by Ann Marie Dwyer

Created on: February 26, 2007   Last Updated: August 29, 2011

Keeping your home clean can take all day...or not. Busy moms do not have time to spend two or three hours a day cleaning. Pick up a few of these quick cleaning tips to make cleaning a breeze for busy families. You can even save money while you clean! Singles can learn these cleaning tricks before they pick up "dirty" habits!

Organize:

Have a cleaning station where all household cleaning items are kept. This can be under a sink (for those with older or no children), top shelf in the laundry (for the toddler stage) or in a carry-all in a closet (great teen-aged access).

If you have cleaning items you only use in one room, keep them organized together. Consider a carry-all or basket under the sink for bathroom-only cleaning supplies like toilet tabs and pads. Keep laundry-only items on a shelf above the laundry sorter or washing machine.

Schedule:

This will keep you from spending all day by breaking the task into segments. Clean bathrooms and bedrooms on Tuesdays & Fridays; Common areas Monday, Wednesday & Saturday; Laundry room & appliances on Sunday afternoon. 

Make the carpet an everyday affair. Before you go to bed, all items need to be off the carpet. Share this duty. Children should pick up their own messes.

Cannot do it all? Break it into smaller parts. Stick to your schedule, and you don't get behind!

Make a chore chart. It helps keep track of progress and aids in delegating tasks to other family members.

Down Time:

While a machine does a task, do something else. Do you have five minutes? Clean the tub. Waiting for the dryer? Dust the living room. Dishes drying? Collect the garbage from around the house.

Everyday:

Simple tasks like making the bed go a long way to keeping your house clean. Clean as you go when you are cooking. If you take out a project, put it away as soon as you are finished. Adopt the rule: You are not finished until the mess is clean.

Mail:

It comes six days a week. Read it over the garbage can or paper shredder. Do it now. When you put mail down, it should be in the trash can/shredder, in a return envelope, filed for tax time or in your scheduler to be paid on the appropriate day. If you bank online, you reduce the amount of mail you get and have to throw away.

Dishes:

Empty the dishwasher in the morning. Put in detergent. If the detergent container is full, you know the dishwasher has not been run...and so can everyone else who opens it.

Fill it during the day. Run it when you go to bed. No shortage of hot water,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>