Cleaning isn’t the most fun thing to do. I’m sure you prefer reading a book with a cup of tea, spending time with family or friends, going for walks , having a drink on the terrace and much more.
Here are 10 tips to simplify your task and keep your interior always clean and pleasant to live in!
Go, let’s get started?
- Have few household products
I cannot repeat it enough, whether it be to save space , save money or make your life easier in your cleaning routine , always the same advice: use few household products!
Thanks to my mom (thank you mom :)) I clean the majority of surfaces (worktop / hobs / appliances, sink / bathtub / toilet rim and glass supports) with white vinegar . It took me a while to get used to the very unpleasant smell, I admit it, but now I will not come back to other Cif, Carolin, Mr. Clean, Cillit Bang etc. sorry for the quote, it’s really not to advertise them!
For the floor, we keep products marketed but only with organic or natural label and composed of black soap .
We complete with baking soda thanks to my man. This product saved me when I returned my Parisian apartment because it removes in particular the traces left on the walls (certainly by rubbing vigorously on the other hand). Typically, traces of fat left by cooking in the kitchen. Or the black marks left by the wheels of suitcases when they are stored on the shelves of a closet. By the way, that’s one of the reasons why I kept the moving boxes: I lined the walls of the cupboards with them because I don’t want to spend time washing them the day we leave. our Lyon apartment (for more details, see my upcoming articleWhy keep your boxes after moving and how to store them? ).
- Create a “household routine”
For your cleaning to be fast and efficient , there’s nothing like having a routine . This way you know exactly what to do, in what order and you can put yourself on autopilot.
Here are some steps of a housework routine, once a week:
Sstart by tidying up everything that is lying around the house,
Dust all the walls with a cloth and window cleaner (tops of furniture and tables, interior windowsills, bookshelves, shelves, etc.). When the dust has ended in a room, lay in height all that is on the floor (chairs, stools, laundry basket, etc.)
Clean the worktop and the hob in the kitchen with white vinegar , the sinks and bathtub in the bathroom and the outside of the toilet bowl (I specify that I use a different cloth per room!) ,
Vacuum upstairs then upstairs then downstairs,
Mop with a black soap product upstairs then up the stairs then downstairs,
Take a 20 to 30 minute break on the couch in front of the TV while it dries!
On a daily basis , take around 5 minutes to clean a household appliance or a space that gets dirty faster or a shelf in the fridge on which food has spilled, etc.
- Always start your household from the top
This advice applies if you have a floor : it will prevent the dust from the top dirtying the first floor you have already made, especially on the stairs. But it also applies to all furniture (furniture, shelves, bookcases). Start by cleaning the high surfaces to avoid being counterproductive !
- Use the concept of power hour
I told you about it in my article “12 tips to keep your house tidy” . The principle is the same for the household . Determine a time in the week that you will devote to housework, set a time goal and a result goal and let’s go !
- Fight against bad odors in the house
In the cleanliness of a house, do not forget the daily olfactory atmosphere . It should be healthy and fresh . It is important to ventilate every day, about ten minutes, even in winter.
If you have an odor rising through the pipes , you can use soda crystals mixed with hot water and white vinegar. If the odors persist and you can’t get rid of them, you can also place a plastic cap when you are not using the shower or sink. This is our case in the bathroom upstairs.
The coffee grounds is also a very effective deodorant . Put some in a small jar and place it next to the trash can, in the fridge or near a kitty litter box. Remember to change it from time to time!
- Regularly clean oven and microwave
I don’t know where you live, but with us we tend to forget the microwave and especially the oven when cleaning the kitchen . And yet, we use the microwave every day and the oven once or twice a week …
Here is a great trick from Grandma to clean and deodorize them :
for the microwave, place a bowl of water with the juice of a lemon and its rinds on the pan and run it for 30 to 45 seconds. The juice will evaporate on the walls, softening the impurities and allowing stains to be removed more easily.
for the oven, apply the juice to the walls then heat it for 30 minutes at 80 ° with a dish filled with water and the juice of a second lemon .
- Clean and defrost the fridge and freezer regularly
This is an unconditional household but also can often be forgotten! This is where we store part of our food and bacteria (salmonella and listeria) proliferate quickly!
For our part, we take advantage that it is empty enough to clean it, once a month , just before doing our big shopping. But if you have fruit or vegetable foods that are starting to rot and deposit mold on the walls, don’t wait!
To clean the refrigerator, I use white vinegar diluted in hot water and I dry the walls with a clean cloth. Never use anything that could scratch the interior lining (scraper, cutter, etc.). Use a soft sponge , or even a toothbrush, to scrub joints and other corners that are not always accessible.
Also remember to defrost your fridge (if it does not have an integrated system) and your freezer regularly. A 4mm layer of frost doubles the power consumption !
- Also remember to clean the washing machines and the dishes
The dishwasher and the washing machine are 2 devices that work daily and that we do not always think of cleaning. How could they be dirty while washing dishes and laundry? It is not to think about the problems of humidity and residues . It is necessary to do empty washes after filling the detergent drawer or capsule drawer with one to two teaspoons of baking soda . It is a good anti-scale which maintains the pipes of household appliances.
And if you have a window washing machine , don’t forget to regularly clean the seal in the opening, residue easily accumulates there with each wash.
- Take off your shoes when entering the house
Taking off your shoes as soon as you enter your home helps limit the dirt spreading in your home. In fact, a lot of the dirt comes from the outside , clinging to your shoes.
Likewise, ask your guests to take off their shoes when they arrive. If you are embarrassed to make them walk barefoot , offer them slippers . Usually 2 or 3 extra pairs are enough and you will see how much it keeps your interior clean ! We rarely have 15 guests at the house at the same time and anyway, with 15 guests, even without shoes, we will have to clean up afterwards!
For our part, we have chosen to put a pretty bench-trunk in our entrance to easily remove and store the pairs of everyday shoes:
- Wash curtains and curtains
Integrated into the decor , curtains and curtains can be quickly forgotten . They are, however, the first ramparts to dust from the outside. Of course, washing them is a painful and even perilous task : getting on a stepladder, playing the balancing act to undo the rod and remove the curtains, then untie the curtains from their rings to put them in the machine. And depending on the height of your windows, it looks great ironing in perspective!
However, it is essential to preserve the air in the rooms and not to charge it with dust. For my part, I wash them twice a year. Once with the onset of spring and once in the fall. I take the opportunity to do the windows too. I don’t clean the windows more often because the curtains prevent seeing if they are dirty ah ah!
And if you have the courage to wash your curtains more often, don’t hesitate!
