A spotless house at all times? Is that even possible? YES!
Forget those images of a clean house being achieved through scrubbing out your grout. The real success comes when we incorporate general cleaning methods into our daily routine.
A dirty, cluttered and disorganized house can render us dysfunctional. Stress and anxiety levels soar and productivity and efficiency plummet. Daily routines that become as sure and mindless for you as getting out of bed and going to the bathroom are the key to keeping your house spotless at all times.
What Is General Cleaning
Deep cleaning is important. If we don’t dust on top of our fan blades, they will pile up with dust all winter and fly all over everything when you first use them after months of disuse. While that may be true, the key to that always neat and tidy home is in the general cleaning.
General cleaning are the items that aren’t as glamorous or impressive. It is picking up the toys, putting the pens away, cleaning an already clean toilet. Yes, cleaning an already clean toilet. It may not be satisfying to wipe down a counter that doesn’t seem to have any dirt or dust on it, but that is what general cleaning is. The small daily items, that if done, remove the need for heavy duty cleaning in most cases and have your house guest ready at all times.
For the heavy duty cleaning that DOES need to be done every once in a while, you can check out The Fly Lady’s Zone Cleaning Methods.
Where do I begin?
Adding general cleaning to our morning routines are the most impactful place to begin. There are the fewest outside factors that can derail a solid morning schedule. Grab a pen and paper, start a list. What do I need to do in the morning and what can I add in throughout my already established routine that makes sense and has sticking power?
- I get out of bed, I make the bed
- I go to the bathroom, I swish and swipe the toilet
- I brush my teeth, I wipe down the sink, vanity, and the toilet
- I wash my hands with soap and dry them, I use the towel to dry the sink and vanity
- I get dressed, I fold and put my pajamas away in the drawer
I like to do laundry daily as opposed to having one big laundry day, so this would be the time I would throw in that first load and fold any laundry that might be in the dryer and put away. For more on my laundry routine you can click the link here.
The ‘General Cleaning Morning Routine’ for Success
You have now listed everything you already do regularly in the morning, and hopefully you matched the no brainer chores with your existing routine items. Make another list though. What other chores can I add to my morning routine? Once you have your morning chore wishlist, look at your morning routine and see where you can fit those items in.
I like to run my robot vacuum and mop on all floors in my house everyday. This requires a floor check so the robot (we call her Fanny) can run obstacle free. Sometimes I question myself looking at my almost spotless floors, but that is what this is all about. Consistently cleaning means consistently clean, but without having to expend too much effort at any one time.
How I add that in?
- As soon as I am dressed I do a floor check in my room
- I wake my kids (they make their beds as they get out of them)
- I do a floor check in their rooms while they dress and wash up
- I swish and swipe their toilet and wipe down their vanity once they go downstairs
- I start the vacuum and join them all downstairs
That is an example of a chore I have added to my morning routine with very little effort. The more chores that can be come routine habits in your morning, the better.
General Cleaning for Afternoon/Evening Routines
If you are a stay at home mom with a bunch of little kids, you will definitely want to have an afternoon routine, or perhaps a “when my kids nap routine”. This may be when you prep dinner, do a quick 15 minute speed clean, or do laundry. Working moms, don’t stress – an afternoon routine is not necessary.
When I said earlier that you should put as much general cleaning as you can into your morning routine, it is because there are always more mitigating factors to the evening routine. Life happens, and it generally happens more at this time of day. Parent Teachers meetings, unforeseen errands, your child forgot about a major project that is due the next day and needs extra help.
We are already running on less fuel at this time of day and the idea of cleaning our house can seem daunting, stressful, overwhelming – you name it. This is why it is so important to establish that mindless, painless, practical evening routine. It really is the key to keeping your house spotless, almost as though it is running itself.
The Spotless House Evening Routine
Although slightly less predictable than your morning, map it out. Grab that paper and pen.
Make two lists:
- What I do from when I walk in the door / end my work day
- What general cleaning chores do I need to do to have that spotless house
A consistently clean house isn’t some status symbol, or desire to prove that we are superwomen. For most of us it is about peace of mind. About being able to enjoy the time we spend in our homes with our family. It is about our homes being a sanctuary versus another stress weighing us down.
Some general cleaning ideas for running your evening routine:
- Walk in the door, hang up my coat and put away my bag, lunch container directly in dishwasher
- Kids walk in the house, rinse, refill and refrigerate water bottles for tomorrow. Homework on the dining room table, schoolbag on back of dining room chair.
- Prepare your already prepped dinner (prepping dinner happens the night before)
- Everyone should help clean up after dinner, but while you load the dishwasher or clean the sink, the kids can be sitting at the table doing their homework.
- Prepare lunches for tomorrow and prep tomorrow nights dinner. This can be as simple as seeing if something needs to be defrosted and if you have all the ingredients you will need in the house.
- Children can pack their homework directly into the backpack on back of their chair and then put backpack away.
This is when I would have the kids help to do a main floor speed clean. I would then set up my vacuum on this floor to run while I bathe and put to bed any children too young to do that on their own. I also do a swish and swipe of the bathroom on this level while the kids are helping to pick up.
Don’t Discount The Little Things
It may seem silly, but no item is too small to add to your checklist.
Some examples:
- Put Fanny (robot vacuum) back in charger upstairs
- Empty Fanny’s dustbin and put in a fresh mop pad
- Push chairs back in around the table
- Change the garbage
- Turn on the dishwasher
These may seem ridiculous to put down on paper, but if you did all those things naturally you probably would already have a spotless house. Some of us (me) need to put it on a checklist until it really does become natural.
I have been guilty of coming down in the morning to a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. I did the work! Rinsed and loaded! Then, oops – I forgot to put in the dishwasher tab and turn it on. Definite smack myself in the face emoji moment.
A consistently clean house isn’t some status symbol, or desire to prove that we are superwomen. For most of us it is about peace of mind.
Troubleshooting is Crucial for General Cleaning Daily Routines
Everyone is a unique result of their circumstances, personality, family, work – the list goes on. I want you to read this and be able to tailor my ideas to work best for you. Reading what I do should not discourage you from making your routines work for you.
I know many people that like to empty the dishwasher in the morning. I prefer to have an empty dishwasher in the morning, so if I can I try to empty it at night (even better I now have kids old enough to help and this is their daily chore).
Keep tweaking and reworking daily routines until they work for your life.
Implementing Your Routines
You have done all the work and now you just need a little grace and patience. When I first started I made a checklist of all the new habits I wanted to work into my daily routines. It helped me remember and it was satisfying to check it off. I did not get every check mark everyday, and that is fine.
James Clear averages 66 days for us making those habits automatic. That may sound like a lot, but use checklists, phone reminders – whatever you need until you can do it on autopilot.
We all know those people who don’t need these lists. Their houses are always clean. Once you have been doing this for awhile you will begin to understand why.
All those little things really do add up and will leave you with that always spotless house we all want. Start those lists with all the general cleaning items and put together your own morning and evening routines now! Leave a comment and let us know how it goes. We love hearing your success stories!
This is so inspiring! Somehow when you out it this way it seems so do-able! Great blog!