Speed Cleaning – Efficient Housekeeping

I know house cleaning is not your biggest strength, yet sometimes your “make-the-house-look-good” skills get tested to the max. You look up from your email or end the call, feeling stunned. Your mother is coming over for a visit in about half an hour, and the house is an absolute pigsty. You could do nothing and hope for the best, or try our sneaky speed cleaning tips to make sure your place looks tolerable.

Help Is Essential

If necessary, enlist another family member to handle the food. All you need is some sliced cold meat, a bagged salad, and some excellent, easy comfort food like custard for pudding (coffee eclairs from M&S make a great last-minute dessert). That takes care of that worry, and you can focus on the domestic cleaning and tidying.

Prioritise

First things first. This isn’t the time to dust the pot plants or declutter the wardrobe. You need to do the most important things first. So here’s The Plan for getting it all done:

1. Scoop up all debris on the floor or on the sofa in the main living areas where your visitor is likely to go and dump it in a washing basket. Put this basket in your bedroom and put the things away before you go to bed or as soon as the visitor has gone.
2. Vacuum the floor. If the floor is grotty, it makes the whole house look grotty. A good move would be to book a same-day carpet cleaning in Barnet (if you live in Barnet, of course). Again, if time is an issue, do the house’s main living areas and forget the bedrooms.
3. Get rid of dirty dishes. While a few pots and pans out on the kitchen bench, soaking is OK – especially if you have been preparing a meal for your visitor – stacks, dirty cups, and plates are a no-no. Put these through the dishwasher if you have one. If not, wash one load of not-so-dirty things and leave them to drip-dry with a tea towel over them. The rest can be disguised by the pots and pans used for cooking.
4. Clean the loo and make sure there’s plenty of loo paper. Squirt around a bit of something to remove any pongs (preferably homemade using essential oils), and don’t forget the floor.
5. Check the bathroom sink and give it a quick wipe down to remove any soap and toothpaste splodges. Change the hand towels to nice fluffy ones and remove any noticeable hairs from the plughole.

Final Touches

If you have time after doing the above:

1. Put flowers on the table – this instantly makes a home look cared for.
2. Put a clean tablecloth on the table (under the vase of flowers, of course). This will hide any crumbs, smears, and unwiped spills. (Of course, spills should be cleaned immediately—naughty you!)
3. Wipe down the kitchen bench areas to remove debris. Also, clean the top of the oven.
4. Clear all shoes, junk mail, etc., away from the front door. This will allow visitors to enter the door without stumbling over your mess.
5. Deal with any thick and noticeable patches of dust and cobwebs.

Tidy up

It is very important that you keep your home tidy and clutter-free. Too many unnecessary items make your house look messy, and it takes double the time to get it cleaned every time. Assigning a place for all the items and placing them there every time reduces the time for tidying up. It is very important to have the habit of keeping the place tidy, as this is the main point to start.

Clothing

Wearing comfortable clothing is essential for the efficiency of the cleaning. Most professional domestic cleaners wear uniforms that are easy to wash and make you work faster. Protecting your skin is essential when working with chemicals. Ensure you are well equipped with the necessary protective clothing to avoid damage to your skin and clothing. An apron will protect your garments from getting stained and help you always keep some of the most important tools, like sponges and clothes, with you.

Daily cleaning

Do a little bit of housework every day. Although it may seem that you clean every day, spending 15 minutes daily will save you many hours of work each week. If you keep your house clean, you will avoid the need for a big cleaning and have more time for yourself. For example, if you wipe down your bathroom after each use, you will spend less time scrubbing the soap and limescale after it has built up. After you finish your dinner, do the washing up immediately instead of leaving this job for the next morning.

Clean logically

When you have to clean a particular room from top to bottom, do not clean the floor before you have wiped down the shelves and the furniture. Do the top first, and at the end, give the floor a good vacuuming and mopping. This way, you will clean efficiently, and your efforts will not be wasted. Do not skip cleaning in the corners and behind the furniture, as a lot of dust gathers there, and the cleaning will be pointless if you don’t clean properly everywhere.