15 Habits for a Clean Home
A clean home doesn’t have to be hard, with these 15 habits you can make sure your home is always clean.
We all know a clean home is a product of good cleaning habits, and I know that not everybody enjoys cleaning. But you can keep your home clean day in and day out by doing a few small tasks regularly.
Not to mention doing those small tasks regularly, makes cleaning feel like less of a chore. You don’t have to worry about unexpected guests coming over without doing some crazy speed cleaning spree.
So today, I’m sharing some simple yet helpful habits that you can keep your house effortlessly clean all the time.
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15 Habits for a Clean Home
My mother has always made a clean home a priority, and a lot of the tips and tricks of maintaining a clean home are from her. One thing I learned is that the habits for a clean home can be developed and learned over time. We promise that these habits will be second nature as soon as you make a conscious effort to have a clean home. Here are 15 of my own habits that you can start implementing.
1. Make Your Bed Every Morning
Starting each morning on the right foot by making your bed will give you some control over your day. It only takes a few minutes to make your bed in the morning but will have a lasting effect on your productivity the rest of the day.
2. Tidy Up and Put Things Away as you Go
My mom was the one who taught me this rule and since she is the queen of clean, I wanted to share this with you too. Next time your cooking dinner, try washing the dirty dishes as you go. Getting ready in the morning? put your makeup and products back as you go. It’s a small task that might be annoying to do at first, but we promise it will make a big difference.
3. Wiping Things Down
Wiping down surfaces like coffee tables and countertops can do wonders. Especially when you have kids because there tend to be little handprints over everything! I like to make sure I wipe down the sink after washing dishes with some cleaner, the shower a few times a week, bathroom sinks, and even toys. A quick wipe down is the best way to prevent build-up on surfaces and help keep a clean home.
4. Put Papers in Away
Start by figuring out where to put your loose papers, mail, receipts, menus and whatever else you have around your home. Clutter comes in many forms but the most popular is papers. So keep your counters and desks clear by placing the loose paper in a basket. Then once a week or once a month, go through it and sort what you need and what you don’t.
5. Donate Monthly
My parents struggle the most in this area. Their home looks so cluttered and messy even though it’s not dirty. Clutter and “stuff” buildup over time, and if you don’t stay on top of it things tend to get out of hand. Since it’s easier to maintain a clutter-free home that is organized, it’s important to take some time to donate and toss what you don’t need on a regular basis.
6. Try doing a Load of Laundry Daily
This is one task I’ve struggled with in the past, but recently I started making it a priority and it’s made my home feel so much cleaner. It’s hard with small kids, or just in general to stay on top of the laundry. It’s usually the first thing to get out of hand and make you look like you have a messy house even if you don’t. So if you or a family member can throw a load of laundry in once a day, it will make your life so much easier and your home much cleaner.
7. Put Together a Cleaning Caddy
I like to make things easy for myself, by putting together a cleaning caddy for certain rooms. I have one for the kitchen which I store under the sink. There’s one in the bathroom, laundry room and I even have one in the car. The cleaning caddy has all the supplies I need to make sure my home is clean. Things like thieves cleaners, scrubs, reusable wipes, and rags. Once a week or month I will go around refilling each cleaning caddy, noting what we’re out of, and adding it to our shopping list.
8. Run the Dishwasher Daily
The worst is having a pile of dirty dishes in the sink or on counters. It’s stressful and tends to make your home feel out of control and dirty. So make it a habit to run the dishwasher every night after dinner, and unload it in the mornings while you make coffee. It’s also good to note that most appliances have a function that allows you to half-load and use less water.
9. Get a Chalkboard
I’m a big list person, but all those lists also add to the clutter around our home. I recently started using a chalkboard for all my lists. We have a big chalkboard in the kitchen where I will write lists for groceries, cleaning lists, weekly to-dos, and recipes for the week. It’s a great way to cut back on notes, and papers. That way you’ll never misplace the list again!
10. Use Baskets
Adopting baskets as a system for moving things between floors of your home is a great way to avoid cutter forming. We use baskets throughout our home for toys, kids’ clothes, and miscellaneous items that need to get put away at the end of the day. So save yourself a trick and carry a basket instead.
11. Clean High Touch Surfaces
This goes hand in hand with wiping down surfaces regularly. But I wanted to include focusing on disinfecting high-touch surfaces. Given the current climate of the world, it’s important to keep a container of wipes of thieves cleaners handy. Once a week or daily during flu season, wipe things like remotes, light switches, drawers, doorknobs, and other high touch areas like things in kids rooms clean.
12. Clean your Fridge out every Week
Our household likes to go grocery shopping weekly, and one of the habits I started was cleaning our fridge out once a week. Every time we got groceries I would go through the fridge, deciding what was old, tossing anything expired, and giving the fridge a good wipe down. The benefits of having a clean and tidy fridge are knowing what you have, and what you need to buy. Next time you run to the grocery store you’ll know exactly what you have and it could save you money.
13. Clean up after you Cook
My mother always taught us to clean up as we cook. It’s one of the many good habits I’ve come to appreciate especially as I clean my own home now. The thought is that cooking usually takes time to do, so why not clean as you wait. Wash the cutting board when you’re done with it or pot. That way you can actually sit and enjoy your meal without dreading the clean after. Or one thing we’ve done is one person cooks and the other cleans.
14. Focus on High Traffic Areas in your Home
We all have high-traffic areas in our homes, and it’s important to focus a little more time on cleaning those areas. This habit is focused on cleaning areas of your home like the entrances to your home, the living room, or the kitchen. Making sure people take their shoes off, hang coats up in the closet, or wash their own dishes will have a major impact on how clean your home is. It doesn’t have to be a deep clean, instead, 5-minutes is usually more than enough time for a quick clean-up.
15. Do a 15-minute Tidy before Bed
I started doing this late last year and it has made the biggest difference, not only in the cleanliness of my home but in my mood as well. I used to hate waking up to a messy home, and it would start my morning off on the wrong foot. So I decided to make a change, and set myself up for success by setting a timer for only 5, 10, or 15 minutes and quickly cleaning before I go to bed at night.
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