I don’t know about you, but I HATE cleaning! Anytime there is the slightest chance that I could do LESS of it, I am all over it!
So, I’ve been doing a little research on the topic and I’ve discovered not one, but SEVEN different ways you can keep your house cleaner by actually doing LESS HOUSEWORK – that’s brilliant!
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Ditch the shoes!
Wearing your shoes from the outside world into your house is a prime source of extra dirt. It’s up to you how you want to do it – keep a basket of slippers by the front door, or just barefoot it, but not bringing your street shoes into the house will cut down considerably on vacuuming and sweeping. I like this bench – it has storage underneath for your shoes.
Confine the Food!
If you can set up a strategy to keep all food and drink in the kitchen, you will have solved a lot of your cleaning problems.
I have to say, I don’t get this whole “grazing” thing these days. When I was growing up, if we wanted a snack or a drink, we went to the kitchen, sat down at the table and then we were done. And it was maybe a once-a-day thing. With my friends’ kids, it seems like I never see them without a juice box, or a package of crackers or cookies and they wander all over the house with them. Is that a “thing” now?
I’m all for making sure kids get plenty to eat, but no wonder they aren’t hungry enough to eat a reasonable dinner. And it makes for a lot of mess – crumbs everywhere, juices and things spilled all over, plates and cups left around. Just think of how much cleaning you could save if you train your family to confine their crumbs and mess to just one spot in the house! Try it for a month and see what a difference it makes.
Delegate, delegate, delegate.
Remember, I said this was to help YOU do less housework, it doesn’t mean that the other people in the house can’t pitch in and help with the cleaning. We’re not in the fifties anymore – it’s all hands on deck these days, and I think that’s the way it should be. Boys and girls and Dads too, everyone should be able to manage some basic cleaning. If Mama ain’t happy, no one is going to be happy!
I’m always surprised at how MUCH other Moms do vs. how little their family members do. We’re a little more democratic around in our house because I know how to delegate and I do it – frequently.
Have a family meeting and brainstorm ways to streamline the work and keep the house nice. Create some daily maintenance routines (Flylady has some great ideas for them). Get creative.
BRILLIANT IDEA – Why not appoint a “room captain” for each room to scan and tidy it up on a daily basis? I would totally do this TODAY!
Get a Water Softener
This tip will help with all the tubs, showers, and toilet cleaning as well as your laundry. Hard water causes calcium build-up which makes things harder to clean and you are cleaning them more frequently. Plus it will make your clothes feel softer and last longer. Here’s an alternative water softener method I’ve found that is a fraction of the cost of a traditional water softener.
Simplify your Decor.
Getting rid of clutter will make your home not only look cleaner, it will take you less time spent cleaning it and more fun time – win-win!
Think about it – if you have 5 things on a shelf instead of 10 things, it will take you less time to dust it. If you have a mostly open floor plan with less furniture, you can sweep, mop, or vacuum it much faster. And consider getting rid of dried flower arrangements, pot pourri, excessive candles, etc. They all are dust magnets. And kind of 80’s besides. Modern design tends to be more streamlined and sleek anyway.
Block the Dust.
Speaking of dust, less dust is a VERY good thing. You may want to invest in an air purifier
It will not only help your family to breathe better, it will also suck lots of dust right out of the air. That is dust that you would normally have needed to sweep, mop or dust away. Winner!!!
Pet Peeves
As much as we love our furry friends, they are a huge source of mess.
Boy, is this one an issue for me! I have one white, long-haired very fluffy cat, another short-haired cat, AND a St Bernard.
I can lint brush like crazy, but some days I feel like a float in the pet hair parade! I’m constantly amazed that they both aren’t completely BALD they shed so much hair. Now, I’m not saying you should get rid of Fluffy or Fido. I’m just saying you want to minimize the mess. Regular grooming with something like this grooming glove and an excellent diet can help a lot with the shedding.
Keeping a towel or a long mat like this one, by the back door can help a lot with muddy paw prints.
And birds – just don’t. I have a pair of teeny little finches and while they’re darn cute, they are a ridiculous mess. Their idea of eating seems to be to stick their little beaks in the food bowl and flip out as much seed as they possibly can.
I've discovered not one, but SEVEN different easy ways you can keep your house cleaner. Doing LESS housework - sounds like a win-win to me!OK, so there you have it. If you are able to use even three of these strategies, it will create a noticeable difference. Or if you could implement five of them, you would be a rockstar in the clean house department. But if you could did ALL of them, I’ll bet you could eliminate 50% or more of your housework. Give it a shot for a week or two and come back and let me know if these tips help you.
