Last Updated on December 26, 2020 by HodgePodgeDays
The modern family isn’t what it once was. As well as taking care of our partners, children, and pets, many of us are working full-time, running businesses of our own, working as freelancers and trying to find ways to make extra money with a side hustle. We’re much more than mums and dads. We’re cooks, cleaners, PA’s, taxi drivers, business owners, entrepreneurs, hard workers, and more. We’re everything.
Many of us are guilty of overdoing things and burning out. We try to give all of our jobs 110%. We’re always running around. We always have things to do or places to be. Our to-do lists are as long as both of our arms even on our days off, and we’re determined not to give anything up. We’re trying to be superheroes all of the time, and occasionally it all gets too much. Many women face breakdowns, mental health problems, coughs, colds and other bugs, sleepless nights and exhaustion. Our relationships suffer, we feel stressed out, and we stop enjoying our day to day lives.
If you want to avoid things getting this far, something has to give. For most of us, the least favourite jobs on those to-do lists are the cleaning tasks and household chores. No one enjoys cleaning the bathroom, do they? They might be essential tasks, and we’ll do them because we have to, and we’d certainly never want our homes to get that dirty that they pose a health risk to our families. But, that doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t be happy to make things a little easier.
Making sure your house is easy to clean can save you time, help you to make sure your home is always clean and tidy, reducing health risks, odours and dust. It can help you to create a happier home, and even make it easier to get the kids (and maybe your partner) involved in household chores. Let’s take a look at some of the changes that you can make to ensure your home is easy to clean.
The Bathroom
Your bathroom is probably the one area of your home that you wouldn’t dream of neglecting. Especially if you’ve got sons. The idea of a smelly, dirty bathroom might fill you with horror. But, it might also be your least favourite place to clean. So, try to keep it simple.
Tiles can quickly become dirty, and it’s easy for mould to grow between them if they become damaged. Have you considered one-piece wall panels from floor and walls? These can be much easier to clean, and to keep clean, they look fantastic, and they are an easy way to introduce a pattern or cooler to your bathroom.
Vinyl flooring can also be much easier to clean, and relatively cheap to install. But, when it comes to the bathroom, the key is really keeping on top of things. Make sure you regularly spend a few minutes just wiping behind fixtures and fittings, and dirt will never get the chance to set in.
Flooring
Carpets are great, they are soft and comfortable underneath your feet, and a darker coloured or patterned carpet will hide plenty of mess. But, we’re not really looking to hide the mess, we’re looking to make it easy to get rid of.
Wooden flooring in your main rooms can be much easier to keep clean than carpets, and it’s easy to spot when a quick wipe down or mop is needed. Keep a dustpan and brush close at hand for small spills and, and you won’t need to worry about big cleanups as often.
If you want to add a splash of colour and texture, rugs can be ideal. But, if you want to keep them easy to clean, avoid large area rugs that need dry cleaning. Instead, opt for smaller rugs that can be washed in your machine, or easily cleaned up with a carpet cleaning spray and a wet cloth.
Walls
If you’ve ever had young children around, you’ve probably spent a significant amount of time wiping crayon, dirty handprints and bits of food off your walls. Some times more successfully than others. Cheap paint fades after even a few wipes, and you might find that some of it comes away entirely, leaving you with blotchy walls and patchy colour.
Investing in good paint can mean that you can just give your wall a quick wipe when it’s dirty without worrying about ruining your paintwork. This can help to keep your rooms looking fresh, bright and clean for much longer.
Ditch the Clutter
Clutter builds up in family homes. Clutter leads to build up of dust and gives bacteria and dirt a home and a place to grow. The more clutter you’ve got, the more dirt and grime you will have and the harder it will be to clean. A neat shelf with tidily lined up books is much easier to wipe down or dust that a set of shelves overflowing with all manner of clutter.
Regularly take the time to have a really good clear out in all of your rooms. Get rid of anything that you don’t need or want, and make sure everything that you’ve got left has a nice neat home. Invest in some clever storage solutions so that things are easier to tidy away, and make sure you’ve got enough storage in all of your rooms.
If you are short on storage space, choose furniture with hidden storage such as beds with drawers underneath the slats, and pouffes that lift to reveal storage spaces.
Be Careful With Fabrics
A fabric sofa is much harder to clean than leather, which can just be wiped down and treated with a leather treatment now and then. If you like fabric or don’t like the feel of leather, add a throw that can easily be removed to wash.
When it comes to other fabrics, like curtains, cushion covers, and chair seat pads, make sure they are all machine washable and easy to remove. This means that you can just throw everything into the washing machine when it needs a clean without worrying.
If leather is out of your price range, or you’re just not sure about it, why not try vinyl, or faux leather, which is much closer in quality than it used to be.
Add Wheels
How often do you clean underneath and behind your shelves? When was the last time you moved a large piece of furniture to clean the floor underneath? The skirting boards behind your shelves are probably covered in dust, and if your home has ever been damp, there might even be mould hidden on the walls. Adding castors to large, heavy pieces makes them easier to move out and clean under.
Invest in Doormats (and Keep them Clean)
You might already have doormats by your front and back door, but do you clean them? If they aren’t clean, they won’t be doing their job as well as you want them to be. Take them outside and beat the dirt off now and then. If you still seem to be walking a lot of dirt inside, consider having a mat both inside and outside of the door for double protection.
Hire a Cleaner
Of course, the easiest way to make your home easier to clean is to get someone else in to do it for you. You’ll still have to do day to day bits, but hire a cleaner and they’ll take care of the bigger more time-consuming jobs.
This is a contributed post.