How to Keep Your House Clean

Co-authored by Chris Willatt

Last Updated: January 30, 2023 References

A house that is steadily kept clean and tidy reduces unwarranted stress, feels like a home, and also makes the entire drill of cleaning easy and less work; rather than performing big cleans that take up entire days. The following methods below will help you keep your home in ship-shape condition all year round, in a way that best suits your lifestyle.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Daily Spring Clean

1
Kitchen. When it comes time to cleaning the kitchen with the spring cleaning method, aim to do it after breakfast in the morning so that you can arrive home to cook in a clean one in the evening.^{[1]
X
Research source} You could also clean your kitchen after the preparation of your evening meal so you can wake up to a clean one too. Complete the following routine after each usage to maintain an orderly kitchen daily:
- Wash all dishes, dry them and put them away. By doing the entire process of washing the dishes every-time, you can easily avoid playing the 'tower stack' game where dishes continually pile up until someone has to put them all away.
- Sponge down the rubber gasket in your sink.^{[2]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Chris Willatt
  House Cleaning Professional
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2019.}
- Wipe down all surfaces with a surface spray and cloth.
- Wipe down the stove ( don't forget the switchers). If the burners are super dirty, soak them in soapy water for 30 minutes.^{[3]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Chris Willatt
  House Cleaning Professional
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2019.}
- Clean your microwave ( if you have one), with a cloth and disinfectant spray. This will avoid having to do an extensive clean once a week or even month. This can take as little as 1 minute to complete and it also aids in maintaining food preparation hygiene.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
- Keep up-to-date with your refrigerator by surveying food entering and food currently residing in it. If any item is protruding an unpleasant smell, remove it. Quickly wipe down each shelf of the refrigerator just in case anything has leaked. By doing this every-day it again helps avoid a lengthy and grueling clean that usually gets done whenever you get around to doing it.
- Sweep or hoover the flooring to remove any items that may have been dropped. By doing this regularly, you are removing the risk of contracting mice or rats.
2
Living / Dining room.^{[5]
X
Research source} This room may be one of the most central areas in your house. Guests and Visitors will most likely reside in this area the most so by keeping it fairly clean, they will assume the rest of the house is like it; even if the rest of the house isn't completely spot-less. Follow these steps daily for the spring cleaning method to maintain order in your living room:^{[6]
X
Research source}
- Dust down cabinets, coffee-tables and television with a feather duster.
- If you have leather seating, again use the damp micro-fiber cloth to wipe them down. If however you have fabric seating, fend to brush surplus lint, fluff and pet hair with a lint roller.
- Re-arrange décor if it has been misplaced. ( positioning cushions, straightening picture frames etc).
- Replace items that are out of place like DVD's, Remotes and used dishes to the kitchen to be washed and put-away.
- Wipe down dining table with a cloth daily.
- Hoover the flooring and also mop if you have tile or wooden floor boards.
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3
Bathroom. A hygienic bathroom is developed by daily cleaning rituals, follow these steps to keep your bathroom in good working order:^{[7]
X
Research source}
- Start by putting on your gloves. Fill the toilet with the product of your choice and scrub the bowl. Spray the exterior of the toilet with a disinfectant spray and wipe it all down with paper towel and then flush. It takes only about a minute.
- Remove everything from the shower and clean the flooring and walls or window with the product of your choice. By scrubbing the shower daily, you are removing any stains that will accumulate over time and be a grueling process when it's definitely time to clean it.
- Spray and wipe down the sink to remove toothpaste residue, wipe down bath-tub (if you have one).
- Wipe down the mirror with Windex and paper towel.
- You can hoover, sweep or mop the floor daily or maybe every second day.
4
Music, Kids or Study room. If you have a spare bedroom, or a music or study room; it's ideal to keep it tidy daily as well. Follow these steps to maintain a dust free miscellaneous room:
- Hoover flooring.
- Organize item out of place. Aim to have a spot for everything in rooms like this so you or other people you live with know where it goes.
- Dust down musical instruments, computer keyboards, printer or fax machine, photo frames or other surfaces and items with a feather duster.
- Put all toy's away (if you have small children) and scourer the house for other toys that may have wondered.
5
Laundry. Many people forget to clean their laundry or at least keep it in a tidy and orderly fashion.^{[8]
X
Research source}
- Wash a load of towels every second day to accumulate a full load and save water and power. You can also throw in face washers or dish towels.
- Acquire a dirty washing basket for you or other people in the house to put their used towels, face washers etc. It would be best for other people in the house to have their own clothing basket to put their own dirty clothes into them.
- Encourage people to regularly do their washing throughout the week to save time and energy. It can become a meticulous task of washing everything on the lot on a prescribed day on the weekend.
- Wipe down your washing machine daily to avoid the build of grime, lint and dirty. Washing machines can be ironically the dirtiest appliance under your roof.
- By following this formula, you're allowing time for yourself on the weekend rather than doing loads of housework.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Daily Speedy Clean

