Cleaning Routines That Will Make Your Home Shine

We have all been there. The holidays are over and you are left with the daunting task of removing decorations and getting life back to normal. For me, this usually includes a deep clean of the house to get it reset for the new year. An undertaking like that can be tough to plan out. This is why I came up with this cleaning routine. It gets all those hard to reach places of your home and get you back to the things you love in no time.

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Before You Start Your Cleaning Routine

Before you get started on your cleaning, you need to make sure that you have everything you will need close by. The more convenient your cleaning materials, the quicker the process will go. I also recommend a simple dinner plan for the day as well. No-one wants to clean all day and then have to cook an elaborate meal. you can find some super simple quick dinner ideas here.

As far as tools and cleaners, I have a couple of necessary ones that I like to keep handy for cleaning.

Tools

• Broom for knocking down cob webs from the ceiling and sweeping those hard to reach places
• Vacuum for quick and easy floor cleanup
• Mop and Bucket- I prefer a Libman WonderMop
• Handheld Scrub brush
• Clean Rags for dusting and wiping up

Cleaners

• Murphy’s Oil Soap– I use this on allllll of my floors
• Vinegar Mix- used for kitchen cleaning
• Comet for all of my bathroom cleaning
• Windex
• Pledge or furniture oil
• Laundry Detergent

That is it! No need to go out and buy a ton of stuff for under your kitchen sink. You only need a few great products. Now, I use these products mainly because this is what my momma always used. However, use what you love and what makes you feel good!

Declutter First Cleaning Routine!

The easiest way for me to maintain cleaning motivation is to see some quick wins early on. This means a quick declutter of all spaces. Typically, I get the kids involved and have them help pick up any stray toys, clothes, and shoes. I find the more they are involved the more likely it is that the space will stay clean. If it is on the floor or the furniture and it shouldn’t be, it gets picked up and put away. This gives me that instant gratification I need to help me continue to motivate through the rest of the cleaning process. Once that is done I move to the next phase of my cleaning routine.

You may want to also consider decluttering closets and drawers of unneeded clothes or items. I do this on a pretty regular basis, but if it has been a while, the declutter time is a good time to do it.

As part of my declutter, I remove all bed linens, washable covers, window and shower dressings, and washable rugs. This is one of the quickest ways to open up a space and make it feel instantly set at ground zero. I store these in wash load piles in the last room I am going to work in. For me this is usually the den because it is a communal space we use a lot and it is close to the laundry room. Which takes me to my next step in the deep cleaning routine process.

Laundry

This may not seem like a deep clean kind of chore, but laundry always has to be done, so why not do it while you are cleaning the rest of the house? I use this as a filler chore. While I am waiting for a floor to dry or lunch to cook and I don’t want to start on the next big project, I do laundry. It also helps to eliminate the extra clutter that is around the house and gives that clean put together look when it is all said and done. It also can largely be done without the need of constant vigilance. Set it and forget it, at least until the buzzer goes off.

During my deep clean routine, I make sure to wash all blankets, window and shower dressings, washable rugs, and bedding. You don’t have to do this every time, but it is a good habit to get into. While I change out bedding at a minimum weekly, this routine keeps me up to date on all the other things that do not get as much love like the curtains. By getting all these fabrics in the washer for a good scrub down you will not only help give a fresh smell to the whole house, but it makes accessing windows and tubs for cleaning so much easier.

Cleaning Routine-Room By Room

I like to do my cleaning in a room by room order. This ensures that one room is fully cleaned and I don’t have to keep running back and forth and forgetting what I had and had not done in the room yet. Plus all that running around makes me tired! So stick to a room until it is finished.

I typically like to start in the bathrooms, then move to the bedrooms. In our house, these are our lower traffic areas so I know they will stay clean throughout the rest of the process. Whereas if I start in the living room and the boys get a wild hair to play super heroes, all bets are off on keeping it looking good.

