How to clean an apartment quickly and efficiently?
Many of us are always woefully short of time to keep our homes clean and tidy. As a result, by the end of the work week there is such chaos at home that half of the weekend is spent cleaning, and not at all on having a proper rest and getting some freedom and enjoyment. In the meantime, there are a few secrets that will help you quickly and effectively put your house in order. Especially if you take on a proven technique for the home.
The inability to clean quickly is the misfortune of many. We were taught since childhood to study, work, play musical instruments, read, behave properly in society, but no one told us about the rules of cleaning https://www.livecleantoday.com/services/last-minute-cleaning
Everything seemed to go without saying. But cleaning is an art form that everyone learns in their own time. And then lives are changed in a wonderful way and there is time for everything.
Rule one. Get rid of unnecessary things.
You can't get rid of dusty, dirty surfaces without getting rid of them. So the first thing you should do is remove everything that is not in its proper place. Of course, for a quick result you can just rake everything indiscriminately into bags and shove them into a closet or pantry, but obviously this will not bring any real order or freeing the house from junk. So all the things that clutter up surfaces should still be put into their places once, and then make sure they go back there immediately after use, not a week later. Keeping things in order is less time-consuming than cleaning. After all, hanging up one suit in the closet is half a minute, and taking apart the chair on which you've been throwing clothes all week is much longer.
Even better - once and for all reduce the number of things that clutter surfaces, as well as shelves and drawers of cabinets. Psychologists say that the only principle that helps you make the right decision whether you need this or that thing is to understand whether it pleases you. Of course, this advice is not for all occasions, but for most things it still fits. If you leave only what pleases you and really used, but not what can ever come in handy, or with what a pity to part with, then unnecessary things in the house will be many times less, and the space and freedom - more.
The secret: Free horizontal surfaces create a sense of purity. Therefore, do not accumulate vases and figurines! The interior decorations should not be a lot.
If you really can't part with them, give them away or donate them, just put them (almost all of them) for a while in a closet and occasionally swap places with those that are left in plain sight. You'll see how much the subjective feeling of purity will increase!
Rule Two. Divide your rooms into zones
After all the surfaces are clear of belongings, it's time to turn on the vacuum cleaner. Vacuuming should not start with the floor, but with horizontal surfaces and chandeliers. To do this you need a special nozzle on the vacuum cleaner. After the upper zone comes the turn of upholstered furniture. Vacuum the upholstery using a vacuum cleaner with a special nozzle, paying special attention to corners and hard-to-reach places. If you do not have a special nozzle for vacuuming, you will have to pass all of these surfaces slightly moistened clean cloth, although it will not be as effective.
Finally, you can vacuum the third zone: the floor, starting from the places under the furniture and along the baseboards. The visible space in the middle of the room is the last zone, vacuuming it last.
The hallway should be vacuumed last, when all the rooms are cleared of dust and junk, and all that is left is to wash the floors.
For each room, allocate a strictly defined time: no more than 10-15 minutes and try to fit into it, come what may. Otherwise you will definitely get distracted and your cleaning will last for hours. And it spoils the mood!
Rule three. Use the right household chemicals and utensils
Scrubbing the floor with dishwashing liquid or wiping off burnt grease with baking soda is a hopeless job.
There are remedies for every type of dirt that can be handled in no time at all. If you do not neglect this little achievement of civilization, then you can spend for cleaning three times less time and effort.
How to clean an apartment quickly and efficiently?
Before you start cleaning, simply treat all dirty surfaces with the appropriate tools: pour a special gel on the toilet bowl and sink, spray an aerosol product on the tiles in the bathroom, and burned grease on the stove, pour the liquid designed specifically for this purpose. After just a few minutes, the household detergent will do its job, and you won't have to rub and scrub the surfaces in sweat. It will be enough to go over them with a sponge or cloth and rinse with water to wash away the remains of the chemical. The secret: to bring any surface to perfection, it's better not to leave it wet, but to wipe it dry. Non-woven cloths, which are sold in rolls or made of microfiber, are suitable for this purpose. Then all surfaces will shine.
Also incredibly easy to clean special tools. There are a variety of nozzles for the vacuum cleaner, brushes, scrapers, mops with automatic wringer, and special rags that do not leave streaks and increase the effectiveness of cleaning.
