Let's Talk Dirt

** This post was supposed to go out on Friday, but for some reason it did not publish. Sorry. Enjoy! **

So... deep cleaning. No one enjoy it. In fact, I am sure that this is why the entire "housekeeper profession" was invented; because one day someone finally said, "THAT'S IT! I refuse to clean my shower anymore!"

Well, I am definitely with the masses on this one. I do not like deep cleaning.

But there are just some things in life that are necessary despite the enjoyment level (mammograms also come to mind).

So if this task of deep cleaning has to happen, I have decided to make it as simple and non-complicated as possible.

I do not have 10 different cleaning products, 4 kinds of vacuums/mops/steam cleaners, nor do I have lots of time. I feel like efficiency is the key when it comes to cleaning. No need to spend hours doing it. Just get it done quickly and effectively.

First off, here's a list of the products I use:

BATHROOM

 Yep, 3 products for the bathrooms. That's it.

• "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner (this stuff is crazy tough on hard water stains, which unfortunately we have a lot of here in Tampa).
• Tilex bathroom for the shower & tubs.
• Lysol 4 in 1 Antibacterial Multipurpose Cleanser for everything else.

I also use:

• O-cel-o large sponges. They're inexpensive but they work great. I use them a couple times and toss em. Gross sponges gross me out big time.
• Lysol toilet bowl brush & handled brush for the shower/tub

 And I carry them all in this blue bucket.

That way, I just go into the garage, grab the bucket and head to the bathroom with everything I need.

FLOORS/KITCHEN

Just two simple products:

• Pine-Sol for the kitchen/entry way & bathroom tile
• Fabuloso for the wood floors and multiple kitchen surfaces

Fabuloso  is a product I was not familiar with until I had a housekeeper (for 6 months when Payton was born...8 years ago). It's a great multi-purpose cleaner and it really gets rid of the guck & grime. I buy this large bottle and then cut it with water and refill a spray bottle. It's pretty strong in his pure form.

EVERYTHING ELSE:

• I already shared in this post about how I use Windex & Clorox wipes in the bathrooms.
• For dusting, I use old rags & spray Pledge.

Okay, now that we have the products out of the way, let's talk cleaning schedule.

Here are the things I consider "deep cleaning" (e.g. not something I do every day) and the frequency in which I do them (do not judge me, please - I realize I should clean some of these things more often):

At least once a week:

• Toilets
• Floors surrounding the toilets
• Bathroom vanities
• Kitchen floor
• Wood floors
• Dust all family room/playroom surfaces
• Change sheets
• Kitchen appliances (e.g. inside of microwave, toaster oven, wipe down outside of all appliances - Fabuloso is a great product for cleaning all of these)

*You may have noticed I didn't put "vacuum carpets" on the list. We do not have any carpets in the house, so the only time I vacuum is when I am cleaning behind/under the couches.

 Every other week:

• Bathroom floors
• Shower
• Tub
• Bedroom dusting

Once a month:

• Wood blind dusting
• Vacuuming behind/under furniture & couch cushions
• Washing all bathmats, door mats, etc.

As needed:

• Completely empty and clean all fridge surfaces/drawers, etc.
• Inside of oven
• Fans
• Baseboards

Now, I realize all written out like this it looks overwhelming and like a lot of work. The good thing is, it doesn't all have to be done at once. And broken down over a week, or a month, it's very do-able.

My schedule is very flexible since I stay home with the kids. There are a few times during the day that I am able to sneak in a little cleaning here and there. I especially like to do this on Fridays. Then I head into the weekend with a nice clean house. It looks like this...

Friday morning:

• Strip the bed, throw the sheets immediately into the washer (our washer will hold both our sheets and Payton's so it's a one-load deal).

Friday during Parker's nap time:

• Put clean sheets back on bed
• Clean bathrooms
• Clean wood floors 
• Dust family room surfaces

Friday late afternoon:

• Clean kitchen floors
• Give exterior of appliances a good wipe-down

Then I head into the weekend with a fresh, clean house. Of course this schedule looks a little different every week depending on if we are hosting people for dinner, if a kid gets sick, guests are coming into town, etc.

