Here is my one true tip for a clean and presentable home without getting overwhelmed. Power cleaning. It doesn’t make the house spotless, but it does help maintain it. I am sharing how I use it our home, being a stay at home mom of 4, but power cleaning it is great for ANY household. Short bursts of energy with big results…I sound like Jillian Michales here, ha! But it’s true. I’m a sprinter. It’s how I clean my home and how I work out.
If I thought that I could tidy up the house in the morning and have my house stay that way, it would be a perfect time to do so, but I have four children. It’s more of a “two steps forward, 1 step back” approach that leaves me exhausted and the house isn’t that much cleaner in the end. Following them around all day picking up their messes just doesn’t work for me. Or for them.
If I take the time to vacuum and pick up clutter during the day, chances are it will re-appear as soon as school gets out and backpacks, flyers, shoes, and toys are in the mix.
I’ve also found that I am that much more behind in the morning if I am cleaning up last night’s mess.
If I take the time to vacuum and pick up clutter during the day, chances are it will re-appear as soon as school gets out and backpacks, flyers, shoes, and toys are in the mix.
I’ve also found that I am that much more behind in the morning if I am cleaning up last night’s mess.
So I save a lot of my “tidying up” for the evenings when the kids are in bed and start out my day feeling ahead of the game. My husband works at night and so when his shift changed, so did my schedule. I really don’t care for his schedule and look forward to the day he goes back to a 9-5 so that we can see him more so we try to make the best of it right now.
Cleaning at night actually saves a lot of time. The biggest advantage for is the lack of distractions. Phone, preparing meals, etc.
After a long day the last thing I feel want to do is clean, and so I power clean!
Here is how I do it:
Music. Depending on my mood and how much motivation I need to get going, I’ll put on a playlist I which may or may not contain a lot of 80s music 🙂
Time Limit. I like to play mind games. Call me crazy, but if I know there is an end time in sight it is easier to keep moving. I put the kids to bed around 8pm, so I do not want to still be cleaning any later than 8:45 if I can help it, and I usually finish before that.
Clutter. The kids pick up most of their toys before going to bed. Stuffed animals, blankets, etc. Things that I don’t want to be putting in their rooms after they go to sleep. Everything else I quickly pick up after they are in bed. 5-7 minutes.
Vacuum. Optional. Once the living room is de-cluttered I vacuum the living room and great room . I also vacuum the rug under the dining table. I like to get this out of the way while the kids are still falling asleep. That way I don’t wake them up. If the carpet doesn’t look like it needs to be vacuumed, I’ll skip it. I usually vacuum about 4 times a week. 5-6 minutes.
Kitchen. Then I move on to the kitchen. I usually do dishes right after dinner so I add any dessert dishes, etc. to the dishwasher and start it. Then I wipe down all surfaces (counters, table, stove) with disinfecting spray and clear off any clutter (mail, homework, etc. that needs to be sorted) into a junk basket on the counter. I can sort through that another time. It only slows down the process of cleaning. 5 minutes.
Floors. The kitchen floor always needs to be swept and if it needs to be mopped I do that as well, but just a quick cleaning with my microfiber mop as opposed to getting down and scrubbing the floors. I spray the floors with either water or a multipurpose cleaner and use my mop (which works like a swiffer) to quickly clean the laminate floors and they air dry. 10 minutes.
Guest Bathroom. Our first floor bathroom is used the most so I wipe down the counter tops and change out the hand towel every day. 1 minute.
Just remember to keep moving. Don’t get distracted by checking Facebook or texting. It’s only 20 minutes or so and if you push yourself it is also a great work out! Think about it, running up and down the stairs to put stuff away, pushing the vacuum, wiping counters. You’re burning calories and getting a clean house!
Just remember to keep moving. Don’t get distracted by checking Facebook or texting. It’s only 20 minutes or so and if you push yourself it is also a great work out! Think about it, running up and down the stairs to put stuff away, pushing the vacuum, wiping counters. You’re burning calories and getting a clean house!
The entire process takes less than 30 minutes for our 3 main living areas. The idea is to get through it, not to deep clean and perfect it. To touch on every room and eliminate the clutter that distracts you the most.
The beauty of starting out the day with a clean home is that if I have company coming over or am teaching preschool that day in my home, I don’t have to worry about rushing around the house to clean when I am also trying to get the kids ready for school and get myself ready for the day. All I have to do is clean up breakfast and put laundry in the hamper.And that is how I power clean. If you’d like keep reading, I’ll share a few more things that I sometimes do in the evenings to alleviate some daytime cleaning.
