House cleaning shortcuts to make your life easier
Between work, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and childcare, there’s so much to do and so little time in the day. If only there was a way to extend the day by a couple of hours. Unfortunately, that’s not possible (yet!), but there are some shortcuts you can take to be more efficient and still end up with some extra time at the end of the day. Here is a list of our house cleaning shortcuts to help you be more efficient and still have time to spend with your family.
1. Washing the dishes is now a breeze
Doing the dishes is one of the most time-consuming household chores, if not the most. We’re all guilty of piling our dishes in the sink and not touching them until we need something or it turns into the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here is a house cleaning shortcut that will help make doing the dishes easier and faster. I like to wash the dishes while I cook to stay on top of everything. One thing that always helps, though, is to fill the sink with warm, soapy water and while I’m using the dishes, just place them in the sink. This will help get all the extra grease and food off the dishes and then when I go to wash them, it’s super easy.
2. Clean fan blades in seconds
Typically, you would tie a scarf around your nose and mouth, climb a ladder with a rag in hand, and wipe every sheet (top and bottom) as the dust flies everywhere and eventually settles on the floor and the furniture. Cleaning up after that is perhaps one of the reasons you avoid cleaning your fans entirely! Well, here’s one of our fantastic, less messy, time-saving house cleaning shortcuts for cleaning your fans. Take an old worn pillowcase and place it over the blade; place one hand over the blade and the other under it, and using a steady rag, slide the pillowcase to remove all the dust and trap it inside. In a few seconds, your fan will be clean and you will have significantly reduced the amount of household dust.
3. Don’t mop until you drop
Mopping usually means having to dip the mop back into a bucket several times before you can finish an entire room. Using a bucket is quite inconvenient and time consuming because you have to carry it or walk around to get the mop wet. This is what you do; Take a clean, empty plastic bottle and mix a solution of water and floor cleaner in it. Put the lid on and use a 34a poker to make a hole. Now, you can use this bottle to wet half the room and clean it, before doing the same for the other half. It’s best to scrub barefoot so your slippers don’t leave footprints when the floor dries.
4. Gas stove cleaning is quick and easy
The top of your gas stove is one of the dirtiest places in your kitchen because this is where food inevitably gets spilled and left to harden (since the area is too hot to clean right away). Since you’re dealing with stuck-on gunk here, the best and quickest way to clean between burners is to use heat to loosen it up. Take some kitchen towels and soak them in a hot soapy solution; then sprinkle a decent amount of baking powder over the dirty areas and lay the towels on top. Remember, the hotter the towels are, the faster the dirt will loosen. Wait about 3-4 minutes before dragging the towels to the side to pick up and remove dirt. Finish cleaning with a dry towel to help absorb any accumulated water.
5. Dusting has never been so fast
Using a rag to dust furniture isn’t too bad; but once you’ve tried putting a sock on your hand to clean curiosities and surfaces, you’ll never go back to using dust rags or anything else! This is easily one of our best house cleaning shortcuts because it’s so simple! You can use any old pair of socks to do this; however, cotton ones work best. It helps to have at least two or three socks on hand when dusting so you can use a clean one when the first one gets too dirty. In addition to socks, lint rollers are also great dusting tools. They are especially useful for quickly cleaning walls and lampshades.