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18 Comments on 7 Ways to Make Your House SELF CLEANING
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Taking off shoes really makes a huge difference on the carpet. I don’t think people realize just how much dirt and odor gets trapped in their carpet fibers when they keep their shoes on. I mean, we take our shoes off and still get our carpets cleaned professionally once a year to take care of it. I would strongly recommend the taking off your shoes tip to create a self-cleaning, healthy home.
Yes, that’s a super smart thing to do. Please don’t add links in your comments. I don’t allow external links on my site.
OMG dog hair! It is INSANE! Our dust bunnies even have their own pets! And don’t start on birds. We used to have several parakeets in a large cockatiel cage. The seeds and the feathers everywhere were ridiculous. And that’s WITH one of the mesh cage skirts! Feathers stuck to nearby curtains, air vents, up in the ceiling corners, mingled with the dog hair on the floor. No more birds, uh uh. Nice to look at and listen to, but the only birds we keep now are outdoor chickens and ducks.
Yes, I definitely will not be replacing our remaining little birdie when she goes. It’s funny though – my husband was adamantly against getting them, but now LOVES them. When he comes in from work, he sits and chatters to her even before he says hello to us!
Big big big challenge for me. Thanks for sharing your tips.
You and me both. This blog helps (a bit) because I feel if I’m writing about it, I have to live it, but it’s definitely an ongoing struggle for me. I hope you can use some of these tips to help yourself as well.
I think these are great tips. I’ve been working on many of these, especially shoes staying in the garage and dveloping a cleaning routine. Stopping by from SITS.
Tip #5 is my favorite. Dust is a big problem in my condo (it accumulates quickly). I’m going to look into getting an air purifier.
Dust is a pain. I’ll bet the purifier will help. You might check your window seals too. It’s getting in there somehow.
Nice, Adrian. We are working on forming the shoes habit… it really does save wear and tear on the floors and carpets!
Love, love, love these! Most of the time our shoes are taken off at the door BUT I then have the problem that my children will happily play outside in barefeet! Food is usually eaten at the table or on the floor in the lounge but it is all one room anyway. The children are supposed to be in charge of their own rooms (yeah, like that ever happens).
I hear ya! But maybe that’s a nice thing in childhood to be able to play outside in your bare feet sometimes. I wish I could do that sometimes. I figure my home is clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be happy. That works for me, anyway. Thanks for stopping by.
Excellent post! I’m all for cutting down on time and effort spent cleaning the house. I’d rather be blogging or sewing! I keep my “outdoor” shoes by the door for going out in the yard with the dogs. I usually just wear slippers around the house. De-cluttering is probably the biggest task I need to keep working on! Thanks again for sharing.
Thank you. I’m so pleased that these tips are helping people. I think we all need more time to just relax and enjoy life without chasing around with the vacuum every minute.
Self cleaning? I am in!! I would love to have ‘no shoe policy’ in my house, but it’s so hard to do, my husband doesn’t even want to hear about it 🙁
Hmmmm. Did I just hear him volunteer to do all the floors in the house? After a couple of weeks of that, he might re-think his shoe policy – tee hee!
Adrian it has always amazed me how many Americans wear their shoes in the house. We just don’t do that, and so many other countries don’t do it. My MIL used to ask if she didn’t walk anywhere but the hardwood could she please leave her shoes on. I would look at her and say NO, take then off I have to clean the hardwood as well.
Trust me that whole grazing thing came as quiet a shock to both me and the Hubs, and one summer he posted on the fridge just when they could eat, and that eating was to be at the table. We ALWAY eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the table. I remember all those summers ago him calling me and saying ” I feel like I have been feeding the kids ALL day long” then it stopped….. There is NO FOOD allowed up stairs at all, unless you are sick and I bring it to you on a tray 🙂
As for # 3, 4 ,5 done all of those and the Weiner doesn’t really give up very much hair. As for delegating, the kids have to make sure their rooms are picked up and ship shape before they leave for school, and they have to put away anything that belongs to them.
Don’t freak but I am OCD so they don’t actually clean the house, I do and I do it daily….. I suffer from the OCD…. Occasionally I will go a day without cleaning it, but that is rare… 🙂
xoxoxo
OCD is a tough thing and I don’t know if most people get that. A close friend of mine has fairly severe OCD and she really struggles with it. I really enjoy her company, but it’s a little hard to be friends with her because she’s so inflexible. I’m with you on the grazing thing – I think it’s a very dysfunctional eating pattern and it’s likely to turn kids into unhealthy eaters. There is a lady at church with her little granddaughter and she pops candy into her mouth for the whole service, just to keep her quiet. Whatever happened to just saying hush and making a child sit still? Hugs!