Let’s be honest, we’re not always good at keeping up with household chores.
And while it’s perfectly normal for your home to not feel like a show home, unexpected guests can make our hearts skip a beat.
When someone announces a last-minute viewing, we spend half an hour rushing around trying to make the house look immaculate.
But now a cleaning professional has shared five easy tasks you can do to stay on top of your cleaning and ensure it’s always ready for visitors.
Melissa Caverly, founder of Imagine maids,shared the ten-minute jobs to stay on top.
She told the Mirror that the first place to start was in the bedroom in the morning, making the bed.
Not only will this instantly make your room tidier, but Melissa says: Making your bed every morning puts you in an organized mindset from the start, influencing the rest of your day.
Additionally, a well-made bed serves as a practical surface for any tidying tasks throughout the day, such as folding clothes or sorting belongings.
One of the reasons we hate cleaning is because we have to search for the cleaning products we need.
We often place them all under the kitchen sink—which means if we need to quickly dust an upstairs bathroom, we can put it off instead of going downstairs to get supplies.
However, it may be more beneficial to separate them and place them where they are needed in the house.
Keep bathroom cleaning products in the bathroom and kitchen cleaning products only in the kitchen.
Use a compartment under the bed for dusters, window cleaners, and other bedroom essentials.
Melissa added that this setup encourages frequent cleaning, as you won’t have to leave the room to get supplies, especially for small messes.
Monthly trips to the charity shop can also keep your home clean and tidy.
It may only take ten minutes to go through the mess and throw it in a box or trash bag.
Dirtiest items in your home that you’re probably forgetting to clean
Research shows that people are exposed to an average of 60,000 types of germs daily.
Astonish cleaning expert and product development scientist Olivia Young reveals the dirtiest items in your home and how to clean them.
Sponges or kitchen towels
Some of the items we use to clean surfaces are actually the dirtiest. From cleaning countertops to cleaning dishes, kitchen or laundry sponges are used multiple times a day. And when it does, it often becomes damp and warm, which means that if it’s not cleaned properly, it can be a prime place for bacteria to grow.
As a general rule, if you’ve been using your sponge for about two weeks, it’s time to replace it.
Shoe
Shoes are without a doubt an item in your home full of bacteria. One study suggested that a single shoe sole contains an average of 421,000 units of bacteria, but there’s no need to panic.
Most of these germs that accumulate on shoes will not come into contact with other areas of your home as long as you take them off when you enter or place them in a box in the closet.
Pet bowls and toys
In fact, pet bowls have been found to be the third most contaminated item in homes, which means they are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria that can make you and your pet feel unwell.
Wash them with warm soapy water after each use to keep bacteria at bay. For toys, if they are made of plastic, you can dip them in warm water with disinfectant or soap; Soft toys can be washed well in the washing machine on a gentle cycle.
Toothbrush holder
Your toothbrush holder probably isn’t something you consider dirty—but there are more germs in the container that holds your toothbrush than there are on your sink faucets.
Clean your toothbrush holder at least once or twice a week.
The cleaning professional recommends doing this at the beginning of the month and taking it to a donation location at the end.
Everything you withdraw during the month can stay, but whatever is left over can be donated.
This means your home will be clutter-free without the need to set aside hours for major cleaning.
The kitchen is often the main hub of your family, so it can quickly become a mess.
Instead of leaving dishes in the sink at night, Melissa recommends ‘closing’ the kitchen like you would in a restaurant.
She says: “Imagine treating your own kitchen as if it were your personal restaurant and applying the same principles.
“Establish a closing rule, such as making sure all dishes are in the dishwasher, drying rack, or cabinets—and not left in the sink.”
Last but not least, Melissa encouraged people to stack their tasks instead of doing them one by one, using a technique called task stacking.
“Consider the timer on appliances like the dishwasher or washing machine as the amount of time to perform other tasks,” advises Melissa.
“Use this time to complete additional tasks around the house, such as dusting or cleaning surfaces.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
