If you’ve just moved into a new home, it can be challenging to figure out how to tackle your cleaning routine. This is especially true if your new home is much larger than your previous home.
In this article, we will offer tips from our house cleaning services in North York to help you set up a regular cleaning schedule that keeps your new home comfortable and presentable.
A List of Clean-As-You-Go Items
One of the most important methods of keeping a clean home is to use the clean-as-you-go approach. By cleaning up noticeable messes you create every day, you keep your home looking far neater. Some examples would include:
- Putting dirty clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor.
- Wiping up toothpaste globs and other product spills in the bathroom when you get ready for work or bed.
- Putting away anything you take out and no longer need.
- Wiping up foot or paw prints from wet shoes.
- Hanging up coats, knapsacks, etc., when you get home.
- Making the bed (some people do not believe in this, so we respect that!).
- Wiping down the microwave after a boil-over.
- Giving the toilet bowl a swish after particularly scary “sessions”.
Create a List for Daily Cleaning Chores
Daily cleaning chores ensure your home remains tidy and avoid really messy build-ups. This includes all those very noticeable messes you create every day, including the following:
- Dishes: You should either load your dishwasher every day or wash your dishes by hand to reduce issues like caked-on dirt, attracting pests, and avoiding odours and germs. If you don’t have time to tackle the dishes from each meal, set aside time each evening to wash the dishes. It helps to rotate duties with others in your household, such as someone who empties the dishwasher, puts dishes on the dishrack away, and loads the dishwasher or washes the dishes. Another good rule is that everyone washes, dries, and puts their own dishes away if you have roomies.
- Kitchen counters and stove top: All meal preparation areas should be cleaned and wiped down with disinfecting cleaners and wipes to reduce germs and bacteria that can make you sick. This also avoids stains and caked-on messes.
- Rinsing the kitchen sink: Once the dishes are taken care of, the sink should be rinsed clean, and all food debris should be emptied from the sink strainer.
- Sweeping up: The kitchen floor should also ideally be swept every day to get rid of crumbs and other food remnants.
Create a List of Weekly Cleaning Chores
Your daily cleaning greatly reduces the effort needed for your weekly cleaning chores. It also makes your life easier by spreading the chores across different days so you don’t waste your weekend cleaning.
For example, you might vacuum on Monday while a load of laundry is running, then do some dusting on Tuesday, and then tend to the floors on Wednesday. Weekly cleaning chores include the following:
Bathroom
A weekly cleaning of the bathroom is a must because of all those germs. This would include:
- All surfaces
- Tub or shower
- Toilets
- Floors
- Mirrors
Floors
Floors should be cleaned weekly, including vacuuming rugs, sweeping hard-surface floors, and mopping hard surfaces with a material-appropriate cleaner. If you have pets, you likely need to vacuum more often to tackle all that hair and dander.
Dusting
Not all homes have enough dust accumulation to justify needing to dust weekly. Keep an eye on dust build-up on furniture surfaces to decide if you happen to be lucky enough to dust less frequently. Make sure you use a static-style duster to attract dust so you aren’t releasing it back into the air.
Laundry
Most people just need to do the laundry once a week. However, if you fancy yourself a fashionista who changes a few times a day, then you should do a load every few days.
Remember that laundry isn’t over when the dryer alarm goes off! You should not only be taking the clothes from the dryer, but also folding or hanging it and putting it away.
Make a List of Monthly Cleaning Chores
Again, the more diligent you are at sticking to your daily and weekly cleaning schedule, the less effort you’ll need to tackle your monthly cleaning chores. However, an important tip for tackling monthly cleaning is to rotate the tasks, so every major chore is addressed one at a time.
These chores include the following:
- Washing baseboards
- Cleaning light fixtures
- Laundering your full bedding
- Vacuuming the furniture
- Cleaning your oven
- Wiping down your small appliances
- Washing windows
- Wiping down things like walls and light switches in high-traffic areas
By tackling one or two of these things each month, you’ll keep on top of the heavier-duty cleaning tasks for a comfortably clean home.
Tips for Balancing Life and Cleaning
Although this list seems overwhelming, no one is going to call you out for not following the schedule to a tee! Remember, a tidy home reduces stress, but keeping a tidy home shouldn’t contribute to that stress.
Some tips to help balance life and cleaning might include the following:
- Be flexible: Your schedule should be flexible, allowing you to swap out days when something more important comes up.
- Share duties: When you live with others, whether it’s a partner, kids, or roommates, it’s important to share duties equally. This makes cleaning easier and reduces resentment that can create a less-than-happy living environment.
- Find cleaning opportunities: Look for opportunities to do a little cleaning here and there, such as dusting the living room while watching the news, picking up the kids’ toys while dinner is cooking, or throwing in a load of laundry while listening to a podcast.
- Add cleaning to your calendar: Having tasks on your calendar acts as a placeholder to take care of your cleaning jobs. It also allows you to consider other things you’ve got on the go so that you can manage all aspects of your life from one place.
Hire House Cleaning Services in North York
When life gets too busy, there’s no shame in admitting that you can’t do it all. Hiring a cleaning company to come in weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly will ensure your home is always clean to reduce pressure and stress.
Maid4Condos offers house cleaning services in North York and across the GTA with affordable prices. For more information, call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.
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