Keeping your home clean and tidy while you’re living alone is hard enough, let alone when you’re juggling a family and a career, too. So, keeping cleaning tasks quick and efficient is the key to success. Follow these five simple cleaning tips and tricks to make sure your home feels fresh and clean.
1. Refresh your upholstery
Rugs, sofas, curtains, and even cushions can hold onto everyday household odors. So, cleaning them is a great way to refresh your home quickly. There are professional products that you can buy to remove smells, but you can just as quickly make your own by mixing baking soda, distilled water, and essential oils and spraying this onto your fabrics. It’s that easy!
2. Keep an eye on the microwave
When it comes to cleaning the kitchen, wiping the surfaces, and keeping the hob clean – that’s standard practice – but making sure hidden dirt is taken care of is key to keeping your space fresh. Give your microwave a real spring clean by microwaving a bowl of water and half a lemon – this loosens any grime and lets you wipe it away rather than spending hours scrubbing. Steam cleaning can be a real time and elbow-grease saver.
3. Try natural cleaning methods
Grapefruits are delicious, nutritious and… surprisingly useful cleaning tools. While we all rely on cleaning fluids like bleach and bathroom spray, there are some health concerns when it comes to using them too much. So, when you can, consider swapping your chemicals for some more natural cleaning methods, like using grapefruit to clean the bathroom! Just cut one in half and cover it in standard table salt, you can then use this to scrub sinks, showers, and grimy floors. The acid in the fruit and the abrasiveness of the salt makes it a great cleaner. There are middle ground, multitasking products that you can also use to clean everything from clothes to floors.
4. Wash those windows
It can seem like a chore, but it’s hard to get a house to feel properly clean with mucky windows. Plus, you’ll be surprised at the amount of dirt that comes off them. Try cleaning windows with balled up newspaper – it’s very gentle and helps avoid making any scratches. To use, just spray on your standard window cleaner and wipe down with the newspaper. It’s economical, easy to get your hands on, and will give you a streak-free finish.
5. Know when to call on professional help
While the idea of ‘doing it all’ can be appealing, sometimes it’s just not feasible. If you’ve got a hectic family life or a new job that’s taking up your time, but you still want to come home to a clean house, then calling in professional cleaners can be the best course of action. Equally, if you’ve got a blocked drain and you’re not a plumber, then it’s important to call in a blocked drain expert. If your air conditioning isn’t working as it should, then arrange an air conditioning repair service. Asking for help doesn’t make you a failure!
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