Get Ready For Your Weekend!

Now I know a lot of us are getting ready for the weekend. The weather is turning nice around here so a lot of us would rather be out in the garden than cleaning up our homes! So today I am going to focus on how to KEEP your house clean, so when it's time to clean house it's not such a daunting task.

I talked about not procrastinating a couple of days ago. That works well for keeping your house clean as well. Don't leave messes to do "later" because pretty soon later turns into never.

Have Helpers: When my kids were little I taught them to pick up after themselves by making it a game. Who could put away the toys the fastest? How many blocks can you pick up in a minute? Things like that. My son used to love to vacuum the house for mommy. It wasn't perfect of course but one sweep of the vacuum can go a long way to making things cleaner around your house! Now that my little monkeys are big monkeys they actually know how to clean up after themselves, and hopefully will continue that on when they are out on their own.

Bathrooms: The bath tub and shower are one of the worst things in the house to clean. I guess most people figure if you are washing in there it's got to be clean right? WRONG! Soap scum and mold can build up fast in a bathroom if you aren't on top of it. I suggest to every one of my clients that have a shower curtain to take it down and wash it in the washing machine with vinegar once a month(or more if it needs it). The machine does all the work and it comes out like new, saving you the cost of buying a new one. You dry your self when you get out of the shower, right? Why not keep a squeegee or a microfiber cloth handy, and take that extra minute to wipe down your shower when you are done. If you have shower doors, this will save you so much work cleaning hard water, and soap scum off of them in the future.

Kitchen: The kitchen is a place most of us are in daily. We eat there, we fix our meals for our families there, and we socialize there. It's the heart of many homes. So why oh why do we let them get so dirty? Time! We are busier with little ones, and work. Who doesn't want to spend more time cooking than cleaning? I have a rule in my home, and maybe this can help you as well. I never let dishes pile up in the sink. You use it, you wash it! My kids know that if they dirty a glass they are going to have to wash it, so they don't grab a new glass every time they switch drinks. They take the glass to the kitchen and wash it out, and leave it to air dry. Tada! One less thing The Cleaning Fairy has to do when she gets home from cleaning other people's houses! I also clean AS I cook. I try and wash pots and pans when I am done with them so I don't have to come back after a great meal to a giant mess. I can enjoy family time instead!

Do you have a time saving tip? I would love to hear about it!

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Eliminate Procrastination in Cleaning!

The Cleaning Fairy is here to help you!

Do you look around your home, and think "I wish I had a cleaning fairy!"? Well if you don't have your own cleaning fairy like so many of my clients, then you need to do it yourself. You might consider hiring someone on a one time basis just to get you started if it's really too much for you. Otherwise it's just baby steps!

If your tasks are simply overwhelming you, break them down to smaller tasks that are doable. For example, don't leave your all housework for the same day of the week, do a little bit each day.


Make lists of what have to be done and cross off the completed tasks. For example, your household list might be, laundry on Mondays, washing floors on Tuesday, cleaning the bathroom on Wednesdays and so on. If even these breakdowns are too daunting, further breakdown the tasks. If cleaning the whole bathroom at once is too much, clean the bathtub, then go relax or do something else non related that needs to be done such as picking the kids up from school and return later that day to clean the toilet and sink.


Set time limits; work on cleaning your house for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, then relax and the go back to the chores that need to be done. This technique is great for what seems to be one big unmanageable task such as spring cleaning the entire house.


Give yourself a reward for tasks accomplished. If you successfully cleaned your house, treat yourself to a dinner out. Other types of rewards could be taking a nice relaxing bubble bath, or play time on the computer.

Don't simply ignore the task, it doesn't go away just because you don't want to deal with it. Chances are, the task will worsen if you neglect it. Then your friends and neighbors will put you on one of those embarrassing shows where they find dead cats in your house because you forgot about them under the clutter... and who really wants to be on one of those?