How To Become A Clean-As-You-Go Person
For a lot of people, cleaning is the bane of their existence, and we don't blame them. Because let's be honest, cleaning is a never-ending process. When one thing is clean, two other things are dirty, and it goes on like this forever. However, there are some techniques you can use to make your whole life easier and cleaner. Check out these awesome tips to see how you can transform yourself into a clean-as-you-go person.
Squeegee Your Shower After Every Use
Hard water build-up can be one of the most difficult things to clean and fully get rid of once the process of building up has started.
The shower is one of the places that this can happen, and one quick way to prevent it is to squeegee your shower doors every time you use the shower. Get a squeegee that can suction onto your shower and tile, and before you get out, do a quick wipe down. You'll be happy in the long run!
Clean The Bathroom Mirror Once A Week After Grooming
Now, cleaning your bathroom mirror every day might be a little excessive, but if it makes you happy, go for it. Although you may not be touching it all that much, bathroom mirrors can get visibly dirty from shower steam or water splashing up from the sink.
To keep it clean, make sure you give it a good wipe-down once a week. Maybe do this after you've put on your weekly facial mask or after a shave!
Sweep The Floor After Dinner
The area around the dinner table can become one of the dirtiest places in a house. It's where people congregate and food is served, eaten, and cleaned up. Therefore, the ground tends to get dirty, whether it's from the bottom of people's shoes or food being dropped on the ground.
When cleaning up after dinner, add sweeping as part of your routine to prevent buildup from occurring. It only takes a second and makes a big difference.
Scrub The Kitchen Sink When You Run The Dishwasher
While you may not run your dishwasher every day, when you do, that's a good opportunity to give your sink a nice deep clean. Most likely, all of the dishes have been cleared from the sink, leaving it open for you to clean all of the nooks and crannies.
Although your sink may not need to be cleaned like this all that frequently, a dirty kitchen sink is definitely something you don't want to have, especially if you're entertaining.
Clean Your Kitchen Counters While Waiting For The Microwave
Instead of just staring at a rotating plate of food while waiting for it in the microwave, use this time to your advantage. Take that few minutes to get out your cleaning spray and a towel and wipe down your kitchen counter or polish any stainless steel that you might have in your kitchen.
Not only will it take your mind off how hungry you are, but you'll be leaving the kitchen nicer than how you found it.
Clean Your Meal-Preparing Dishes While Your Food Is Cooking
If you're waiting for something in the oven or have a few moments to step away from the pan, use this time to clean any of the dishes you used to prepare the meal. Get those knives, cutting boards, and mixing bowls out of the way, and save yourself the trouble later.
Not only will this cut down on your cleaning time after dinner, but it will make plating and serving that much easier. What else are you going to do while waiting for dinner?
Deep Clean Your Bathroom Every Time You Wash Your Towels
When it's time to wash all of your bathroom towels, this should be a good indicator that it's time to give your bathroom a deep clean. By the time all of the towels are used up, it's likely that your bathroom has been through a lot and could use a spruce-up.
After putting the towels in the wash, take a few minutes to wipe down the counters, clean the floors, and anything else that might need to be freshened up.
Mop Your Kitchen Floors When You Take Your Cans To The Curb
More than likely, you have to bring your big trash cans to the curb each week to be emptied. Because this is part of your weekly schedule, it doesn't hurt to stack another chore on top of it.
After you bring the trash cans out, come back inside and mop your kitchen floor. The kitchen is a highly trafficked area in most homes, and when food is involved, there are bound to be some messes. Keep those floors looking nice by doing this once a week.
Use A Brush On The Toilet Every Morning
Hopefully, you have a toilet brush within reaching distance in your bathroom. If you do, it's there for a reason, and certainly not for decoration. After you used the toilet, each morning, take the brush and give it a good cleaning inside of the bowl.
