You probably know that a clean home improves a person’s mental health. But did you know that new studies also suggest that if your home is cluttered and dirty, then your ability to feel joy in that space will be negatively affected?
So, in these stressful times, a clean home is more important than ever!
But what’s the best way to clean your home?
Step 1: Get Your Supplies Ready
Before you do a task well, you need to make sure you’re well equipped! We recommend the following items:
- Sprays and Cleaning Solutions (including wood cleaner, electronic-safe cleaning solutions, etc)
- Cleaning Cloths (towels, dish rags, microfiber cloths, scratch-free cloths for fine wood)
- Brooms and mops
- Electric Spin Scrubber and scrub brushes
- Garbage bags
Remember to research your cleaning sprays and solutions to make sure that they’re not harmful to your body or to the materials in your home, like fine wood, leather sofas or chairs, etc.
If you’re not sure where to start, this article by The New York Times can guide you!
Step 2: Start with the Living Room
Now, many cleaning guides will have you tackling the hardest-to-clean rooms of your house first, like the kitchen or bathrooms.
But we like to start things off in the living room.
Why?
Because we don’t want you giving up halfway through your cleaning routine!
Your living room is probably the source of one of your biggest temptations on your cleaning day: the TV, home of a dozen comfy streaming apps!
Cleaning this room first will guarantee that you won’t go back to it until after you’ve finished cleaning the rest of the house. After all, once you move on from this room to the others, you’ll likely be covered in dust, sweat, and maybe even a few tears!
So start things off here and let it be your well-earned resting spot after all your cleaning is done!
But how can you clean your living room effectively?
1. Declutter:
Remove everything in your living room that doesn’t belong, this could be the shoes lying on the ground or clothes lying on your sofa.
2. Dust:
Dust the ceiling fans using a mop wrapped in a sock or a dusting towel, then use a dusting towel to clean your shelves, tables, and the tops and backs of your electronics. Be sure to remove all the knicknacks and ornaments from your shelves, dust them with a scratch-free cloth, and then place them back only after wiping the shelves down.
If your TV screen is covered in dust particles, don’t fret! Use a microfiber cloth to dust the screen surface gently or, ideally, get a small lens cleaner blower. These tools are used by camera assistants to clean the dust off expensive camera lenses, but they’re also great for removing dust from TV and monitor screens gently, ensuring that they don’t get scratched by harsh particles when wiped down with a cloth!
3. Clean your furniture:
Left unchecked, sofas cushions can become dust sponges!
If your sofa is vacuum-safe, feel free to use a low-power vacuum to remove excess dust and lint from its cushions. Also, be sure to clean the spaces underneath the cushions and pillows and, if possible, move the couch to sweep and vacuum underneath it.
If possible, remove the cushion covers for a deep clean or wash (if they’re washer-friendly) and then take the cushions outside and give them a good smack to clear the dust that may have become trapped inside.
Remember, some sofa cushions cannot be removed, and others have a permanent cushion cover that, if removed, might ruin the spongy makeup of the cushion. So do your research first and find out what kind of couch cushions you have before you go digging into them!
4. Sweep:
Now that you’ve dusted most surfaces, be sure to sweep the dust off the floor with a broom or with an electric spin scrubber with a large brush!
5. Mop:
After sweeping the dust off the floor, clean your floors with a mop and a cleaning solution. Remember to use wood-safe and laminate-safe solutions if your floors are delicate!
Step 3: Onto the Kitchen!
Dust the shelves and cabinets with cleaning cloths or a mop wrapped in a sweeping towel.
After the dust is liberated from most surfaces and drops to the ground, you can then sweep it away.
2. Mop and Clean the floor:What kind of mop do you have? Most floor mops are great, but they do have their quirks, like replacing the towel or cloth once it’s gotten too dirty, or trailer cleaning solution and dirty water when you move them around.
We recommend using a Dovety electric spin scrubber! It comes with a large head attachment with a slow spin option, perfect for using with a light cleaning solution and giving floors a much needed refresh. Electric spin scrubbers do twice the work in half the time, so you never have to worry about swinging a mop around to clean the same spot multiple times!
Your appliances should be wiped down with glass and plastic safe cleaning solutions. If there’s crust or buildup around your stove, make sure to clean it with a paper towel or scratch-proof cloth and, if you don’t have a scratch-proof cloth, then use a coffee-filter with a bit of dish soap instead! The point is to avoid scratching your stove, as many modern stove tops are made of glass.
4. Clean your Microwave:Remove the spinning tray from your microwave and wash it by hand in the sink. Many of these trays are made of glass and might be delicate, so sticking it in the dishwasher may be dangerous.
Next, create a mixture of water and vinegar and dip a paper towel into it, then run it along the interior surfaces of your microwave. This will help remove some of the stronger odors inside your microwave.
5. Clean your Coffeemaker:
Remove the pot from the coffeemaker and wash it by hand with dish soap. If there’s a buildup of coffee or coffee stains along the bottom of the pot, then you can remove it with a simple solution of lemon juice and salt, which is also great for eliminating that stale coffee smell.
For the plastic top of your coffee pot and the plastic interior of your coffeemaker, make a simple cleaning solution with salt and lemon juice but add in some ice as well! This is because the interior of your coffeemaker is always in contact with hot water and hot coffee, so many of the stains and buildup cannot be removed with hot water. Cold water may help break up some of those stubborn stains!
