Monday, March 8, 2010

my "quick" daily cleaning

Today, as I started my cleaning routine, I thought I would snap a few pictures as I went and share how I do my daily house cleaning. This whole thing would probably be better to do in the morning, but with Eric working swing shift we have a leisurely breakfast, play with the kids, and work on our home improvement projects in the morning. It's also the only time I have the car if I need to run errands or go to playgroup or storytime. Today I was a bit lazy and didn't get started on the cleaning until 3ish.

I start by grabbing a laundry basket, a spray bottle filled with vinegar and water, and a few microfiber cloths. We stopped using paper towels a couple years ago and I haven't missed them yet. I use holey socks and t-shirts as rags and have some microfiber cloths for cleaning glass and for dusting. As I enter each room I open the window. It helps the vinegar spell dissipate faster and gets some fresh air into the house.

I like to start with the bathrooms. They are relatively easy as they are usually not filled with toys and papers like the rest of my rooms. To begin, I toss anything that doesn't belong in that bathroom into the laundry basket. If I start walking the items directly to where they belong I will get sidetracked and never make it back to the original project. Next I spray the mirror, counters, sink, doorknobs, and toilet with the vinegar spray. I have one cloth for mirrors and I start there. Then I switch to the other cloth and wipe the doorknobs first, then the counter and sink. A quick scrub with the toilet brush and then I use the cloth from the counters to wipe down the outside and the seat of the potty. That cloth then goes into the laundry. I then check to make sure we have toilet paper and clean towels hanging and I am done with that room. In theory that should take about 5 minutes, but Emily needed a diaper change and the phone rang so it was more like 15 minutes.

 The girls "helping" in their bathroom

Then it's off to the master bath. I only have one toilet brush at the moment so along it comes with the rags, basket, and spray bottle. I follow the same steps in there only I found when I got in there that I needed to plunge the toilet before cleaning it. We are still working with Anika on her excessive use of paper.


On my way through the master bedroom I pick up a few toys and a pillow that belongs on the couch. I always make the bed when we get out of it so that is already done. That room only took about 30 seconds today.



Then it's on to the girls' bedroom. I make the beds, fold the pajamas, put a couple books back on the shelf, and toss a couple toys in the laundry basket that I am still moving from room to room. It takes about a minute.



Next is the playroom. Half the items I have tossed into the laundry basket so far belong in this room. I call the girls in to help me and we put the toys back into their baskets and on their shelves. This room is allowed to be a bit messy, but only one big item can be scattered on the floor at one time. They have to choose between the blocks, the train set, or the kitchen and clean up one before getting the other out. It takes longer to clean with the girls helping me, but in the long run it is worth it. Anika is usually very good about picking up and Emily is starting early. I didn't get a picture because Emily is sleeping in the pack in play in there now. Here is the laundry basket instead.

 
yes, there was a beer stein in the master bathroom and don't worry, that diaper is clean


The living room is next and it just has a few pieces of clothing and a couple toys scattered about. I give the toys to Ani and add the clothes to my laundry basket. I put the pillow I found in the master bedroom back onto the couch and straighten the rug and it's done.



I saved the kitchen/dining room for last. It's right by the laundry room so now I can put the water glasses and sippy cups I found around the house into the sink and the dirty laundry from the bathrooms and bedrooms into the washing machine. I get the dishwasher loaded and running, the rest of the dishes washed and dried, the stove, counters, table, and chairs wiped down with my kitchen washcloth and my vinegar spray, and take out the garbage. On my way back in from the garage I get a load of laundry started.


The laundry basket that I have brought from room to room now has a few random things like papers, pencils, a puzzle piece, a paint stirring stick, and a couple pairs of Eric's shoes. I need to have a talk with him about why he needs shoes in 4 different rooms of the house. Those items all get put in their proper place and if they don't have a proper place I either make them one or they get thrown away. I am determined not to let clutter get the best of me.

At the very end I run the vacuum around the entire house. As I vacuum each room I close the window that I opened an hour or so ago. I hate sweeping and it is so dusty here so I just change the setting on my vacuum and do the bare floors as well as the carpets. We only have 1600 square feet so it doesn't take long.

Our entire house should probably take less than an hour. Even though I changed Emily's diaper, answered a phone call, turned on a Mickey Mouse dvd, nursed Emily to sleep while drinking a cup of coffee, and took a few photos it was only about 2 hours of my day. That leaves plenty of time for those once a week chores like windows, dusting, mopping, or washing sheets. If anyone has any tips on how to shave a few minutes off my routine I'd love to hear them :)

1 comment:

Kristenamber said...

Sounds like you have a great routine down! My problem is that to keep my house together, I have to act like shampoo all day;) Rinse, lather REPEAT, haha!