Once the bathrooms and bedrooms are complete, I move to the kitchen. This is my absolute least favorite to clean because there are so many parts that are easy to forget. Oven, fridge, and microwave are the first to get cleaned. Then countertops, dishes with a final wipe down of cabinets. If I am feeling really frisky, I will use this time to also reorganize cabinets that tend to get messy when a ten year old puts up the dishes nightly.

Then it is a move to the other living areas. In our home, the play room, den, dining room and living room are the main spaces where we spend time, and are for the most part open concept. I leave these til last because they are constantly being played in or lived in. I typically try to wait until nap time or bedtime to really tackle some of these spaces, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Top Down Approach

When I enter in a room to clean, I believe it is always best to start at the top and end at the bottom working in a left to right pattern. If you start at the bottom and work up, you are only going to be knocking your dirt down to the floor when you are taking care of the ceilings. These are some of the highlights of what my cleaning routine looks like.

Cobwebs

We all have them, and honestly I may have more than most sometimes. Those dusty little accumulations of a year’s worth of dust hanging in the corner of our bathroom or living room. Since becoming a mom, cobwebs are common place. But occasionally, I have to start the dust collection process all over again.

The easiest way for me to get these little fellas down is to use a standard broom and sweep the ceiling. I make sure to sweep away from myself and avoid looking directly up. Dust in the eye does not feel great! I move in a left to right pattern across the room, to get all those little boogers down before I move any lower in the room. Once that is done, I clean any fans or overhead light fixtures of their grime.

Windows

Next up are windows and dressings, I strip down all of my curtains and throw them into the washer to make it easier to get to the windows. I will be honest that I hate beyond all things cleaning mini blinds and refuse to take them down because I always break them. There are a lot of great mini-blind cleaning routines on Pinterest. For me, I use a fine mist of water/vinegar mixture and a simple rag to wipe them down.

While the dressings are washing, I clean the windows with regular windex. I often have the kids do this because it is their favorite chore, and it is my least favorite. I make sure I do the outside of the windows and leave the dressings off until the room is completely cleaned.

Walls

After windows I pull the furniture out from the walls and remove any hanging shelves or pictures. Then I run some mop water with my favorite Murphy’s Oil Soap. I use a well rung out rag to wipe down the walls and base boards. Again this is not a chore I do every time, but you would be surprised at how much dust and dirt will hang out on your walls. This is especially true if you have textured surfaces.

Furniture

Next up is the furniture. Before returning any hanging items to the walls, make sure you give them a good wipe down with either the rag you used on the wall or Pledge. After I return everything to the wall I make sure to get fronts, backs, tops, and sides of all furniture in the room. I remove anything sitting on the furniture and find its actual home and dust it up before returning it to its home.

Floors

After the furniture is complete it’s the home stretch! Now all that is left are the floors! I usually take a broom to get any hard to reach corners then run the vacuum. We have hardwood floors throughout the house, so every surface gets a good mopping. The Voila! all the hard work is done!

Final touches

Adding the final touches are my favorite part of the day because they make the cleaning process feel and smell complete. These are a few things I do to round out a good day of cleaning.

• Spray Frebreze on mattresses and pillows before replacing bedding (for some fun insight into why people do this, read the book “Power of Habit“)
• Add fresh tarts to tart burners
• Replace all freshly laundered linens, fluff ,and relax!

Tips to Make Cleaning Less of a Chore

I know that cleaning is not the most fun way to spend the day, but it can be livened up some! Here are some tips to make your cleaning day a little more bearable.

• Involve the Kids
• Celebrate throughout the day with mini breaks
• Put on music or your favorite Audible book (check out these favorites)
• Reward yourself for a job well done

Go Forth and Be Clean

I hope these routines will help you through your next cleaning day! Do you have any favorite cleaning products? Don’t forget to subscribe to our email list for more tips, tricks, food, and general farm house fun!

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