If I’m still feeling energetic after power cleaning the house I will try to do one more household chore that I would normally have done during the day. Some things can be cleaned during the day and they stay clean longer. Like bathrooms, etc. It’s the clutter that seems to take over quicker. I don’t have to deep clean often because I try to maintain it. Clorox wipes are my best friend. A quick wipe down every other day keeps dust, hair, and the stickiness out of the bathrooms, on the floors, baseboards and counters.
The only other household task I do at night is folding laundry and I don’t mind folding it if I have a fun show to watch. My favorites lately? Revenge, Missing, and Downton Abbey. It’s the “putting it all away” part that I hate. And I do that during the daytime.
Is my home always clean? Of course not! Check this out. This is just how I do my best to keep up during this crazy and amazing time of my life. Knowing that I can tackle it quickly in the evenings makes it feel less overwhelming during the daytime when the kids are up and playing. If you have a tip to share for keeping up with clutter, leave a comment! I’d love to hear about it!
Love how you call it “power clean”! I agree with you on the music and getting the kids to clean up after themselves. It makes a world of a difference.
When I saw the title, I was reeeally hoping you just snapped your fingers and a cleaning fairy showed up… tee hee. Then I’d ask to borrow her 😉
Yes, the Mary Poppins system would be pretty awesome too. Just snap your fingers 🙂 Oh well, this works too.
I was wondering where your husband was during this power cleaning. I think what you are doing is great and it will get so much easier once all your children are at school – years ago when I had three children at home I cleaned like this too – as they got older I herded them around the house … I cleaned the kitchen while they watched TV in another room, I cleaned the TV room when they went to bedrooms to do homework. I also liked to wash (you call it doing laundry) at night as I had a long verandah and it dried there while I was at work. (where I live we don’t use clothes dryers). The best thing I ever did was teach my children to do housework – you can’t expect perfection, after all this is only practice, but once they were 12 or older my daughter cooked one meal a week, the boys prepared vegetables etc and I didn’t wash up on weekdays – everyone swept floors. With two teenage boys who hated fussing with folded clothes I gave them each a ‘current’ basket. Clean, folded washing went into that – underwear, school clothes, socks that they wore during the week. It was up to them to put it in drawers or just live out of the basket for the week, their usual choice. Making it easier for the kids made it easier for me … but you have a way to go before your’s are that age.
Love reading you blog, it reminds me of what life was like with young children.
Thanks for the commen Janine! Yes, my husband works at night so when his shift changed, so did my routine and while I don’t like him working nights and am looking forward to the day that he goes back to a 9-5, it has worked out ok for some things. Have a great week!
Presentalbe = Presentable, please!
It’s fixed!
Shut Up Ruth!
The best part of your article for me is that you have 4 kids and do some homeschool 🙂 This for me is a great inspiration!
God bless
Julie Maria
Thank you Julie! It’s a great life 🙂
Great tips! I try to do this at night after dinner, but I would probably be more productive if I did it after the kids are in bed. They tend to still drag stuff out until the very last minute before they have to go to sleep! 🙂
Hi Laura! I know exactly what you mean!
Great tips! I usually try to do this during my toddlers naps in the afternoon, but I tend to get distracted by facebook & email sometimes 🙂 I think I will have to start setting a time limit for myself!
Heidi
handmadefrenzy.blogspot.com
You really dig cleaning into details. It really is a power cleaning!
Sounds interesting! I’ve never power cleaned at night but try to get to bed because I’m a morning person. I would rather be up at 5am than stay up to 10pm. 😉 Honestly I’ve worked myself out of a lot of the cleaning around my house. Eight kids home most of the time because we homeschool means a lot more messes and a lot of time to train them to clean it up. I like to tell my older children that my job is to teach them how to be adults and maintain a home. When they were little like the current four younger boys (ages 4 years down to 5 mos) I was the one doing all the housework. Now everyone down to the 1 year old has chores or is a chore buddy and I go around training and retraining how to do jobs, helping out different children each day, or snuggling up with the littlest ones to read a story.
I love that we can each find what works for us and that there are so many possibilities. One reason I love reading blogs is to hear new ideas of how to do things because it just may spark an idea that works for my family. Love reading your blog Brandy!
I wish I was more of a morning person! I’m much more of a night owl 🙂 My 3 older kids have chore lists and are so much more capable that I originally gave them credit for. Once I began giving them responsibility and opening myself up to a little chaos in teaching them how to clean, they’ve done a great job and now I don’t have to clean the upstairs bathroom as much, or bring down laundry, take the trash cans to the road, etc. It’s nice and they don’t mind helping at all! I love your blog too, Tristan. Your mom introduced me to it when Mason was born. I’ve been following his progress ever since!