE SMART WAY TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FAST THAT WILL FREE UP YOUR TIME

So you want and need to have a family home that is clean.

That’s a given.

But you’re not happy with the amount of time and effort it takes to get it clean.

Especially when the cleaning has to fit in around a hundred and one other things.

Do you know what you need?

You need a smart way to clean your house fast.

And guess what?!

I’ve got all the clever cleaning tips to help you get smart with your cleaning.

You and whoever else is doing their share of keeping your family home clean.

GET SMART TO CLEAN FAST

Right, we’ve established that you want a way of cleaning that is fast, effective and will free up your time to spend doing things other than cleaning!

Here’s how you achieve this.

The key to cleaning your house fast is to have a smart cleaning routine that puts the cleaning chores into an order that speeds the whole process up.

Think of it as streamlining your cleaning.

So in the same way, as you likely have processes in place at work, you need to do the same for your cleaning.

Whilst a cleaning routine may seem all a bit 1950s housewife, there is a lot to be said for having one.

Especially if having a smart routine helps you get the job done fast and leaves you with more time to spend doing stuff you’d much rather be doing.

PUTTING TOGETHER A SMART CLEANING ROUTINE

So how do you go about putting together a smart cleaning routine that will shave chunks off of the amount of time you spend cleaning?

Well, you follow these simple steps in order.

Put these steps together and you’ll find you’ve got a really smart cleaning routine that totally works.

THE SMART WAY TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FAST

Now, before you go through these steps, I’m going to tell you that there are three main ways to implement them.

The way you choose to implement them will be based on how your family home works, the size of your home, who takes part in doing the cleaning, when the cleaning needs to be done.

It’s for you to decide.

You can choose to implement these cleaning steps on a whole house basis, a floor by floor basis or a room by room basis.

Have a read through the steps and then you can decide.

You might also find it useful to read my post on how to create a cleaning schedule that actually works.

Because once you’ve worked out the who (cleaning doesn’t have to just be done by you!), what and when of a cleaning schedule, it is easier to put together a cleaning routine that is fast and efficient.

Oh and before you dive into the list of ways to clean your house faster, I’m pretty sure you will find my guide to spending less time cleaning your house comes in very useful too.

And yes, there is a difference between cleaning fast and doing less cleaning!

SEVEN STEPS TO CLEANING YOUR HOUSE FASTER

1. BE ARMED AND READY

There are two things you need to be armed and ready to clean fast. 

A. A CLEANING CADDY

Have all of your products and tools for cleaning in a cleaning caddy. 

A caddy will save you time because all your cleaning products and tools are in one place. You have them to hand, you don’t waste time running back and forth to fetch cleaning products. 

It’s also a great way of keeping track of what needs replacing or refilling, so you never find yourself without a cleaning product when you need it. 

Read my post on what to put in your cleaning caddy. 

B. A CLUTTER BASKET

It’s also super useful to have a basket to hand for chucking stuff into that needs to be relocated out of the area you are cleaning. 

I’m not talking about the hideous idea of having clutter baskets that live in each room of the house for clutter to be dumped in.

I’m talking about a basket that you can chuck stuff in so that the stuff can then be easily transported back to where it belongs.

It doesn’t need to be fancy – though of course, a fancy one might brighten up your cleaning moments!!

2. TIDY UP AND ORGANISE

There is no point trying to clean around a mess!

If there’s already a bin in the room, chuck anything binnable into it.

If you don’t have a bin, use a bin bag to toss stuff into. 

You can pluck a binbag from your cleverly put together cleaning caddy!

Use a separate small bin bag to collect anything that needs to go for recycling. 

Dump anything that doesn’t belong in the room into the clutter basket and then pop it just outside of the space you are working in.

Then focus on putting away anything that does belong in the room, but isn’t currently neatly stored where it should be. 

You may feel like you’ve been wasting time doing stuff that isn’t cleaning. 

But what you’ve actually done is save yourself time overall. 

Because now you have a space that is actually ready to be easily cleaned fast.

There’s nothing getting in your way. 

No need for you to stop and start as you deal with clutter and moving stuff to other rooms

You can simply focus on the cleaning job at hand. 

3. DIVIDE AND CONQUER

No matter the size of the room or space you’re cleaning, it’s always worth mentally dividing it into sections.

This is great for two reasons.

Firstly because psychologically it makes it easier to tackle and secondly because it’s easier to come back to if you only have time to do a section. 

At least you know that section is done and where to start from when you return. 

So, divide the room or space up into sections in your head. 

The floor will always be your last section. 

Once you’ve divided the room up you’re ready to whip out the cleaning products. 

Bet you’re so excited!!! 

4. TOP DOWN 

This is one of the golden rules of cleaning, so remember it always!!

Dust and debris will always travel down, so always start your cleaning at the top and work your way down. 

5. DUSTING COMES FIRST

Always, always dust before you do any other cleaning.

Start at the top (remember the previous point!) and move downwards. 

So, dust tops of doors and windows, top shelves and work your way down. 

A feather duster comes in super useful for dusting, it’s one of the essentials I have in my cleaning caddy. 

Once you’ve got rid of the dust you can check if the area needs to be cleaned.

So for example, there might be ring marks from coffee cups or all sorts of random sticky bits created lovingly by kids. 

Once you’ve done any cleaning, you can either leave the area be or you can give it a polish. 

7. FLOOR TO THE DOOR

Once you’ve worked your way through all the sections in the room you can turn your focus to the floor. 

My top tip, which you may think is an obvious one, but I’m going to share it anyway: always start from the furthest point from the door you are going to exit the room from and work towards it. 

Because guess what, this way you don’t clean yourself into the room and then have to walk out over your newly cleaned floor.

This isn’t such a big deal if you’re vacuuming, but it is a much bigger deal if you’ve just spent time washing a floor!

YOU’RE NOW READY TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FAST!

And that’s it. Seven little steps that will help you speed up your cleaning but without compromising on the effectiveness of cleaning. In fact they increase the effectiveness.

As you’ll know if you are a regular on Mums Make Lists, I am a big believer in making sure that everyone capable does their share of keeping the home clean and tidy.

So do make sure to share your newfound knowledge with them in your household!

Marry these tips for creating a super-fast cleaning routine with my tips for creating a cleaning schedule that actually works, throw in a cleaning caddy and you can say goodbye cleaning woes and hello to having more time to spend doing other stuff.

You’re welcome 😉

Thirsty for more ways to get smart about cleaning? Pop over to the housekeeping section for more top tips.