Whether you love or hate cleaning your home, it’s something that has to be done. But a lot of people really struggle to find the time. As a result, they either put the work off altogether or take shortcuts.
If you can clean your home faster, you can do what you need to do without eating into your well-earned leisure time. But cleaning faster doesn’t have to mean substandard work. If you know what you’re doing, you can achieve spotless results in a fraction of the time you usually spend on essential chores.
To help you clean your house faster, we’ve put together a few essential speed cleaning hacks for your home.
Time all your main cleaning chores
If you’re conscious of how long each cleaning task takes, you’ll remain focused and determined to beat your previous best. Not only that, you can identify which jobs require longer — and schedule them appropriately.
Time management when cleaning is crucial. Don’t be afraid to spend some of your time planning and scheduling — it’ll save time in the long run.
Sterilise your cloths and sponges regularly
Too many people make more work for themselves by cleaning with dirty cloths and sponges. This is especially the case in the kitchen. There’s a quick and easy way to clean, deodorise and sanitise these essential items, and it doesn’t involve your washing machine.
Squeeze out your sponges and cloths at the sink. Put them in a bowl of hot water, and add a little lemon juice. Microwave the bowl for a minute or two and then rinse them with cold water from your tap. This will give you beautifully clean and sanitised cloths that you can use almost immediately.
Use wax
Wax is good at repelling spills and greasy messes. Particularly on your hob, this alone could save you hours of work over the course of a year.
Spend a while cleaning the top of your hob to a high standard. Apply a thin layer of car wax to the entire surface using a clean microfibre cloth. This will give the appliance a beautiful shine. More importantly, however, it will make wiping off burnt food and spillages much easier going forward.
Use a sandwich bag to clean your showerhead
Showerheads are notoriously difficult to clean. Not only are they awkward, they have a tendency to get dirty again very quickly. Limescale and soap debris can leave stubborn deposits behind, which are very difficult to remove with everyday cleaning agents.
But there’s a way to clean your showerhead while you sleep. Fill a sandwich bag with white vinegar. Attach the bag to the showerhead with elastic bands — making sure the head is fully submerged. Leave it there overnight. In the morning, a very quick polish should have your showerhead looking like new.
Clean your dishwasher quickly
Always make sure that all your plates and dishes are free from food before you place them in your dishwasher. This will reduce the number of times you have to clean the appliance each year.
Once a week, use a toothbrush to remove any deposits, grime and grease that have built up. Empty a full cup of white vinegar into your dishwasher, and run it on the hottest cycle. Run a second cycle on the hottest setting immediately afterwards, but this time add a liberal sprinkling of baking soda to the bottom of the machine.
Do this once a week, and your dishwasher will always be clean and sanitary.
Utilise your dishwasher for more than dishes
A modern household dishwasher isn’t just for dishes. You can clean a range of everyday items in yours, including hair brushes, pet dishes, toys, refrigerator parts, bathroom accessories and handles. As long as the items don’t corrode and are heat-proof, they might be suitable for your dishwasher. Just make sure you check the manufacturer’s cleaning guidelines first.
Remove water marks with a hairdryer
Don’t waste your time rubbing at water marks on wood. You might actually damage the surfaces you’re trying to clean. Use a hair dryer on a hot setting to erase water rings in seconds. You’ll start to see the marks vanish within just a few seconds. And you won’t be damaging the surface in the process.
Dust with ease
Dusting isn’t always as simple as it might seem. There’s a real risk of simply dispersing dust into the air unless you’re methodical and deliberate in your approach. But you can speed up the process without moving dust from one area of your home to the next.
Rather than spend a small fortune on electrostatic dusting cloths, use tumble dryer sheets to dust your household surfaces. They’re perfect for the job, and they stop more dust from settling immediately after cleaning. Just make sure you start dusting from the top of the room.
Obliterate clutter
If you have clutter in your home, you’ll have to move it all out of the way before you even start cleaning. This takes a lot of time. Create a home for all of your household possessions, and make sure everybody is on board with your vision.
It’s also worth minimising the amount of furniture, fixtures and fittings in your home. Having to constantly manoeuvre your way around your home to clean makes the process a lot more time-consuming and awkward.
Steam-clean everything
The power of steam is your ticket to a cleaner home. Not only does it cut through grease and dirt with ease, it also kills the vast majority of bacteria. If you have a handheld steam cleaner in your home, there’s very little you won’t be able to clean — in a fraction of the time traditional cleaning methods would take.
As well as cleaning kitchen and bathroom surfaces, steam cleaners are great at cleaning upholstery, curtains, carpets and uPVC.
Use steam to clean your microwave and oven, too. Fill a heatproof dish with water, white vinegar and a few drops of your favourite essential oil. Turn up the heat until the water boils, and leave it running for four or five minutes. The steam should cut through grease and stuck-on food — and leave your appliance smelling fresh.
With just a few speed cleaning hacks in your home, you can make more time for the more enjoyable aspects of your home life.