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The woman is the keeper of the home. In the modern world, this stereotype is increasingly being questioned and criticized. Most business women simply hire an au pair. But there are also those who, due to their financial condition or simply on their own motivation, continue to preserve the comfort of home. But it does not follow from this that for daily worries, a woman should forget about her beloved. If you wish, you can always find effective and useful advice that can help you with household chores.
Cleaning myth
Most people associate cleaning with routine, fatigue and hard work and some of them hire maid service. But in reality, there are some simple tips for cleaning an apartment or house that will improve and facilitate the process of putting things in order and cleanliness in the house, and most importantly, change your inner attitude to the cleaning process.
The main reason for a negative attitude towards cleaning an apartment is incorrect intrinsic motivation or a complete lack of motivation. Often, only one person does most of the cleaning work, but the whole family creates a mess in the apartment. In addition, no matter how much time was spent on putting everything in order, the next day the landlady of the apartment will find a new front of work for cleaning, because the mess is created as if by itself, but order must be carefully restored, only by making considerable efforts of her own and work.
Let’s try to figure out how to properly clean an apartment or house, what are the rules for cleaning premises, and most importantly, how to make cleaning an apartment pleasant, easy and not burdensome.
Easy home and apartment cleaning process
It is impossible to achieve sterile cleanliness in a house where several household members live who use the toilet, bathroom, kitchen. Especially if you have a child or several children. However, if you make it a habit to do cleaning regularly, without creating hard labor out of cleaning once a month or quarter, and if you teach the whole family to clean up after yourself, it will become much easier to achieve cleanliness and comfort in the house.
It is very effective to clean where it is already clean. For example, cleaning the kitchen that was cleaned (cleaning the sink, washing the stove, wiping the tiles) two or three days ago will take much less time than cleaning the kitchen, the stove, sink and tiles of which were cleaned a month ago.
There are some simple tips for cleaning an apartment or house that will make your housework much easier and easier.
Organization of the cleaning process
To facilitate housework and keep the apartment clean and tidy, the proper organization of the cleaning process is essential. There are several possible cleaning options. Most often, the following cleaning scheme is used – this is the main cleaning of the room once a week, intermediate, dry and wet cleaning during the week, and the general cleaning of the apartment once a month. The disadvantage of such an apartment cleaning system is that each time it takes a longer period of time and effort to clean your premises, as well as between the main and intermediate cleaning, disorder appears and dirt accumulates.
Another option for cleaning the territory involves daily cleaning of certain areas of the house or apartment, and weekly general cleaning of the premises. To do this, it is required to divide all rooms into zones, and daily clean and tidy only one specific zone, and devote no more than 15 minutes a day to cleaning. This is a fairly effective and simple way to keep an apartment tidy and clean, especially if you throw away unnecessary things that accumulate dirt and dust during cleaning. The negative side of such an apartment cleaning system is an increase in the consumption of detergents and cleaning agents, but it saves time and effort.
All things and objects that you have in your house should be placed in the designated places for them. For each new thing that appears in the house, you should choose a place and familiarize all household members. All family members should get used to the fact that after using anything, it should be put or put in its designated place, and at least once a day, put everything in place.
Quick cleaning of the apartment
A quick cleaning of the apartment is when you put everything in place, it must be done every day. It is convenient to do this in the morning: clean up the bedroom, make the bed, put books on the shelves, along the way, finding an object that is not in the designated place – take it there, put dirty clothes in the laundry basket, dirty dishes – in the dishwasher or sink … Remember to ventilate the room. These actions on your part will take a few minutes – but order will reign in your house, and your mood will improve.
In order to free up your personal time and not get tired of the daily routine, do the cleaning, which is called routine. Divide one large cleaning, which is done once a week, into small “portions”. Do some of the cleaning work every day. Make a list of things to do during the week. Divide things over six days (take one day off a week). For example, in the bathroom and toilet it is necessary to wash at least twice a week, it is better to wipe the dust in living rooms every other day, and to wipe the floors in the kitchen with the same frequency. Stove and sink – as they get dirty, but clean at least once a week.
Schedule your cleaning
After distributing current tasks by days of the week, make a schedule according to which you will do the cleaning. First, “peep” in the routine, and then get involved and remember when and what to do. For example, Monday is devoted to dusting and vacuuming the carpet and bedroom floor, cleaning the bath, washing the floor in the hallway. On Tuesday, according to the schedule of the nursery, the floor in the kitchen and cleaning the toilet. Thus, every day cleaning will take about 15-20 minutes.
