A LITTLE AT A TIME
Keeping your home in tip-top shape doesn’t have to take up all of your time. In fact, a little bit of dusting here and a quick vacuum there, coupled with creative cleaning tips, save time in the long run. The key is to clean like a professional, says Leslie Reichert, a Boston-based cleaning coach and the author of The Joy of Green Cleaning. “Professionals don’t organize, sort or rearrange while they are cleaning,” she says. “Just keep your focus on cleaning, and you’ll finish much quicker than before.”
TIMELY TOOLS
Free up some time while cleaning by wearing a work apron. “Just like a carpenter, you need all your tools with you while you are working so you save time and don’t retrace your steps,” says Reichert. Fill up a caddy with cleaning solutions and pack your apron with dusters, sponges and cloths to knock out each room quickly.
WORK IN A CIRCLE
A consistent routine while cleaning can help prevent any distractions or backtracking. Work in a circle, suggests Reichert. Find a spot to start and clean around the outside of the room and then finish in the middle. “Use this mantra as you clean around the room,” she says. “Start at the top of the area, dust downward and let everything drop to the floor because you can just vacuum it up when you are done.”
TOSS THE BUCKET
Instead of filling up a bucket of water and sloshing it throughout the house, Reichert recommends bucketless mopping to save time. “Use a microfiber mop or attach a microfiber cloth to your Swiffer,” she says. “Mix up your favorite cleaner diluted in a spray bottle, spray an area with cleaner and simply wipe with the microfiber mop.” Once your floor is sparkling clean, simply toss the cloth in the washer.
TACKLING THE BATHROOM
Don’t let hair and dust in the bathroom cause you to spend hours scrubbing and scouring. Cut your cleaning time in half by vacuuming the entire bathroom before you try to clean it, says Reichert. “Use the dusting brush on your vacuum and clean everywhere you can — even in the shower,” she says. “It will make cleaning much easier.”
WALK-THROUGH WIPING
Sanitize your home quickly with a walk-through armed with disinfectant wipes, suggests Shanna Mayfield, owner of Super Clean 360, a cleaning business in Berkeley, Calif. “Every few days, I walk around the house with disinfecting wipes, wiping off door knobs, switch plates, toilet seats, trash cans and spots I notice on the walls,” she says. This quick wipe-down session takes Mayfield less than 10 minutes and the germ-reducing task keeps her home cleaner in less time.
LOSE THE SHOES
Eliminate the wear and tear of traffic in your home by kicking off your shoes at the door. Shoes can track in mud, grass, dirt and grime that stains carpets and scuffs up floors. Since her family has agreed to slip off their shoes inside the home, Mayfield said she has been able to cut back on the amount of time she spends mopping and vacuuming each week.
SPRUCE UP SHOWERS
Take multitasking to a new level by quickly cleaning showers after each use, recommends Mayfield. “After each morning or evening shower, we take the time to spray the shower with a shower spray to prevent mildew or mold growth,” she says. Squeegee or wipe down glass doors and tiles after you dry off to prevent water stains, too. In roughly two minutes, your showers will shine.
MICROWAVE MESSES
From spaghetti sauce to melted cheese, your microwave can turn into your worst cleaning nightmare. Speed up the time it takes to clean this heavily used appliance by removing stuck-on food naturally. Cut a lemon in half, put it in a microwave-safe bowl with water and heat for five minutes, suggests Soft Scrub’s resident cleaning expert, Erin Chester. Let the bowl sit for two minutes and then just wipe down the microwave with a paper towel. “Your microwave will be clean and smell fresh,” says Chester.
SWIFT DUSTING
If dusting your home seems to take forever, multi-task with a lint roller each day. Just as you quickly remove lint from your clothes before heading out for the day, quickly run the lint roller over fabric lampshades, couches and curtains, suggests Chester. By tackling a few pieces a day, you can minimize your cleaning time without even pulling out a dust rag.
MAKE A SCHEDULE
Tackling just a few cleaning tasks each day will save you time throughout the week, says Yashira Feliciano, director of housekeeping at Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “Make it part of your schedule, just like exercising and other things that you don’t want to do, but you should,” she says. Create realistic goals and stick to them. For example, assign tasks for each day, such as washing sheets on Friday, cleaning the kitchen on Saturday and completing two loads of laundry on Sunday.
