House Cleaning Tips

Fly Lady is great, but the only downside is that the website is so cluttered, it's overwhelming! The thing that helps me is the 15 min. rule. Go into a room and set a timer for 15 minutes and just clean all that you can in 15 min.
I do a 15 min. cycle in each room. I throw out ANYTHING that I don't need, declutter and organize, then wash or mop or dust in the time I have left.
Cleaning is the most overwhelming task to me for some reason.

Closet-Maid has a great line of storage options at Target. I love the storage cubbies with the cloth bins. It's a great way to organize and hide all the "necessary" clutter.

Good luck!!!

Definitely get rid of clutter. It helps. I also split my cleaning up into multiple days instead of trying to clean everything on one day. What mom has time for doing it all in one day? If you have lack of storage...build it! We had storage issues and husband built shelves in the master closet. He also built a giant shelf that went up in the garage to store stuff up high that we rarely use (which created extra "attic" type space). But the biggest thing we do is go through our stuff every few months and get rid of stuff we don't use. Sell it on craigslist, donate it, whatever!

check out www.flylady.net it's fabulous.

I've never checked out flylady.net, will have to do that, but I do have a couple of suggestions. If you have glass shower doors, use WD40 to clean them. It gets rid of those pesky water spots like magic. Just spray it on the glass or a dry soft cloth and wipe. Also, I use vinegar/water in a spray bottle to clean all my mirrors and windows. It doesn't leave streaks at all. The funny thing about that is I dumped Windex years ago because I was sick of re-cleaning the streaks off my bathroom mirrors, and a few months ago I was in the checkout line at the grocery store, and there sat a display of "NEW IMPROVED" Windex with VINEGAR in it. Go figure.

I have a junk drawer in the kitchen .. and if it doesn't belong I sweep it into the junk drawer if it"s the right size. No questions asked into the junk drawer. When it is too full then I deal with that later.

also for a quick clean up in kitchen I use a dry rag to sweep crumbs into the sink or the trash before I use any sort of disinfectant etc.. This helps not to have many wet rags hanging around the kitchen and just a faster clean up in general. We home school and cooking and cleaning happens often.

I make a furniture polish with lemon juice,water and some olive oil. That way I don't sneeze with too many heavy products. Kids can use etc..

I spend time organizing the spines of books where they are in graduating and descending order( all the same height books are together and they gradually go down to shorter books all together and back up again to the other side of the shelf) and pull them all forward. they look lots nicer that way.

I work for a company that makes great cleaning products that are safe and natural (I think I told you about some earlier this week!). I don't sell the products but can show you how to get them yourself. It takes some of the work out of cleaning!

I second http://www.flylady.net/

S.

Purge. The less stuff you have, the less mess there is to clean. You said you have a lack of space, then keep your "stuff" to a minimum. I have 4 kids and my house stayed junky. So I wen through and got rid of a lot of toys, and clothes, just whatever they didn't you, was broke, too small, or didn't need. Since then, my house is a lot neater.

D., I feel your pain! My mom was (is!) a terrible housecleaner and so am I. I just hate it and don't really know HOW to do it either. I don't think anyone has a "perfectly clean house" and if they do, they have problems! Although my house is still a work in process, I have found that getting rid of all the extra junk I think I need but really don't, helps the most. If the floors, counter tops and table tops are all pretty clear, then it's easier to just wipe them down. That being said, I am a "piler" and like my junk, so I really have to keep on top of it or it gets out of control. It also helps that I'm married to my opposite, he gets rid of EVERYTHING and does WAY more than his fair share of the cleaning. Flylady works if you keep up with it. I hope you find something that helps...good luck!

LOL! Start by letting go of the idea you need a "perfectly clean house!" Sounds to me like you do a great job!