1
Kitchen. When it comes time to cleaning the kitchen with the speedy clean method, aim to do it after breakfast and also after the preparation of your evening meal. Complete the following routine after each usage to maintain a polished kitchen daily:^{[9]
X
Research source}
- Wash all dishes, dry them and put them away.^{[10]
  X
  Research source} By doing the entire process of washing the dishes every-time, you can easily avoid playing the 'tower stack' game where dishes continually pile up until someone has to put them all away as mentioned in the spring clean method.
- Wipe down all surfaces and appliances with a surface spray and cloth. Don't forget to do handles and knobs like; Fridge door, cabinet knobs, microwave buttons, kettle handle, toaster button etc.
- Wipe down the stove elements, oven door and over fan ( don't forget the switchers).
- Clean your microwave ( if you have one), with a cloth and disinfectant spray. This will avoid having to do an extensive clean once a week or even month. This can take as little as 1 minute to complete and it also aids in maintaining food preparation hygiene.
- Keep up-to-date with your refrigerator by surveying food entering and food currently residing in it. If any item is protruding an unpleasant smell, remove it. Quickly wipe down each shelf of the refrigerator just in case anything has leaked. By doing this every-day it again helps avoid a lengthy and grueling clean that usually gets done whenever you get around to doing it.
- Sweep or hoover the flooring to remove any items that may have been dropped. By doing this regularly, you are removing the risk of contracting mice or rats.
- If you have any mirrors or windows in your kitchen, do a quick wipe over with paper towel and Windex or however you like to clean windows.
2
Living / Dining Room. This room may be one of the most central areas in your house. Guests and Visitors will most likely reside in this area the most so by keeping it fairly clean, they will assume the rest of the house is like it; even if the rest of the house isn't completely spot-less. Follow these steps daily for the spring cleaning method to maintain order in your living room:^{[11]
X
Research source}
- Wipe down cabinets, coffee-tables and television with a damp micro-fiber cloth to remove dust and other residue.
- If you have leather seating, again use the damp micro-fiber cloth to wipe them down. If however you have fabric seating, fend to brush surplus lint, fluff and pet hair with a lint roller.
- If you have windows to the exterior, speedily clean each-one daily to remove obvious marks. Studies suggest that a room that has clean windows and flooring will automatically be seen as orderly even if there is dust and grime in obvious places.
- Re-arrange décor if it has been misplaced. ( positioning cushions, straightening picture frames etc).
- Replace items that are out of place like DVD's, Remotes and used dishes to the kitchen to be washed and put-away.
- Wipe down dining table after every use. Clean daily with a disinfectant spray.
- Vacuum weekly, dry mop every two weeks, and mop monthly.^{[12]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Chris Willatt
  House Cleaning Professional
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2019.}
3
Bathroom. A hygienic bathroom is developed by daily cleaning rituals, follow these steps to keep your bathroom in good working order:^{[13]
X
Research source}
- Clean out any hair from the drain to prevent it from building up.^{[14]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Chris Willatt
  House Cleaning Professional
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2019.}
- Start by putting on your gloves. Fill the toilet with the product of your choice and scrub the bowl. Spray the exterior of the toilet with a disinfectant spray and wipe it all down with paper towel and then flush. It takes only about a minute.
- Remove everything from the shower and clean the flooring and walls or window with the product of your choice. By scrubbing the shower daily, you are removing any stains that will accumulate over time and be a grueling process when it's definitely time to clean it.
- Spray and wipe down the sink to remove toothpaste residue, wipe down bath-tub (if you have one).
- Wipe down the mirror with Windex and paper towel.
4
Music, Kids or Study room. If you have a spare bedroom, or a music or study room; it's ideal to keep it tidy daily as well. Follow these steps to maintain a dust free miscellaneous room:
- Hoover flooring.
- Organize item out of place. Aim to have a spot for everything in rooms like this so you or other people you live with know where it goes. Thing's like paperwork, books in shelves and stationary draws.
- Wipe down musical instruments, computer keyboards, printer or fax machine, photo frames or other surfaces and items with a damp micro-fiber cloth.
- Put all toy's away (if you have small children) and scourer the house for other toys that may have wondered.
5
Laundry. Keep laundry floor clutter free by doing the laundry every-day. Gather a full load of fabrics like towels etc. than doing small ones to save on power.
- Sweep laundry floor daily and mop once or every second day.^{[15]
  X
  Research source}
- Wipe down the machine after every use to prevent a build up of grime. You can spray a disinfectant spray on the interior and exterior of the machine and wipe it down with a designated micro-fiber cloth that you can keep in reach of the machine.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Swift Daily Sanitizing