It doesn't have to be anything crazy but will keep your toilet looking clean and fresh, not just for yourself but anyone that might use it throughout the day. It's little work for a big payoff.
Clean Your Bedroom Floors When You Wash Your Sheets
While it may be unrealistic to clean the floors of your bedroom daily, it's reasonable to do so every time you wash your sheets. While this is recommended around once a week, let's be honest, not everyone gets around to doing it that often.
Regardless, whenever you do it, that should also be the time that you clean your bedroom floors. Now, the next time you get into bed, your feet won't be dirty and mess up your clean sheets!
Clean Out Your Refrigerator Before Going Grocery Shopping
Keeping tabs on everything in your refrigerator can seem like a daunting task, but it really isn't, as long as you stay on top of it. To prevent food or condiments from going bad, clean out your refrigerator every time you go grocery shopping.
This can help you compile a more thorough grocery list, while also cleaning out anything that might need to be removed. It can also help you from buying things you don't need at the store, which saves you money!
Pick Up Before Going To Bed
This doesn't mean that you have to get out the cleaning supplies and get to work before calling it a night. However, before retiring to the bedroom, it's a smart idea to walk around the house and pick up anything that's out of place and tidy everything up.
There are few things better than waking up to a clean house, and doing this for a few minutes each night is a way to ensure that it happens.
Put Away Your Clothes After Taking Them Off
One way to stop clothes from piling up in the corner of your room is by putting them away after use. Imagine that! At the end of the day, or if changing outfits, when you take an article of clothing off, either put it in the hamper if it's dirty or hang it back up/fold it if it's clean.
Clothes being scattered across a room is a guaranteed way to make a space messy, so just put them away while they're already in your hand!
Make Sure You Have Enough Cleaning Supplies
One way to ensure that something isn't cleaned is to not have the proper equipment to get the job done. Being out of paper towels, dish soap, or whatever, is a perfect excuse to not get things done.
Always have cleaning supplies as part of your grocery list to make sure that you don't run out. Or, you can schedule online deliveries so you always know what you need and when it will be arriving at your home.
Make Your Bed First Thing In The Morning
If one of the first things you do in the morning is making your bed, you're off to a good start. You will have already accomplished one task, which can help give you a boost of confidence to take on the rest of the day.
Plus, a made bed instantly makes any bedroom look cleaner and shows that you're on top of everything. It's a simple and quick task that can get your day started right.
Wash Your Dishes After Every Meal
If you're diligent about washing dishes every time after you use them, it will probably feel like you're always doing dishes, because you are. However, it sure beats dirty dishes piling up on the sink and counter, which is not only an eyesore but also really gross.
So, your best bet is to just do them while you're there. We know dishes aren't fun to clean, but it's better to chip away at them rather than taking on a mountain of them.
Put Everything Back In Its Place
Just about every item in your house should have a designated place where it is kept. If you take something from where it belongs, just make sure you put it back. This helps keep your house look organized, tidy, and can drastically decrease the chances of you losing something.
If you notice that something is out of place, take the extra moment to put it where it belongs. The more on top of this you are, the less cluttered your living space will be.
Take Your Shoes Off At The Door
If you hate vacuuming or sweeping the floors, one way to help prevent yourself from doing it so often is having people take their shoes off at the door.
If you do this, the likelihood of dirt or other messes being tracked into the house is less likely, keeping your floors nice and clean. The next time you're asked to take your shoes off in someone's house, take a look to see how clean their floors probably are.
Keep Up With Laundry
One of the main reasons people let laundry pile up is that it's not fun to do! You might meet a few people who claim to enjoy it, while the rest of us dread it. However, to make things easier on yourself, stay on top of it.
Don't wait until you have to spend an entire day doing laundry before deciding to tackle it. Do a load when it needs to be done, and save yourself the hassle. Half the battle is just waiting around!
