Are you living in what the FlyLady calls CHAOS (can’t have anyone over syndrome)? If so, you’re not alone. There are millions of moms out there who can barely remember what day it is, let alone maintain a sparkling and thoroughly disinfected house. I am one of those moms. One year, for my birthday, my wonderfully thoughtful husband took a big chance and bought me a book that was, shall we say, a gamble. It was entitled Speed Cleaning 101: Cut Your Cleaning Time in Half!
One of the major hot buttons situations for most moms, particularly moms of young tornadoes...er, children, is hosting. If you’re anything like me, at the first thought of having house guests you break into a cold sweat and your blood pressure begins to climb Mr. Everest. Relax, according to FlyLady and Laura Dellutri, all you need in a situation like this is a “spruce-up” and no one will be the wiser! Start by analyzing the task based on what people will see. Where will they be looking when they walk into your home? Where will they be spending most of their time? Which bathroom will they be using? Look at your home with a visitor’s eye; take the time to see the clutter that has become normal to you.
Once you’ve zeroed in on the clutter culprits, grab a laundry basket and start walking. Pick up all of the items that are making the room look disorganized, especially items on the floor or in focal point areas of your home. For example, one of the first things a guest sees when walking into my home is the kitchen island and, unfortunately, it also happens to be the most convenient place to dump everything from junk mail to cough medicine to decapitated Polly Pockets awaiting hot glue gun surgery from Dr. Mom. Toss all of that stuff into the basket. Pick up any items that don’t belong there off of the floor. You will be amazed at how much cleaner your home looks with a de-cluttered floor and clear countertop. Now, put that basket in a room that will not be used for entertaining guests and deal with it later.
If guests will be walking past your child’s bedroom and it looks like the set from a made-for-TV disaster movie, simply close the door. Don’t waste time browbeating your child about it now. That is a family topic for another, less stressful, time. The same goes for any room in which you could lose a small child. If your guests have no reason being there, just close the door. If they do need to be in the bedrooms be sure to make the beds. This will help the room look 80% cleaner. Clear off the dresser tops and the floors and put clutter in the closet or under a bed with a bedskirt. Who knew a bedskirt could be so practical?
Now, on to the bathroom. Even if your friend is just doing a quick pop-in, you never know whether or not they’ll need to use the loo so give it a once over just in case. Start by squirting some toilet cleaner into the bowl…no scrubbing. Just let it sit in the bowl and do its job while you work on other areas. If you aren’t dealing with hard water stains or mineral deposits, a good bleach-based toilet bowl cleaner should clean the bowl for you in 5-10 minutes with no scrubbing. Just flush and you’re done. Wipe down and shine up the sink and the mirror. They are the most visible areas of the bathroom. Then wipe down the back of the toilet and the rim under the seat (especially if you have housemates of the male persuasion, particularly potty-training ones). Keep disposable cleaning wipes on hand for these types of quick touch-ups. One brand now makes a wipe that won’t smear the glass on your mirror. Spot clean the floor with a wipe and then give the lightswitch and the door knobs a quick swipe and you’re done. Don’t forget to flush that sparkling clean toilet before you leave the bathroom.
Moving back to the main living area, spot mop any tile or hardwood floors using a flat microfiber mop and a mild cleaner. This is no time for a mop and bucket or a Cinderella style cleaning! While the floor dries, straighten piles of papers, magazines or newspapers. You might not know what’s in those piles but they sure do look organized. Fold throw blankets and straighten decorative pillows and couch cushions. Toss dirty dishes into the dishwasher or, if you’ve forgotten to unload the clean ones and don’t have time, stack the dirty ones on the counter as neatly as possible. Wipe down the countertops and kitchen table. Give the sink and appliances a quick shine with a disposable wipe or a damp microfiber cloth. Finally, run the vacuum cleaner over high-traffic carpeted areas.
Now that your home is ready to face the world, take a whiff. Have you become accustomed to your own smells? Step outside, take a few deep breaths to clear your nose and then step back into the house. Does is smell like your pets…dirty diapers…cigarettes…last night’s curry? If so, try to find the offending smell and take care of it. If your detective work is getting you no where then it’s time to do some masking. Light a candle or two or twelve or spray an odor neutralizer. The scent of your home says a lot about how clean it is.
Whether it’s a spruce-up or Spring cleaning, here are some general tips to help you cut your cleaning time:
- Safety first!!! Read labels, read labels, read labels and never mix cleaning products. Mixing the wrong products such as bleach and ammonia could result in deadly fumes. Nothing slows a cleaning session down quite like a trip to the ER. I, personally, have decided that because I have bleach products in the house I will not keep ammonia around. It’s not worth it.
- If it’s reasonable, ask your family members to take off their shoes when they enter the house. More than 85% of the dirt and grime in our homes is tracked in on the bottom of our feet. If you need to wear footwear in the house then designate an "indoor only" pair of shoes or slippers for each family member.
- Clean in horizontal, slightly overlapping swipes and not circles. Circles take longer and increase the chance that you’ll miss a spot.
- Use an all-purpose, disinfecting glass cleaner for most of your cleaning needs. This will save storage space and cut down on the bottles you need to lug around the house. Always read labels to ensure that you are using the right cleaner for the right furniture and that you are allowing the cleaner to remain on the surface for the appropriate about of time to completely disinfect (did you know it can take some cleaners up to 10 minutes on the surface to disinfect? Me, either!)
- Make sure you have everything you need before you start cleaning. If you are constantly running to get something you forgot, that’s two to three minutes added to your routine. Multiply that by the number of rooms in your house and you can see how it adds up quickly.
- Use the right tools. Microfiber cloths save on paper towel waste, clean much more thoroughly without streaking or residue and they hold up to 15 times their weight in liquid. Microfiber clothes can be laundered more than 500 times with very little wear (do not use fabric softener or dryer sheets on them). Get yourself a microfiber mop. Whether it’s a brand with disposable pads and built in cleaner or one that uses washable pads and steam to clean, they are more efficient and sanitary than the old mop and bucket. A lightweight, cordless vacuum can help to clean up light dirt on stairs and in corners before it becomes a major cleaning project.
- Clean one room at a time so you do not become side-tracked and clean each room in a circle. This will help you to remember where you are if you are interrupted.
- Don't clean what's already clean. If the refrigerator has a chocolate handprint on it then wipe off the handprint. There is no need to waste time scouring the entire outside of the refrigerator.
Once you’ve finished cleaning the façade, pat yourself on the back, head upstairs and give yourself a quick spruce-up. It’s time to enjoy your guests and that neater house.
While the bionic cleaning protocol above is helpful, it is far easier to say yes to hosting when your home starts out relatively clean and organized in the first place. If you aren’t sure where to begin then pick up a copy of Laura Dellutri’s book Speed Cleaning 101: Cut Your Cleaning Time in Half!
