It doesn’t matter who you are or how much you enjoy cleaning; we all feel better after a great declutter. Collecting things is all too easy to do, and if you don’t declutter enough, these little trinkets and things can overrun your home. Of course, there are cleaning methods that go deeper than decluttering, so let’s explore what those tips and techniques are.
Steam cleaning
Steam cleaning is one of the best ways to extract dirt, remove stains and get to the root of a mess. You can use a steam cleaner on both carpet and hardwood floors. There are some appliances that can easily switch functionality to address both surfaces and keep them cleaner for longer. You can get your floors steam cleaned professionally or buy your own steam cleaner and be prepared at all times. This is an appliance you will never regret owning, and your floors will never look better.
Pet-proof your home
Love them or hate them, pets can be a messy business. Most pets are inside and outside pets, and so they will traipse mess in and out of your home and bring all manner of things to every room in the house. There are lots of solutions you can buy that will deep clean the mess made by your pet. You can also buy solutions that will remove the allergens created by your pet’s fur or saliva. Just because you are not allergic to pets does not mean that others are not, especially children who are still establishing their allergy responses at a young age.
Furniture cleaning
When was the last time you cleaned your upholstery? Or what about the last time you turned your chairs upside down and checked for spiders, cobwebs and other dirt and grime. Cleaning might start with floors surfaces and walls, but you also want to be addressing the furniture in your home. When your furniture looks unclean, this impacts every other part of your home – even the sparkling clean areas! Once again, you may choose to have this professionally done, or you can also do it yourself by hiring a machine or buying one.
Assessing the right cleaning solutions
Environmental cleaning products have come a long way, as there was a time when people wouldn’t consider them thinking they didn’t have the same attributes as a chemical-based cleaner would have. It might be time to change that opinion, as many environmental cleaning products more than do the job and will have your home smelling natural and clean. Cleaning is about working smarter, not harder, so we encourage you to interrogate the products you use as they may be slowing down your work and even hindering it.
Make time for your cleaning
Is there a dedicated day that you do your cleaning, or are you just trying to fit it in with the chaos of daily life? By designing a cleaning routine, you may find that you get more done and have less anxiety about a full day of cleaning if you can mentally prepare for it. If you live with roommates or a family, put this cleaning schedule on the fridge and allocate jobs accordingly. Free time is not going to materialise on its own, so you will have to work hard to achieve a more manageable home. Maybe you deep clean on the first Sunday of every month, or you might like to do so during rainy weather. You can make it more enjoyable by listening to a podcast or playlist too, and you may even set yourself the limit of all cleaning stopping as soon as your podcast or playlist is over.
Decluttering, cleaning and deep cleaning
There is a huge difference between decluttering, cleaning and deep cleaning. It will largely come down to how much time you can spend on this task and what your objectives are. If you find you are decluttering all the time, then you might not be cleaning as much as you could as these items have no real place to go. Ideally, you would clutter and then clean and then deep clean when needed or periodically. Get your household into the habit of decluttering often so that the cleaning days are not so big. Storage solutions are going to be absolutely critical in this journey. Attractive containers and buckets can be in each room, and they can discreetly house all those items that are really hard to place but cannot be decluttered.
Are you feeling better about your cleaning commitments, or are you going to try a few of these tips? Life will always throw a spanner in the works when we establish routines, so try your best to honour these cleaning priorities and work towards a cleaner home, one step at a time.
