A clean home is a peaceful home…unless you are so stressed out because you are trying to keep up with a rigid cleaning schedule. That was me a few times over the last 13 years of my homemaking journey. I feel bad for my old self who thought my house always needed to be spotless to be a good homemaker. But, I do like my house to be tidy and somewhat clean on a continual basis–I just have a much better way that I achieve that now.
Keeping a rigid cleaning schedule would be laughable these days with two busy active boys—one being a 16 month old who is constantly making a huge mess after eating every meal and snack. With my first son, I was hesitant to let him make messes with food. With my second, I just let him go at it. I have learned it’s good for their sensory development, but with that comes lots of mess!
I have narrowed down 5 things that really help me keep my house clean and a few tips on how I stay pretty consistent without tons of time and effort. These are my tried and true things that I really feel like have helped me become more relaxed over the years and still effective.
My TOP 5 Cleaning Must Haves:
- Shark Cordless Hand Vacuum –This thing is my absolute go to TIME SAVER. I think every Mom with small kids should have one. It’s a decent price and literally gets used 8 times a day at my house—for everything from kid crumbs to grains for bread making. It is a workhorse. I do have the pet one, even though we don’t have pets, because I wanted the extra attachment, but honestly we don’t even use the extra attachment often. So, you could go with one of the cheaper models if you don’t need it. I don’t have to constantly lug out our biog vacuum. I just keep it plugged in the kitchen and it gets used constantly.
- Bissell Steam Mop–This is another go to. I have a combo of real hard wood floors, luxury vinyl, and tile and so far and it has done very well on all of them! I love that I can put water, vinegar, and a few drops of lemon essential oil and my floors get so clean so fast! No more wringing out a dirty mop. We got this as a gift probably 10 years ago and it’s still going strong! I personally haven’t seen any issues using this on my floors, but some people warn against using steam mops on some types of floors. It’s never been an issue for us.
- O-Cedar One Sweep Broom–I never thought a broom would be something I use daily, but it’s so easy and fast to just grab it out of the pantry and quickly sweep up the floor. But this isn’t just ANY broom. It has special wave texchnology that gets up 99% of dirt and dust in one sweep. And it truly does. I was actually amazed that I could love a broom so much haha. I use it multiple times a day!
- Essential oils-I have been an OG essential oil user since before the craze of essential oils. These help my house smell good quick! I use them for so many things–including cleaner. I put a few drops of tea tree or purification oil in with my towels. I use lemon in my steam mop. I use few drops of lemon and baking soda to clean my sinks and my drains. I have used orange to make a dusting spray. The list continues. I use them everyday either for medicinal purposes or cleaning. I used to sell Young Living oils, so I still have alot of those, but I also really like the brand Plant Therapy. They are cheaper and cut out the MLM.
- Truly Free Cleaning Products– These are the first nontoxic cleaning products and laundry products that I have used that I feel actually work. And I have tried a lot–too many actually. And most of the time I’m disapppointed, but these work. My go-to’s are: all of the cleaning products, the dish soap, the dishwasher powder and rinse, and the unscented laundry detergent. I also like the Oxi-boost. The only things that haven’t been a hit for me are the laundry softeners–too strong of a scent (it’s natural but still strong for me), and the laundry softener–didn’t have the results I was hoping for. I haven’t tried the scented laundry detergent. But other than that, I love everything!
Tips on how to keep your house clean without a rigid schedule:
- Declutter often–I have been on a decluttering journey for a few years, and it has been so helpful with how I feel about my house. When you are constantly picking up and moving extra things around, you don’t even have time to actually clean. I try to declutter often–especially when I notice more things coming into our house than usual. For example, I decluttered before Christmas and after Christmas. We live in a smaller home and I have actually kind of grown to like that we don’t have room for a bunch of excess stuff.
- Start giving all your items a home–When I heard this tip, everything changed. I started implementing systems and spots for our items and magically my family started putting things back…*most of the time* (:
Example of this: Every Winter we would be scrambling to find winter gear–hats, gloves, scarves, jackets, etc. It made winter outings stressful. This year, I started early in the Fall and pulled everything out and gave it a home. I ordered new bibs and snow shoes for the kids and when the first snow came, we had everything we needed seamlessly.
I ordered this over the door organizer for our coat closet and that is where I put all of our hats, gloves, and scarves. Each person got a space, with the kids being towards the bottom, so that they could pull the items out for themselves. This has worked extremely well. In the Spring I will put everything in a tote and do something similar for Spring/Summer items. I may put warmer weather items like sunscreen, swimsuits, goggles, etc. in there instead. - Invite people over—this is my favorite tip because it works SO well and it’s fun. Invite someone over tomorrow or this weekend and see how motivated you get to clean. And you will do it faster–prove me wrong. Do this often and your house will be clean often.
- Clean as things need to be cleaned–For so long I tried to keep rigid cleaning schedules or cleaning this or that on a specific day, but those never worked for me. I would do well for a week and then give up. Now I just give myself permission to clean as things get dirty and as I have time.
- Give your kids chores–Kids should have age appropropriate chores. It’s not a bad thing at all, it truly helps prepare them for real life. I’ll never get over parents who never gave their kids chores and as an adult they literally don’t know how to do anything. You put your child at such a disadvantage when you do everything for them.
I hope this helps you keep a cleaner home without the stress!
-Nicole
