An immaculate house is a joy to be in, and more importantly, minimizing dust, dust mites, mold, and bacteria keeps family members healthier. People can manage light housework on their own, yet a thorough clean could use some tips. These tips will keep your home looking new and pristine.

1. Top to Bottom, Left to Right

Our first pro tip is to start cleaning any room starting from the top to the bottom. Instead of moving all over the place, start cleaning at the top because dust and other elements will fall from top to bottom. Moving from left to right or right to left is a systematic way of cleaning so you won’t miss cleaning any area. There are always better ways to clean if you look hard enough. Check which method is ideal so you won’t be cleaning wrongly without noticing. 

2. Dry Dust

Before applying any surface product, dry dust the area first. Removing the superficial layer of dust first will get the product to work better and more effectively. When you don’t dry dust first, things can just become a muddy mess causing streaks and inefficient cleaning. 

3. Let Cleaning Products Sit

More often than not we blame cleaning products for not doing what they’re supposed to do; clean! While some products may indeed be not good enough, all products need to sit for a while on the spot you want to clean. We tend to spray and wipe immediately. So give a product a few moments to sit. This is especially true for disinfectant products. 

4. Start with Gentle Products

You don’t need harsh products to get things spotless. Most gentle products do a very efficient job. For instance, you might think your carpets need super strong chemicals to get them clean when actually local carpet cleaners can do an excellent job by steam cleaning carpets, upholstery, flooring, and more. Steam cleaning only uses water; you can’t get safer than that. Of course, some areas of your carpet may need extra attention but generally, steam cleaning major areas in your home will revive your rugs, refresh the fabric, and get tough areas spotless.

5. Soak Don’t Scrub

If an item can be soaked in hot water with a mild cleaning solution, then do that. It will save you a lot of elbow grease. This is ideal for refrigerator shelves, shower curtains, or oven racks. While something is busy soaking, you can do some other cleaning, or just take a break. After an item is soaked just rinse, maybe do some mild scrubbing, wipe, and you’re good to go.

6. Start with the Toughest Areas

Begin by cleaning the area that is most dirty or the most difficult to get done. This could be the kitchen or bathroom, for instance, but it could be any room that is difficult for you. Then work your way to less difficult areas of your home with fewer challenges. No one wants to spend all day cleaning, so find tips to cut cleaning time in half.

Regular house cleaning helps protect you from allergies, improves indoor air quality, and keeps your home organized. To make it easy, do some easy daily cleaning, and every so often, give your home a major clean. This will keep your home sparkling all year long. 

Photos By: Unsplash

Whether you like to clean, hate it or your feelings on the topic fall somewhere in between, you’re sure to welcome these quick cleaning hacks that will simplify your life. Not only can you use these hacks for routine cleaning, they can also come in handy if you must clean up quickly for unexpected visitors.

1. Quick Toilet Cleaning

When it comes to cleaning the bathroom, the toilet bowl definitely needs your attention. If you’re in a rush to get your toilet bowl cleaned, try multitasking. First apply toilet bowl cleaner to the inside of the bowl and then go do something else for five minutes. Once five minutes is up, come back and give the inner surfaces of the bowl a quick scrub down with a toilet brush. To clean under seat and on top of the seat, use disinfectant wipes. You can also clean the bottom of the bowl with the wipes.

2. Remove Floor Marks

Hardwood floors are beautiful, but they can be subject to scuffs from shoes and other objects. To restore your hardwood floors to the former glory, all you need is a clean sock or a new tennis ball. Rub either of these on the scuffs to remove them. If that doesn’t work, you can dampen a soft cloth (or use the sock) and sprinkle a small amount of baking soda on the cloth or sock. Rub the baking soda on the scuffed area to remove. Then, wipe the residue away with a clean, damp cloth.

3. Freshen Up Your Garbage Disposal

If you have a garbage disposal installed in your kitchen sink, you know how wonderful it is to be able to quickly dispose of unwanted scraps or dirty dish residue. Unfortunately, at times, your garbage disposal can develop a funky smell due to food residue that may collect. A quick fix is to slice up fresh lemons or limes and run them through the disposal. This hack will have your kitchen sink area smelling fresh in no time.

4. Blind Dusting

While this hack won’t work well for blinds that haven’t been dusted in a long time and have accumulated a thick layer of sticky dust, it will work if you regularly dust your blinds. All you have to do is completely close the blinds. Then, take a clean microfiber cloth and starting from the top of the blind, quickly wipe from side to side to remove dust. Then, turn the blinds the opposite way and repeat.

5. Deodorize Without the Fancy Products

With the plethora of fancy products out there that claim to help deodorize carpets and pet beds, you might think you have to jump on the bandwagon and buy a special product to achieve a fresh smell. Not so. Instead, all you need is a box of baking soda. Sprinkle the baking soda on rugs, carpets and pet beds. Leave for approximately 15 minutes and then vacuum the residue up. It’s really that easy to deodorize those less-than-fresh areas of your home.

6. Clean the Inside of a Food-Caked Microwave

Has the inside of your microwave seen too many food explosions, leaving you to scrub dried-on food from the walls of your appliance? Here’s a quick hack that will have the inside of your microwave looking clean and shiny once again with minimal effort. Chop up a fresh lemon and add it plus three tablespoons of vinegar to a cup of water. Microwave the mixture on high for several minutes or until you see steam forming on the window. Leave the mixture in the microwave with the door closed for approximately five minutes. Then wipe down the surfaces with a hot, damp towel. The grime should break loose and wipe away easily. If you don’t have a fresh lemon, substitute 10 to 15 drops of lemon essential oil.

