How to Clean
That’s quite the bold statement to just throw out there as a blog title. In fact, that directive has taken me YEARS to try and master. Even now, I am uncertain if mastery is the level I have obtained. However, here I am willing to share what I have learned over the past nearly 20 years and teach you how to clean.
Cleaning Experience
As far as cleaning experience goes, my concept of cleaning and level of action taken has evolved over time. When I think back to my childhood, I can remember having specific chores to do: sweep out the garage and dust the furniture. Beyond those two tasks, I can not think of any structured cleaning I had to do. It is my understanding that my mother did it all. Fast forward twenty years and how to clean my home has been a task that lands squarely on my shoulders.
Key Influencers
The feelings of “how do I clean?” are still vivid in my memory from when I was a newlywed with a new-to-me home. I would come in from work and the house would be a wreck and I would think, “what do I do?”, “where do I start?” I believe it was my sister (she is five years older than me) that introduced me to The Fly Lady. Going from chaos to a set routine was like water to the dehydrated.
Slight Evolution
While FlyLady got me on a routine, the need for consistent deep cleaning continued to perplex me. My next cleaning “influencer” that inspired me was/is (she is currently a big inspiration to me) Toni Hammersley with A Bowl Full of Lemons. Toni has a gift for taking any task and placing it into a step 1, 2, 3 format. Personally, I love a listed format of what to do. Her home, business, and books are some of the most beautiful areas and items to view.
My final step in the construction of my cleaning routine came from a pin I pinned from Pinterest. From the site The Simply Organized Home, I found a cleaning routine that I could tweak and implement in my daily chores.
Current Cleaning Routine
Nowadays, I typically spend 2 hours and 15 minutes a day on my house and laundry. Creating a timely routine keeps my home running smoothly. Roughly 30 minutes a day is spent on throwing a load of laundry in the wash then taking the previous day’s laundry out, folding and putting it away.
After laundry is tackled, I spend time cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, and focusing on a specific “zone” for the day. Zones for me are set areas of my home that I can rotate out cleaning and deep cleaning. Currently, I have designated 22 zones for my home. These range from the front porch to the master bedroom to the stairwell to the launch pad. Curious as to what a launch pad is? You can check mine out here. Each day I spend 15 minutes either picking up in a zone or deep cleaning a zone. This method helps keep my entire home in an orderly manner.
Resourceful Guide
To help you form your own cleaning routine, I have crafted a version of my daily cleaning routine. Subscribe to my blog and you will receive my daily outline for how to maintain your home. Comment below if you have subscribed. Tell me how you like the cleaning routine!