If there are children or allergic people in the house, you should pay attention to steam cleaners. The secret is that thanks to the effect of hot steam, which is delivered under pressure, they perform cleaning and disinfection without chemicals. The kit comes with a whole set of nozzles for different surfaces: for the floor, carpets, tiles, glass and more. Nowadays such cleaning gadgets are especially relevant, because disinfection has become an integral part of everyday life.
Rule Four. Shine the mirrors.
After you've cleared all surfaces of unnecessary items and vacuumed the house, you could have cleaned the floor as well. But no, wet cleaning is the very last step. First, scrub all of the surfaces that you've treated with cleaners. Bring all the bathroom fixtures and tile to a shining clean. After treatment with a special agent, you will cope with this work in 15-20 minutes, you will see.
In the kitchen, wash not only dishes and all horizontal surfaces, but all visible surfaces of appliances and furniture: spray them with a mild detergent sprayer, and then wipe dry. This also takes a little time.
How do I clean an apartment quickly and efficiently?
A slightly damp cloth should also go over the upholstered furniture to freshen its color. Most importantly, the glass and mirrors.
The secret: The real feeling of impeccable cleanliness is created by shining mirrors and all glass surfaces. So don't forget about them. Especially since you can do it in about 10 minutes with a special cleaner and a dry rag in your hand.
After that, you can wash the floor. Doing it feels good and happy, because this is the final touch, after which you can relax and enjoy the cleanliness. You should wash the floor with parallel motion of the cloth from the far wall toward the door. Then, after drying, you will not see any streaks.
After cleaning is finished, be sure to ventilate the apartment well, to banish the smells of detergents and let freshness in.
How to Clean an Apartment Quickly and Effectively?
Rule Five: Leave everything to the appliances.
Doing all the housework by hand - this is clearly yesterday's day. After all, no one has thought for a long time that a washing machine is a luxury or that it takes up too much space. Similarly, the dishwasher is not a luxury. Especially since it washes dishes at a high temperature and very high quality, as you can never wash them by hand. After it, the dishes just shine. Proven repeatedly.
It is rare to find a house without a vacuum cleaner. But electric mops, steam and glass cleaners are still a rarity. Not to mention robot vacuum cleaners and robot floor cleaners. Of course, it is not necessary to collect a collection of household gadgets, otherwise there will be a question of where to store it all. But how much easier and more pleasant it is to maintain daily cleanliness, when there are at least a couple of electronic helpers. The more so that manufacturers of such appliances are trying to make cleaning as easy as possible, offering a wide range of useful and affordable household devices.
How to keep your house clean
Everything described above are the rules of great cleaning. If you did everything according to plan, it should not take more than two or two and a half hours (if the apartment is three rooms and only one person works). And yet, it's still much longer and harder physically than learning how to keep a house clean. Here are the main rules to help you do it:
When you get home, give yourself a break. But then be sure to find 15 minutes to keep your house clean. You've cleaned the house well the couple of days before, after all, so you won't need any more. If you spend just 15 minutes every day cleaning your house, it won't be cluttered by the weekend, and you'll need much less time for hygienic wet cleaning.
Learn to do some small things in between. For example, you head to the shower. Having a sponge and detergent lying around can help you spend just 1-2 minutes cleaning your sink or tub. The next day, wash the faucet and other metal surfaces before you shower. Turn these actions into an almost unnoticeable ritual, and you will not have to spend a lot of time and effort on the weekend to clean your plumbing.
Put a spray gun with water and a clean rag in each room on the radiator or in the corner of the window sill. Talking on the phone can quickly brush dust off surfaces or scrub away minor dirt.
Divide responsibilities among all family members, making sure their part of the job is up to them and not burdensome.
Some people (especially children) are often too lazy to go to the garbage can. To keep papers, scraps, and other small trash from accumulating on tables and other surfaces, simply place a small, lockable trashcan in each room.
Use disinfectant tablets for the toilet cistern that work every time you flush and other preventive measures to keep your home clean.
To keep furniture and appliances from getting dusty, you can spray all surfaces with an antistatic polish. And spray upholstered furniture with an antistatic for clothes.
If you've already mastered the "15-minute mode," go to the next step: try cleaning just one area thoroughly every day. This could be a desk drawer or a shelf in a kitchen cabinet. Do not allow yourself to spend more than the allotted 15 minutes, or cleaning will begin to drag you down. And this way you can easily and discreetly clean the whole house from unnecessary things and dirt, and even enjoy it.
Do wet cleaning at least once a week, and more often if you have children in the house. By keeping your house in order every day, you will soon see that achieving cleanliness is not as much effort as it seems at first glance.