7. Give Stainless Steel Appliances a Shine

Stainless steel appliances can give a kitchen a clean, modern look. But when they are streaked with fingerprints, they don’t look so good. Instead of investing in expensive and often hard-to-find stainless steel cleaners, you can use olive oil or coconut oil. Simply put a bit of either oil on a soft cloth and buff away the offending fingerprints. Add more as needed to the cloth, but don’t overdo it or you’ll have a greasy mess.

All Photos Via Houzz

Of course, you can buy the fanciest furniture there is or the biggest TV, but if your home isn’t clean, that won’t matter much. Also, you could seriously harm your health if you leave all that dust and bacteria lying around. In order to keep your home clean, you need to hear about the top 5 essential items for a clean house.

Open Storage container

We all need an open storage container. It’s easy and will definitely make your cleaning more manageable. All you need to do is pour some water into it, you mix it with the detergent and voila. There you have your recipe for success. Many stores sell these containers along with a brush and a mop. You can clean many things with these items and those include floors, tiles, sinks and even your car. But we’ll stick to the house for now.

A Good Surface Cleaner

Again, this is yet another essential item that you have to possess if you want your surfaces to be clean. It would be practical if you could find an all-purpose surface cleaner. That will make your life easier. These usually come in spray bottles so they are really easy to use. Just don’t buy the cheap ones. They won’t do a good job of eradicating the dirt and they smell awful.

Wood Cleaner

Surely you have some items in your home that are made of wood? It doesn’t matter if that’s parquet or a piano, you need a good wood cleaner that will help you clean and polish your wooden home items. Many fail to see how important it is to keep wooden items (furniture, for example) polished. Failing to do so will harm the item itself and you’ll never have that shine characteristic for new stuff.

Strong Vacuum Cleaner

The vast majority of people have carpets in their homes and it is a real pain in the neck when we spill something or feel breadcrumbs in our carpet when we walk through our homes. That’s why a strong vacuum cleaner is one cleaning hack that needs to find its place in your home. Just remember to stock up on spare parts since items such as this one have parts that need to be replaced from time to time. Fortunately, there are stores like spares2you who will always supply you with whatever spare part you need. Good vacuum cleaner parts are easy to find on a site like this one so remember to stock up on spare bags, belts, hoses, etc. You’ll need them.

Disinfectants for Mirrors and Windows

If you want your windows to be spotless along with your mirrors, you need to find decent disinfectants. Good disinfectants kill germs and bacteria which helps with illness prevention in your home. These disinfectants are not the same as the ones used for the majority of surfaces. You need to pay extra attention when it comes to cleaning your kitchen surfaces or wiping around the toilet seat.

Conclusion

Some may say that these essentials are common knowledge but you’d be surprised if you knew how many people don’t have them in their homes.

Photo: Home Pro Cleaning

1. Cleaning windows on sunny days

We all know you want to make your home look fabulous but don’t tackle the windows on sunny days. A day with a warm, bright sun is not the best time for cleaning. This is because heat makes your cleaner free from moisture before you manage to wipe it away. It will leave streaks, which means you will have to start afresh.

2. Sorting laundry when it doesn’t count

You might skip sorting laundry by color every now and then when you are in a hurry. But bear in mind that pre-sorting often save your time in the end. Many housewives find that sorting laundry “by person” can save a lot of time. This is especially true when the clothes are similar as regards to colors and fabrics. Be sure to separate knits from towels, as well as lint catchers from lint givers. you will spend a lot of time pulling out the fabrics of lint when washing them together.

3. Breaking “top to bottom rule”

Vacuuming could be a daunting task if you work it wrong. Follow the top to bottom rule and save your time. Clean the ceiling fan or dust the top shelf in the end. Otherwise, dirt will fall over the vacuumed carpet and you’ll have to do this annoying chore again.

4. Wash dishes twice

Many people rinse dishes at the sink before putting them in a dishwasher. You need to scrape all the food scraps instead of washing dishes by hand. Double washing does not get dishes cleaner, as most people think. Prewashing dishes will just waste your energy and time. Let the dishwasher wash your dishes away with one wash cycle only.

5. Instant scrubbing by a tile cleaner

Let a tile cleaner or spray tub works for a few minutes before you wipe it away. That will help them dissolve and soften stains, which saves your time for scrubbing. The less elbow grease, less time needed.

6. Cleaning pet hair by a lint roller

Many pet owners use a lint roller to clean up fur from the furniture and pick up dust to help your pets allergies. Wrong! While handy, a lint roller is not suitable for such a heavy-duty job. It’s better to use damp rubber gloves instead when you want to clear away a batch of pet hair.

7. Do not clean your cleaners

Don’t forget to clean your cleaners as well. Dirty mops and cloths don’t remove or pick up dirt well. The same goes for the vacuum cleaner with full bags. You will work longer and harder with such cleaning tools. That’s why you need to clean your cleaners after finishing work or when needed.

Cleaning is a tiresome and time-consuming process when you have to clean up a large house or have a lot of nicknacks making up your home’s interior decorating. Many homeowners have a limited time frame for cleaning. If you live in Mississauga or a surrounding region, consider hiring the home cleaning Mississauga. You will be able to enjoy a neat home through this service.