Timesaving Cleaning Tips

When I look at the stereotype of the 1950s housewife, I think that she (a) is damn lucky not to have to juggle running a house AND look after small children AND hold down a job, (b) has impossibly high standards of cleanliness.  It seems absolutely ironic that the women’s movement allowed women to do more than housework, but modern living still demands that our houses be just as spotless and germ-free as any 1950s home.  Yes, I know that many professional women employ professional cleaners.  But some of us take jobs just to be able to meet the mortgage payments and can’t afford a cleaner on top of that.  Or else we are professional cleaners!  You might think that a pro cleaner should have a spotless home, but the truth is that if you spend eight or so hours a day cleaning other people’s houses, the last thing you want to do when you get home is do more cleaning… for no pay.

Yes, the men in our lives help more than they used to.  But this arrangement only began with the Baby Boom generation (or even the Buster generation), and you can’t shake off the roles of centuries in less than 50 years.  Women still end up with the bulk of the responsibility, even though our men no longer believe that soap suds and vacuum cleaners do not do horrible things to testosterone levels or virility.

For those in this situation, I came across some advice in a genuine 1950s women’s magazine that my grandmother had hoarded. In paraphrase, this advice was that as long as you have clean clothes on your body and bed and clean food utensils (crockery, cutlery, pots, pans, etc), you can let the rest slide.

And you have to learn how to cheat.  Time is precious, and you don’t want to waste all your spare time cleaning up.  Do some, but don’t go overboard.  I have read that some scientists are convinced that having hyper-hygienic homes is behind the upsurge in food allergies in children – children’s immune systems don’t get enough germs to work on from their environments. Hence, they start working on other substances, such as peanuts.  A bit of dirt won’t kill you (dust, however, is harmful to asthmatics, so vacuuming is essential).

Easy To Follow Timesaving Tips

Here are some timesaving tips that have worked for me and other women I know.

1. Tablecloths are simple to pick up and throw in the laundry—much easier than wiping stuck-on cereal off tabletops. Have a selection of tablecloths and rotate them so you don’t pressure yourself to wash, dry, and back up only the tablecloth in a hurry.
2. Have a designated clean laundry drop-off point and let everyone in the household collect their laundry as and when they need it if you haven’t managed to put it away.  My mother used to do this when I was a teenager.  I got so fed up with hunting for underpants every morning that I took complete responsibility for my laundry (cunning old Mum).
3. Don’t even bother buying clothes for children that need ironing.  T-shirt material, polar fleece, denim and tracksuit-style fleece are durable, easy to wash and crinkle-free, especially if line-dried.
4. If you have a washing line, sort clothes ready for putting away as you hang them out (e.g. all towels together, all of Sally’s clothes together, etc.).  This takes no longer than hanging out laundry the regular way.
5. Have drop-off caddies or baskets in all main traffic areas for dumping those odds and ends that always get left on floors, bench tops, sofas and tables.  Guilty parties
6. If you expect visitors, clean only the rooms they’ll use and ignore the rest. They won’t be going under your bed!
7. My son’s kindergarten teacher said that assigning small children household tasks and responsibility builds their self-esteem, helping them feel like they can contribute and make a difference. For some reason, my kids seem to like cleaning glass, dusting the piano (cool noises), and cleaning the bathroom (water fights, throwing wet flannels, and getting into the bath fully clothed).
8. Designate at least one room as a “no toy” room and keep this as an adult haven.
9. Lower your standards—Kids are messy, so don’t expect to have an immaculate home until they have left it.
10. Keep meals simple.  Eggs, pre-washed potatoes, raw veggies and tinned fish are healthy and easy to prepare.

Even More Tips How To Do House Chores More Efficiently

Task: Peeling potatoes and carrots

Timesaving tip: Don’t bother. Much of the nutritional content in root vegetables is contained just under or in the skin, and a lot of the beneficial dietary fibre is found there, too. Just give the spuds and carrots a quick scrub and maybe chop off a few nasty bits (this includes any green in potatoes – the green bit is often poisonous. In red/pink potatoes, the poisonous green bit looks browny-purple). Then, do whatever you want to do with them. Or eat the carrots raw!

Task: House cleaning – underneath the stovetop elements (electric stove)

Timesaving tip: Line the “bowl” beneath the element with aluminium foil. When it gets black and dirty, you must replace the dirty foil with fresh. This has the advantage of making your stovetop element more efficient: the foil will reflect heat at the bottom of the saucepan where you need it.