The key is to have a framework for what you'd like to get done every week and then allow yourself a little bit of flexibility about when you do it. Don't sacrifice precious one-on-one playtime with your kiddos because you want to clean your kitchen floors. Life will go on with some dirty floors! :)

My hope with this post is to give you a little bit of guidelines as to how you can get it all done. But I am certainly not the authority when it comes to cleaning a house. I would love to hear how you keep up with your house cleaning too!

We just recently started involving Payton in the housework and it's been a good learning lesson for him. Plus, it helps me out. He makes his bed everyday. He collects the garbage around the house and brings it to the main garbage can in the kitchen. And he puts away all of his clean clothes that I leave on his dresser. Just these few things really help save me some time. And I'm all about saving time!

I hope this has been helpful to you. I hope you try some of the products I mentioned. And most of all, I hope that you have a great weekend doing whatever it is that you enjoy doing. Cheers!

House Cleaning 101

I am always very flattered when someone asks me how I keep our house clean with two boys (and multiple friends) running around every day. I think the simple answer is: I stick to a pretty strict cleaning schedule.

I realize this will not work for every person. In fact, most people have their own cleaning system/schedule that works best for them. But for the few people who are struggling to figure out how to "get everything done" I am hoping you can take away something from this post that will help you. And for those of you who have a weekly cleaning service... well... this probably won't apply to you, so feel free to go on to your next favorite blog. :)

I'm going to break down this topic into two posts. Today, I am going to share with you what I do on a daily basis to help keep on top of things. These are not earth-shattering ideas, but I think if you actually do them every day, it really helps. 

The next post will be a more detailed "schedule" of when I do deep cleaning things like toliets, showers/baths, dusting, etc.

If you can take a few minutes each day to fit in the 4 tasks listed below, I promise you that keeping a clean house will not seem so overwhelming.

1. I wash, dry & fold a load of laundry every. single. day. This may sound crazy, but trust me, if you do a load every day, you won't have an overwhelming mound of laundry staring you down at the end of the week. And with the new High Efficiency washers & dryers, you don't have to run a huge load to save on water/energy. The machine will adapt to how much you put into it. Of course if you don't have multiple children, or two sets of sweaty gym clothes, you may be able to cut down on the frequency of laundry.
And don't forget to dry and fold the load each day. Nothing worse than moldy-smelling or wadded up, wrinkled clothes that were left in the machines for days.

2. I "Swiffer" the floors every. single. day. Even without a pet in the house anymore, the floors are always in need of a little pick-me-up. I have the cordless Swiffer Sweeper Vac where you can use it with a dry cloth, and then switch it to a wet cloth. It's by no means deep cleaning, but it only takes a few minutes and a lot of the dust/hair/Play-doh/dirt gets picked up on a daily basis.






3. I keep the following items under both bathroom sinks:

Yes, that really is a picture of underneath my bathroom sink.

• Roll of paper towels
• Bottle of Windex
• Container of Clorox wipes

I learned this trick from Sarah over at Clover Lane. The convenience of having these items under the sink at all times allows me to do a quick wipe-down of counters, sinks,  and toilets (I do have two boys remember - and one is starting to potty train - e.g. frequent pee-pee to wipe away) whenever it's needed. I go into both bathrooms on a daily basis and tidy them up whenever needed (usually every other day, sometimes every day depending on the boys).



4. I clean the kitchen every evening after dinner, and every morning after breakfast. This may sound repetative, but I like to wake up to a clean kitchen, so every evening I make sure all the dishes are done, table, countertops and stovetop are clean, and any spills/food is cleaned up off the floors. Then I do it all over again after breakfast. Again, probably takes about 5 minutes, but makes a world of difference. My favorite kitchen cleaner is Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day in Lemon Verbena scent. It smells great, and doesn't use harsh chemicals but really works well on grease & grime. I buy the large refill container and refill my spray bottle, which makes it very economical.



* One last thing...I also make my bed every day. This isn't really house-cleaning per say, but it really does make you feel better to have a nicely made bed when you walk into your bedroom. Thanks Mom for instilling that habit in me! :)

All told, if you do these things every day, it will take a total of maybe 30 minutes. So instead of sitting down to check Facebook or turning on the TV when you get a few free minutes, throw in a load of laundry first, or Swiffer/sweep the floors real quick. It only takes a couple minutes and then you can go on about your business.

Okay, that's it for today. Are you feeling motivated to go clean something??

Up next: Deep cleaning! When I change my sheets, how often I clean the showers & tubs, what products I use, and much more.