Follow these 12+ tips that'll help you speed clean your home

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Cleaning a home from top to bottom takes time, effort, and dedication that life doesn’t always allow. Keeping a home clean and sparkling is important when it comes to maintaining a healthy living environment for everyone under the roof. It’s also closely linked to a sense of pride associated with the responsibility of keeping a living space impeccable. Although the pressure to maintain a clean home is felt by many, there are few who have endless hours to keep cleaning a top priority.
With work, school, family, and life commitments, it can be difficult to squeeze in the mopping, sweeping, and soaping that leads to a shining residence. Fortunately, it doesn’t always take a day’s work to keep a home in order. Here are 12 tips to speed cleaning a home when guests are on their way or time has simply gotten away.
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1. Have a plan before you begin
Efficiency is largely dependent on having a solid plan, and speed cleaning a home is no exception to that rule. Before taking on the necessary tasks aimed at transforming a home from disaster zone to a delightful and shining space, take time the night before and craft a thoughtful approach. A simple list of what needs to be cleaned and what can potentially be skipped will make the process that much more time-efficient.
2. Collect as you go
Even the best-laid plans come with a fair share of surprises. The unexpected should be expected when speed cleaning a home and in the name of all that is still unseen, carry a laundry basket and garage bag as cleaning tasks are tackled. A laundry basket allows for hidden dirty laundry and towels to be quickly piled up while the garbage bag cuts out any time spent running between the trash site and garbage can.
3. Start at the top
A rookie mistake that can derail speed cleaning is assuming the floor comes first. Cleaning a home goes much more quickly and provides more successful results when the ceiling takes priority. Dusting fans and attending to tall lamps and wall decor allows dust and particles to fall via gravity as you go. By the time vacuuming is done, all of those particles are perfectly in place on the floor to be eliminated with one quick roll-over.
4. Be satisfied with skipping non-essentials
Although it may be tempting to follow the instinct to clean everything in the home, speed cleaning isn’t about getting to it all. Instead, it’s about getting to what’s essential. When time is of the essence, accept that it may be necessary to skip shining the silverware in the name of getting countertops in tip-top shape.
5. Invest in a cleaning bucket to carry everything
Overall cleaning time can be significantly impacted by trips back and forth to the cleaning cabinet. Starting on the bathroom only to realize you’ve grabbed glass cleaner and forgotten the scrubber takes up precious time. To avoid unnecessary trips, carry a mop bucket from room to room filled with cleaning essentials.
6. Replace paper towels with coffee filters
It’s extremely frustrating to spend time cleaning mirrors only to notice displeasing streaks once the work is done. Constantly re-wiping mirrors with paper towels that prove ineffective isn’t a great use of cleaning time. So swap out paper towels for simple coffee filters, and clean with those instead. Guaranteed to leave a streak-free shine, they’re also handier to hold onto without the bulk of a paper towel roll taking up space in the mop bucket.
7. Start a few things the night before
When it comes to speed cleaning, the kitchen can initially feel like an overwhelming room to tackle. Appliances such as ovens tend to work hard at their jobs, and the residue shows. For larger jobs like this, start the night before the big cleaning project begins. Many oven cleaners come with the added benefit of being able to be left in the oven overnight. Doing this the night before means when it comes time to speed clean, all that will be required is a simple wipe-down without the wait time.
8. Make cleaning products multipurpose
In the name of speed cleaning, it’s worth taking time to evaluate what cleaning products are on hand and think through multiple purposes they may serve. Any time a cleaning product is useful in more than one way, significant time is saved on cleaning. For example, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers that are renowned for leaving countertops gleaming are also the perfect tool for tackling shoe marks on the floor as well as small scratches that show up on doors.
9. Run machines simultaneously
Although it’s a great instinct to resist the urge to have every appliance working at once, speed cleaning requires strategic multitasking. If the washing machine needs a rinse while the dish washer requires a cycle, start both at the same time so follow-up is timed out as well. Press start before cleaning the fans. By the time vacuuming is done, the washer will be ready for a load of clothes, and the dishes will be ready to be put away.
10. Set a timer
Even though a to-do list of essential cleaning tasks is helpful, speed cleaning comes down to respecting the available time frame. It’s easy to get caught up in the process, and type A cleaners may find it difficult to put the rag down when the essentials have been checked off. In the name of adhering to the time truly available for cleaning, setting a timer is highly recommended.
11. Reward yourself
Speed cleaning the home is an exercise in efficiency, and part of an efficient process is a reward at the end. Motivating and inspiring, deciding on a small incentive to keep moving toward the shining finish line is important in making speed cleaning fun and successful. Whether it’s time to enjoy a delicious coffee or a half-hour dedicated to doing something you love, a reward makes the process that much sweeter.
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12. Top it off with aromatherapy
Speed cleaning may not allow for each item in the house to get a thorough scrubbing, but attending to your home’s scent pattern can go a long way in highlighting a clean ambiance. A quick way to finish off a speed cleaning session is to add an aromatherapy diffuser to major rooms in the home. A small diffuser in the living room and kitchen can make a big difference. With the touch of a button, essential oils such as lavender, lemon, or even cinnamon fill the home with a refreshing, peaceful, and clean scent.
Resources Curbly and Speed Cleaning
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