Task: Sorting and folding the washing once it’s dried

Timesaving tip: When you hang the washing out on the line (which you are doing, aren’t you? This is so much cheaper than using a dryer, and the clothes smell better and don’t have static problems), sort the washing as you peg them out. This takes no more time than hanging them out normally. When you take them down, give them a quick fold as you put them into the basket – which will also make them fit better – and they’ll be sorted and ready to go.

Task: Giving the bath a big once-a-week scrub to get rid of that grey ring

Timesaving tip:

1. Avoid bath oils, which can stick and be a problem.
2. If you don’t have a problem with sensitive skin or don’t mind bending your “all-natural” principles a bit, use a bubble bath (shampoo works nicely as a bubble bath, but don’t use dishwashing detergent, whatever you do!) for a luxurious bath that helps do some of the cleaning up.
3. If you want something more natural, use bath salts – these are easy to make using ordinary table salt and some essential oil.

Task: Sorting the junk mail

Timesaving tip: Keep a waste paper basket – for paper only – near the front door or (if your letter box is on the street) near where you come in the door after collecting the post. All junk mail goes straight into the waste paper bin, ready to be recycled. Don’t bother reading it unless you spot something that interests you (which tends to be in the minority).

The golden rule for saving time: When it comes to cleaning, doing it little and often is much easier than doing one big cleaning service. You may still have a day to give the house the once-over, but you can save so much time on this by doing lots of little two-minute tasks at odd points during the day. This includes wiping soap scum off taps, wiping off smears from the bench top or stovetop, etc.

Anyclean’s Tips For Quick Home Cleaning

Make things easier – use the supplies and techniques used by professionals. Be a copycat!

Speed cleaning may sound unrealistic, but we all know we can make it happen. How often have you run around the house like a lunatic, straightening up before someone comes over? How do you speed clean?

Make every move count. That means working around the room once—do not begin again. You must also carry your equipment and supplies with you so you do not make dozens of aggravating trips back and forth across the room. Walk around the room once, and you are done, except for the floor.

Use the right tools. This is probably the major time-saver of the bunch. Give your specialized gadgets to your enemies. You need real tools that cut time to shreds. Most of all, you need a cleaning apron to hang tools on and store cleaning supplies as you move around the room. The method depends on it, and soon, you will feel lost without yours.

Work from top to bottom. Dirt follows the laws of gravity just like anything else. When you start at the top and work to the bottom, you will not be constantly re-cleaning surfaces with dirt from above.

If it is not dirty, do not clean it. Vertical surfaces are almost never as messy as horizontal surfaces. Upper shelves and moulding have less dust than lower ones. Often, all that is dirty about a surface is a few fingerprints, so do not clean the whole area.

Do not rinse or wipe a surface before it is clean. You will have to start over. In other words, do not rinse or wipe when cleaning a surface to see if you are done. If you were wrong, you would have to start all over again. Learn to check as you clean by “seeing through” the gunk to the surface below. Then you can tell when it is dislodged and ready to be wiped or rinsed only once!

Do not keep working after it is clean. Once you have reached ground zero, stop! You are cutting into leisure time. Rinse or wipe and move on.

If what you are doing is not going to work, then shift to a heavier-duty cleaner or tool. You will get very good at knowing what tool or product to use without throwing everything in the book at it. You will be learning to anticipate what to reach for before you start a task so you will not have to shift.

Keep your tools in impeccable shape. Dull razors scratch-they do not clean. Clogged spray bottles puff up and make funny noises-they do not spray.

Repetition makes for smoother moves. Always put your tools back in the same spot in your apron. You cannot spare the time to fumble around for them. You cannot afford to leave them lying around in alien places for the dog to carry away. You will quickly get so expert you will become aggravated if the tool you expected is not in the right spot when you reach it. Progress, progress.

Pay attention. Almost everything else will fall into place if you do. Do not think about anything else. Focus…Do what you are doing.

Keep track of your time. Get a little faster every time.

Use both hands. Your workforce is half idle if one hand is doing all the work. Finish one step with one hand and start the next step with the other. Alternatively, wipe with one hand while the other steadies the object.

Now that you know the true secret of faster domestic cleaning, go do it! In addition, if you do not like to clean, get a professional cleaning service!