Step 4: Hallways and Common Art
1. Dust Ornaments and Art:
Use a dusting cloth to remove the dust from ornaments or art on the walls. If possible, remove paintings, picture frames, and mirrors and then give them a good wipe down with a microfiber cloth.
For mirrors, make sure to clean the frame first with a cleaning solution, but be careful not to get the solution on the mirror itself, as some of them can damage the glass layer of the mirror surface.
Next, use a DIY cleaning solution of water with a few tablespoons of vinegar to clean any smudges off the glass gently.
2. Sweep and Mop:
Use a broom or vacuum to remove the dust from the ground.
We recommend the new Dovety vacuum, which is tough on dust but gentle on floors!
Then, use an electric spin scrubber with wide head attachment with a bit of cleaning solution to clean laminate or tiled floors.
Step 5: Bathrooms
After the kitchen, bathrooms are the rooms of the home that need the most cleaning love! Left unchecked, bathrooms can be home to dangerous substances like mold, which can negatively affect our health.
Because of this, bathrooms should be deep-cleaned at least twice a month, and toilets should be deep-cleaned at least once a week.
1. Vacuum:
Make sure to vacuum the floor and shower floor first! Bathrooms can get really dusty, and they can also be covered in soap particles or baby powder!
2. Clean the Mirrors and Reflective Surfaces:
Clean the mirror with the DIY vinegar and water solution, then use a bit of dish soap to clean the interior of the bathroom sink, with a marble, granite, or counter safe cleaning solution that will not eat through those materials as you wipe them down.
3. Floor and Shower:
Use an electric spin scrubber to clean the bathroom floors and shower. Electric spin scrubbers are great at reducing scrubbing time and eliminating the need for kneeling and working your hands raw!
Put some cleaning solution on the spin scrubber’s brush head and splash a bit of water on the spot you will clean, then use the spin scrubber to clean the area thoroughly!
4. Clear Your Tile Grouts:
Clean tile grouts with a brush or your electric spin scrubber. To get mold out of these tight, hard-to-clean spots, you should make a cleaning solution using a simple combination of distilled white vinegar and water.
This solution is natural, and will help bleach the spots and kill the mold without harming your lungs, skin, or clothes!
5. Clean the Toilet:
Scrub the toilets using a brush with a toilet cleaner, or bust out your electric spin scrubber with a toilet brush attachment!
Step 6: Bedrooms
1. Wash Your Sheets and Pillow Covers:
Remove the sheets, mattress cover, and the pillow covers from your bed and stick them in a laundry hamper, then wash and dry them.
2. Dust:
Dust your nightstands, shelves, knicknacks, lamps, ceiling fans, and any art or photos on the walls!
3. Clear the Clutter:
Clear away any shoes, laundry, electronics, or bags that may be lying around in your room!
4. Vacuum the floors and rugs:
Use your vacuum cleaner to clean your floors and rugs. Make sure that your vacuum cleaner is rug-safe!
5. Vacuum Your Curtains!
For this step, you need to make sure that you have a vacuum cleaner that can work in a handheld, low-power setting. Run it gently down your curtains, then wipe the bottom of your vacuum with a cloth after each swipe!
6. Shampoo Your Rugs!
If you’ve got pets or if you wear shoes inside, you need to wash small rugs that are washer-friendly, or shampoo bigger rugs using rug-approved shampoos and foams! Be careful not to use too much rug shampoo, as doing so could stain your rug or cause it to clump up!
7. Clean Your Closet!
Remove the clothes from the valet rod in your closet and then clean it with a cloth. Make sure to clean the wall that your clothes hang in front of, as this is an area that often goes overlooked and can house dust, insects, or even mold!
8. Clean Shoe Spaces:
Make sure to sweep, vacuum, and mop the space where you store your shoes! Shoes can often track in dirt, mud, or even animal feces into your home, allowing bacteria to get a free ride into a space that’s supposed to be your safest!
General Cleaning Tips
Now that we’ve covered most of the home, here are some general cleaning tips to keep in mind!
1. You Don’t Have to Do it all at Once:
If cleaning overwhelms you or stresses you out, remember that you don’t have to do it all at once or all in one day. You’re welcome to clean certain rooms on certain days, just make sure to clean most spaces at least once a week.
If cleaning is a daunting chore, spacing it out like this is actually better than trying to do it all at once. Most people who put cleaning off until their home is dirty will then rush through it to get it over with, leaving dust, mold, and insects to thrive because they didn’t take their time!
2. Invest in Cleaning Tools:
If you’re using the same old broom and mop, or the same old cleaning cloths, it’s time to invest in quality cleaning tools. Sure, they might be more expensive than the brooms and mops you can find in a supermarket’s cleaning section, but professional cleaning tools or appliances are actually designed to make cleaning easier!
Check out this page!
3. Remember Why You’re Cleaning:
If you’ve ever had a roommate who wasn’t particularly fond of cleaning, you may have noticed them doing a little last minute cleaning before your other friends came over.
The truth is, a lot of people leave cleaning until the last minute because they view it as an obligation they have toward other people. They don’t mind living in a house that’s a little dirty, but they don’t want others to notice.
Remember, your guests are only visiting your home for a few hours. You have to live there every day. So make sure the space is clean for you, so you can enjoy your home to the fullest and thrive in it!
We hope that this guide teaches you how to clean your home more easily, and helps you be more comfortable in your own space.
Cleaning doesn’t have to be hard, and it shouldn’t be an obligation that you dread all week long. Many studies have actually shown that cleaning is good for your mental health!
So clean, be happy, and remember that you deserve to live in a clean space!
