When you’re growing up, you’ll pick up tips and tricks from your parents on how a house should be kept. This may include how to do laundry or how to clean a sofa, and whilst these are valuable cleaning tips, they’re not the be all and end all of housekeeping. In fact, there are a number of smaller chores that a lot of people don’t realize need to be done until they move out or see someone else doing it. If that’s you, here are five rarely spoken about cleaning tips that will help you improve your housekeeping and keep an all-round cleaner home.
1. De-limescale your kettle with lemon
A lot of people don’t realize they have limescale in their kettle until they hear it moving around. De-limescale cleaning products can be expensive, so rather than forking out, use a lemon! Simply slice one in half and add it to the kettle whilst it’s boiling. Lemon is a great natural cleaner and this is a far cheaper but just as effective method of keeping your kettle in pristine condition.
2. Use a damp sock to clean your skirting boards
Skirting boards are often forgotten about when it comes to cleaning, but you’d be surprised at the amount of dirt and dust they harbor. A lot of it might be stuck on, meaning you might find yourself scrubbing a lot more than you first anticipated, and given how much skirting board there is in your house, this can be extremely tiring and mundane.
To make things easier, attach an old, damp sock to the end of your mop handle. This will remove the dust and leave your skirting boards gleaming, and all without much effort from you at all!
3. Sweep before you mop
Is your mop head grimy and full of debris? If so, you’re likely making the fatal mistake of not sweeping/vacuuming before mopping. Make sure you get all the loose bits off the floor before you go in with a damp mop. This will not only keep you mop cleaner, but it will also prevent you swirling dirt around the floor.
4. Use the dishwasher to clean your fridge
Cleaning the fridge is something most people dread because it often involves pulling everything out and scrubbing some rather unpleasant patches of dried food. Depending on how long it’s been there (it’s easy to miss spills in the fridge due to the amount of packaging in there), it could take you a long time to get the grimy bits off.
Instead of slaving over the sink, pull out the trays and put them in the dishwasher. They’re usually made of plastic and are perfectly safe to be in there. This will allow you to get your trays as clean as possible and with the minimum amount of effort, not to mention that when the trays are in the dishwasher, you can focus on cleaning the sides of the fridge and figuring out what you’re going to throw away.
5. Clean in short bursts
Very rarely is cleaning anyone’s favorite activity, with most people dreading having to do their chores. A lot of this comes down to the fact that we tend to leave all our cleaning to one single day rather than cleaning bit by bit. What this means is when it comes to tidying, we often have to do the whole house which can be both overwhelming and exhausting.
Rather than doing this, try and get into the habit of cleaning in shorter bursts. There is a good system called the 20:10 approach which entails cleaning for 20 minutes, and then taking a 10-minute break to either sit down, go outside, or get a drink. This can really break up the massive task of doing chores and allow you to focus on one room at a time, therefore easing the burden of having to tackle the entire house – even if that’s what you end up doing.
This system can make cleaning seem less arduous and therefore more enjoyable, mainly because you’re giving yourself time to recharge and reset. Combined with the other tips listed above, you’ll find cleaning far less overwhelming, and your house will thank you for it!