Deal With Your Mail Right Away
Although few people enjoy coming home from a long day at work only to sort through their mail, it's something that should be done. Just get it out of the way so the mail doesn't start stacking up on the counters and end up becoming unmanageable.
Keep a trash can nearby so you can throw away what you don't want, so it doesn't end up floating around the house. Then, put the mail that you do need in a designated spot so you know where it is.
Clean An Appliance Every Time You Unload The Dishwasher
When you're unloading the dishwasher, take that as a sign that you should clean one of your kitchen appliances, whether it be the microwave, oven, coffee maker, or anything else.
When unloading dishes, you're already in cleaning mode, so take that energy to do something else that isn't hard but will overall be beneficial. If your kitchen appliances are frequently used, it's likely that they also need to be cleaned more. It isn't hard!
Donate What You Don't Need
One thing that is usually the direct cause of clutter is having too many things that you don't need, whether it's clothing or other items.
Instead of throwing things that you don't use away, if they're still in good condition, be sure to donate them so they can be of use to someone in need. At the end of the day, the fewer things you have, the fewer things you have to clean.
Keeping Surfaces Clean Makes Them Easier To Wipe Down
If your tables, kitchen counters, sinks, and the other surfaces in your house have very few items on them, it makes wiping them down that much less daunting. If there's nothing on surfaces, it can literally take seconds to make them looking shiny and spotless.
That's why it's important to keep clutter to an absolute minimum all over the house. Not only is it visually appealing, but it makes other cleaning tasks that much easier to handle.
Don't Leave A Room Empty-Handed
Unless your house is already as clean as possible, at least one thing in the room you're in is likely out of place or you brought something with you. If you brought a plate of food into the living room, leave with the plate you came in with and wash it in the kitchen.
If you notice a jacket on the couch, leave with it and put it in the closet. Always try to find something you could do to make the room you're leaving cleaner than you found it.
Stick Around To Empty The Dishwasher
One way that dishes end up in the sink is if the dishwasher isn't empty. After it's full and you run it, make sure that you're going to be around when it's done.
When it is, immediately empty it, so there's space for more dirty dishes. If you're right there when it's ready to be unloaded, you're more likely to do it than if you leave the house and come back.
If You See Something's Dirty, Clean It
Especially if you live with other people, don't just assume that someone else will clean a dirty item. That's because if it's already been left dirty, other people most likely passed over it.
Take it upon yourself to clean it, because it will most likely only take a few seconds. If there are a couple of dirty dishes in the sink, give them a quick rinse and throw them in the dishwasher. Nothing to it!
Make Sure Everyone Has Their Own Hamper
To make your life that much easier in terms of doing laundry, make sure that everyone in the household has their own hamper. This helps cut down the time you spend sorting different people's clothes, and nobody will be left wondering where their favorite shirt is.
Do each person's laundry individually to keep everyone's clothing in order and eliminate any potential problems. By doing this, you'll also know where you are in regards to getting all of the laundry done.
Hang Your Towels
Unless you're really particular, you should be able to get at least two or three uses out of a shower towel before it needs to be washed. However, they need to properly air dry and be out of the way.
To do this, use hooks in the bathroom to hang your towels and robes. This will ensure they are dry for the most part, and you won't find them lying around the house where they aren't supposed to be.
Do A Quick Clean During Commercial Breaks
Unless you actually like watching commercials during the break from your show, take a look around and see if anything needs to be cleaned.
Whether it's organizing some clutter, taking dishes back to the kitchen, or wiping down the coffee table, you can get a lot done in that few minutes. Then, when you sit back down to continue watching, everything will be in order, and you can truly relax in comfort.
Take Out The Trash On Your Way Out The Door
There are few things grosser than an overflowing trash can. This is most likely the reason people avoid taking it out, because it's not exactly the most appealing of chores.
However, it needs to be done, and the easiest way to do it is to take it out when you're leaving the house. Throw it in the outside bin before you leave your property. That way you don't even have to think about it when you get home.
