How to Keep Your House Clean
How often do you look around your home and feel a sudden pang of despondency as you realize it’s in a bit of a mess and you’ve got an afternoon or weekend of tidying and cleaning on the horizon?
About three times a week? Yep, same. You don’t need to look far for inspiration. Indeed the #cleaning hashtag on TikTok has over 30 billion (BILLION!) views; however, here are some tips you can take with you!
Set a rota
Commonly associated with families sharing out chores around the house, a rota can also help you if you live on your own as well. Just as a rota makes family members accountable for their specific tasks, it can also give you the responsibility you need to make sure things get done regularly.
Dividing the tasks equally and swapping them around every so often can help make sure everyone does the same work and nobody is stuck with their most dreaded chore every week. Recent research by fitted furniture specialist Hammonds found that over half of UK women believe they do all the housework and 22% of Brits admit to arguing with their partner if they don’t appear to be pulling their weight when it comes to household chores. Therefore, it’s important to check with each other on how the rota works regularly.
It can also help make sure that you keep on top of smaller jobs before they become big problems!
Find ‘homes’ for things
Exercise equipment, kids’ toys, kitchen appliances – certain things seem to end up getting in the way more than others.
Choosing and sticking to a designated ‘home’ for these items can help to get on top of things. Investing in handy storage options can also maximize your clutter-busting potential – with more space designated for keeping things out of sight and out of mind.
Go room by room
Trying to tackle a big mess all in one go will soon see you get frustrated, disheartened, and at risk of giving up on the process altogether.
Instead, play the long game and pick one room at a time. If you’re putting a day aside to have a big tidy-up, give yourself a couple of hours to focus on each space – making sure that you don’t move on to the next one until you’re absolutely happy with it.
And get yourself into the zone with an easier one first. If the kids’ bedrooms are a bombsite, but yours are relatively more organized, get the latter ship-shape first before tackling the bigger mess!
Keep house clean: motivate yourself
That process of just getting started is often the biggest hurdle, but you also need to find ways in which to keep going. It can start to become easy to consider quitting when you’ve pulled that dusty old jumper out from underneath a bed, and the smell hits your nostrils…
If you’re deterred by the idea of having to do that one chore you hate, you’re not alone, 17% of respondents claimed ironing was their least favorite chore, and 13% never look forward to cleaning the oven. Try completing the cleaning tasks you dread first before moving on to the lighter jobs such as hoovering, which 13% of Brits find to be their favorite chore, followed by putting the food shop away (8%).
Why not think about setting yourself a little reward to use as light at the end of the clutter tunnel. Whether it’s something simple like a sit down with a cup of tea in your lovely and newly tidied space or something more ambitious like a takeaway dinner, it’ll give you the drive to use a bit more elbow grease and leave everything sparkling!
Remember that cleanliness can look different to different people, as 15% of Brits complain that their housemates or partners don’t clean things to the expected standards, so sit down and have a talk about how you all expect each task to be completed.
Another common source of tension for 16% of us is that as soon as the home is clean, other people will create a mess once again. Setting a clear standard and giving each responsibility for cleaning up their mess will help everyone know what’s expected and help create a clean and relaxing home for everyone to enjoy.