1
Kitchen. Some people are equitably concerned with germs and other infestations. Sanitizing may not be on everyone's agenda but here is what you should do to keep the area where food-borne diseases can transpire:^{[16]
X
Research source}
- Put on plastic gloves and spray every surface carefully with a mixture of two tablespoons of bleach and the rest water in an empty spray bottle. You can also add a small squirt of dish-washing detergent if you feel the need.
- Aim to wash the dishes and put them all away after every food preparation session.
- Spray the dishes free sink, oven and microwave with the spray, and leave everything for a good 5-10 minutes or so before wiping down.
- When washing chopping boards, Spray the board with the bleach mixture, leave for 5 minutes and then rinse and wash off thoroughly.
- Using a disinfected spray like Glen 20 or Lysol, spray every door handle, knob, button etc. with the spray to remove germs from the areas people touch daily if not hourly.
- Keep a squirt bottle of soap at the kitchen sink to encourage washing hands prior to and after the preparation of food.
- Hoover and Mop kitchen flooring with a small amount of bleach, floor cleaning product and hot water. Floors are notorious for harboring germs that have been tread in from outside.
2
Living / Dining Room. Due to the high amount of traffic in these areas, it's important to keep them sterile to prevent spreading whatever may be brought into the room from outside.^{[17]
X
Research source}
- Re-arrange décor if it has been misplaced. ( positioning cushions, straightening picture frames etc).
- Replace items that are out of place like DVD's, Remotes and used dishes to the kitchen to be washed and put-away.
- Wipe down dining table after every use. Clean daily with the disinfectant spray.
- Use a lint roller to pick up lint, fluff and other unwarranted particles from fabric seating before using a steam mop (if you have one)
- Hoover and Mop flooring with a steam mop. Some steam mops have different functions but if you have one that can do surfaces, sanitize seating with the steam mop and other immediate surfaces.
- Use your handy Lysol or Disinfectant spray on all remotes and other commonly used items. You could choose to keep disinfectant wipes on the coffee table in your lounge room for people to wipe them after each use, if you feel so inclined.
3
Bathroom. It's more desirable cleaning ones body in an environment that is clean and sterile itself. It seems to defeat the purpose if thing's are done otherwise, follow these daily steps to maintain a hospital grade bathroom:^{[18]
X
Research source}
- Put gloves on and start to clean the toilet with your desired toilet cleaning product. Spray the exterior of the toilet with your handy bleach spray mixture and add a meek splash of bleach to the water in the bowl to sit for a good 5-10 minutes before wiping with paper towel and flushing.
- Spray sink, bath, shower walls etc. with the bleach mixture and leave to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- While you are waiting, scrub the shower floor with a hospital grade disinfectant liquid. You can also use a splash of bleach and a swig of the toilet cleaning product, it does the same thing.
- Wipe down the bathroom mirror with glass cleaner and paper towel.
- Wipe and clean down everything that had to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Hoover and mop bathroom with a steam mop or with a floor cleaner and splash of bleach mixture in a mop bucket.
4
Music, Kids or Study Room. Notorious for tainted keyboards and germ ridden toys, this room is important and rewarding room to keep sterile.
- Using antiseptic wipes, wipe down each toy that's been used and taken out of the toy box ( if you have children).
- Use another wipe to clean the computer desk and item on the desk. Also with a single antiseptic cloth, wipe down instrument(s).
- Hoover and Steam mop ( If you have one)
5
Laundry. Do the laundry every-day with fabrics, towels and other thing's that are dirty. You can use a meek splash of bleach mixture that's been diluted with water in with the towels to sterilize and bring out stains, spots etc.
- Wipe down the machine after every use to prevent a build up of grime, dirt and germs. You can spray a disinfectant spray on the interior and exterior of the machine and wipe it down with a designated micro-fiber cloth that you can keep in reach of the machine.
- Sweep or mop the laundry floor with a hospital grade floor cleaner. You could also steam mop (if you have one).