Many of us can BARELY keep up with the day-to-day chores and laundry with the thousands of responsibilities and obligations in our lives. So, how can we be expected to remember those little often over-looked tasks? I have a few tips to help you clean these areas.
1) Light fixtures and door/window jams- Okay, maybe you don’t have this problem, but I have a terrible memory! I wouldn’t ever remember to clean these often over-looked spots if I didn’t just “bite-the-bullet” and do it every time I dust! YEP! Trust me, it’s worth it…done regularly, it never gets so bad that a simple swipe of the Swiffer 360 can’t handle it. I simply grab the extender handled duster and run it along the door and window jams and the tops of frames as well. I quickly give the light fixtures a swipe and then I am ready to dust the furniture. It takes less than a minute!
2) Garbage Disposal and Drain- Once a week I add this task to my kitchen cleaning duties and it keeps odors and build-up under control. (This is a great chore to do after your weekly cleaning out of the refrigerator.) I begin by dumping baking soda down BOTH sides of the drain, then I set a timer for 10 minutes. I set a timer because I am easily distracted and I would most likely get busy doing something else and forget to finish the task! 😉 After the timer goes off I pour about a cup of vinegar in each side of the sink and put the plug in to keep the fizz in the drain. Once the fizzing subsides, I take a long handled brush and scrub the inside of the disposer and drains. Take extra care to clean the folds that surround the drain on the disposer. After you remove the brush, run HOT water and the disposer to rinse away the food and baking soda. You can add a lemon cut in half at this point to help freshen the drain if you’d like.
3) Bathroom Fans & Return Air Vents- Here is another often forgotten item that QUICKLY gets gross, so I find cleaning them every week keeps grime from building up. I do the bathrooms on Mondays and Thursdays, so I simply take the hose attachment and clean the exhaust fan. By doing this twice a week, the dust never has a chance to stick! It only adds 10 seconds to my cleaning routine and I never have to worry about dust accumulating and making my family ill! The return air vents throughout the house get vacuumed at least twice a week when I am doing the normal dust/vacuum routine. AGAIN, this adds like 10 seconds to my day.
4) Bathroom Drain Plug- When I clean the bathroom sinks, I remove the drain stopper and scrub it. This keeps toothpaste, hair, mold and UNIDENTIFIED YUCK from building up and plugging up your sink. Spray a little cleaner down the drain and use a baby bottle brush to scrub the inside of the drain. (REMEMBER to keep bathroom cleaning supplies COMPLETELY separate from OTHER cleaning supplies!) Rinse with HOT water and replace!
5) Toilet Base- Okay, I have seen toilets that look like NO ONE has EVER cleaned the part of the toilet that is attached to the floor! So, when I spray the inside of the toilet with cleaner I also spray down the ENTIRE outside with an all-natural disinfectant. (I use Sol-U-Guard Botanical by Melaleuca.) I then set the timer for 10 minutes and return to scrub and wipe it all down! Remember to get up under the lip of the back where the base and tank meet! We have FOUR boys so there are days when someone isn’t quite all the way awake and this task is more necessary than other days!
These are just a few tips on keeping your home dirt and germ free without spending HOURS cleaning! Most tasks only add mere seconds to your routine and they not only keep your home LOOKING good, they keep things clean and running more efficiently!
Stay tuned for MORE tips coming SOON!
Blessings!