What is not included in your weekly schedule, put on a separate list, which you call “big chores around the house.” For example, in the kitchen it is necessary to wash windows, doors, refrigerator inside and out, household appliances, tiles, work surfaces, cabinets inside and outside, etc. Also, make a list of works for all other rooms and premises of the house. In the same way as the current affairs, distribute “big” according to the days of the week.
Family task cleaning
Involve the whole family in cleaning. If only one person is concerned about cleanliness and order in the house, what conclusion do all the other household members draw from this? That you can breed dirt – sooner or later someone will still clean up the mess. Make pointing and maintaining cleanliness a universal responsibility. Teach each family member to be proud of their part in keeping things clean and tidy.
One way to do this is to instruct children from a very early age with concrete, gradually more complicated household chores. But be careful and do not forget that children will readily help you, but only if they are interested. This is where you should learn from your children, because by turning even the most routine work into an entertaining game, you can make cleaning a real holiday. But to force and coerce to work is not worth it, otherwise the work will be done carelessly, and nothing will remain of a positive mood.
Before doing dry and wet cleaning, you need to put things in order and put all things in their places. Then the subsequent cleaning steps will take much less time.
Know how to clean
Know how to clean different things. Find out what materials your carpets, clothes, curtains, household appliances, furniture are from. The more you know about this, the easier it is to remove dirt. When buying a new item, learn how to clean it.
Keep your apartment clean and tidy at the same time. Order means clothes on hangers, a table not littered with anything, books on the shelves, dishes in the closet. Cleanliness means no dust on floors and furniture, polished shoes, tidy stoves and plumbing fixtures, and stains on walls and doors.
While a good host usually keeps track of both, things may simply not get through. The house can be neat but dirty or vice versa – clean and cluttered. You can put things in order and cleanliness separately, but it is certainly easier to deal with dirt when everything around is neatly tidied up and everything is in place.
Daily cleanliness plan
Make a daily cleanliness plan and stick to it. Perhaps this is the most important thing if you want everything around to please the eye with impeccable order. Include in the plan, for example, the following items: take out the trash after breakfast, clean up the bed in the morning (teach this to the children), take off your shoes in the hallway, immediately sort the mail received (put bills, newspapers, etc. on your shelves, etc.), wipe your feet in front of the door, wash the dishes immediately after eating. By automatically completing these normal duties, you will minimize the time you spend keeping your home clean and tidy.
Don’t be discouraged when confronted with clutter and dirt, but better imagine cleanliness and order after effective cleaning. These visuals are a powerful tool for “pure thinking.” “Comparing before and after pictures is very good motivation,” says professional organizer Harriet Schechter. In the “before” stage, imagine what will happen “after” – let this inspire you to clean the apartment.
Practice
Find a dirty and cluttered place in the house. Imagine how it will look after cleaning. Boost your imagination by tidying up a small area – just to get a feel for how effective and enjoyable it is. For example, from a table littered with rubbish, rake everything into one box (then sort it out). Now dust it off, wash it if necessary, and enjoy the new sensation: how much neater and cleaner it has become.
Choose the most appropriate tips for general apartment cleaning, sofas, carpets, and other surfaces. Recommendations can be rewritten or printed so that they are at hand when needed. Then, during cleaning, you do not have to waste time looking for the necessary information.
Dry and wet cleaning according to the rules involves cleaning all surfaces from dust in such a way that dirt is removed forever, and not moved from one surface to another. You need to start with dry cleaning. Dust should be wiped off with a damp cloth, but if it is undesirable for any surface to allow contact with water, then the dust is removed the same way before wet cleaning. Wet cleaning the house is necessary not only to cleanse the space from dirt, but also to humidify the air.
Basic rule of general cleaning
The basic rule of general cleaning of a house consisting of several floors is a strict sequence of cleaning the premises. You need to start cleaning from the upper floors and only then you need to move on to the lower floors.
You must make it a rule to remove all contamination immediately. Firstly, it will save you energy during general cleaning, and secondly, it will remove a fresh stain or dirt much easier immediately than after a week, and even more so a month.
The rules for general cleaning of the apartment also primarily imply a certain sequence. First of all, the ceiling and the highest surfaces are swept, windows and chandeliers are washed, cabinets and shelves are freed and wiped, the sofa cover is cleaned. When all surfaces are free of dust and dirt, you can remove debris from the floor and wash the coverings. At the end of the general cleaning, it is recommended to rub the floors with a special product suitable for the floor covering.
