Housecleaning tips to make your life easier! (and mine!)

There was a time when I used to clean the shower curtain with a bottle of bleach and a sponge while it was hanging on the shower rod! Blasted be those days!!! Some blessed soul, I don't remember who, mentioned one day that they just throw theirs in the washing machine with some towels and it comes out like new again! Brilliant be that day! The towels do the scrubbing for you, and if you must throw some bleach in the water, then so be it. If you wash your shower curtain this way often enough you should not ever need bleach!!!

I am surprised at how many people are still cleaning their shower curtains the same way I did years ago, and I am surprised at the many simple ideas I am still learning everyday, that are so simple I can't believe I did not think of them on my own! Hence, the reason and inspiration for this post, to share random housecleaning ideas that will hopefully lighten your load, and if you have any ideas to share, please post them as a comment!

The very first and foremost rule of housecleaning, or for that matter, of cleaning anything, is to clean top to bottom! Have you ever spent ample time cleaning your bathroom only to look up at your light fixture to realize that dust and cob webs have settled there? Unless you are very careful at removing them, you will have to clean your sink and vanity, and maybe the floor, all over again! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Don't let this happen to you! Always look up first, and work your way down. If you forget, I recommend skipping the light fixture, and dealing with the dust and cob webs later!

When cleaning top to bottom, the nifty hand sweeper is your friend! Use it to sweep the tops of window casings, and then the blinds, and then the top of the bottom window, and then the window seal! If you have panes on the outsides of your windows then the hand sweeper works great to loosen the dust in those tiny little corners! If you need to follow up with a towel and some cleaner, then at least the job will have been simplified for you. The hand sweeper is also handy when cleaning out kitchen cabinets. If you do a spring cleaning, or if you are moving out/into a house, use the hand sweeper first to get rid of the loose stuff, then go back with a towel and some cleaner.

For dirty baseboards, the same method makes for a more efficient clean, but you may want to use a full size broom, so you don't have to get down on all fours, I mean threes, since one hand would be holding the sweeper! Sweep away the loose stuff, (or use the bristle attachment of your vacuum) and you may be surprised that you suddenly have white baseboards again! Or, you may discover the few areas that need a damp cleaning towel, but at least you won't have spent hours on the floor hand scrubbing what was only some loose dust! If your baseboards are bad, and do require ample time on the floor, your job will still be easier if you remove the loose stuff first with a broom.

Vacuum those air vents with the bristle attachment! Don't spend hours scrubbing them! You probably don't need to! Again, if you do, get the loose stuff first with the vacuum, or a broom, but a vacuum is preferred. If some scrubbing is required, take the whole vent off and place it in your bath tub or shower, or outside on the drive way if it's a nice day, and douse it with vinegar or any all purpose cleaner, or both! Let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse. Only spend time scrubbing what may still be left!

I learned this one just a couple of weeks ago: Microfiber is the key to a streak free wood floor! I didn't want to use microfiber; it's a synthetic material and it feels yucky on my dry hands! But it is great for wood or laminate flooring. I learned this from one of my wonderful clients, thank you:)

About once a week, fill up the kitchen sink with soapy water and throw your stove and oven knobs in to soak. While they soak, you can clean the panel really well and easily without them in the way. Dry the knobs with a towel and pop them back on. This will keep your neato stove looking new!

For those of you who have yet to obtain a self cleaning oven - vinegar, baking soda, a scrubby, and a plastic spatula will do the job! Douse the oven with vinegar, turn it on to 350 for ten minutes, then douse with vinegar and baking soda while it is still warm and scrape the gunk away! You may need to apply some elbow grease with your scrubby, but with this method, hopefully not much! I recently learned from another great client, that the microwave oven can be cleaned in the same way. If you forget to clean it right after the spillage of chili beans, and the glop of mess has a chance to harden, then cover it with a wet towel, and turn the microwave on for a few minutes. Hopefully you will then be able to wipe away the mess with relative ease!

If you are so lucky to own a jacuzzi tub, and if you are luckier yet to ever use it, here is how to clean out the jets: fill up the tub with water and add a couple cups of vinegar while the jets are running. If they have become moldy at all, you may have to get a toothbrush out to clean around the outsides of them, but the vinegar will keep them clear and functioning well. Some of my clients use dish washing machine soap or tablets. This method will also help clean the whole tub at the same time!

Gosh, I know there are many more! I will leave room for some of you to add to my list, I'm excited to possibly come across some new ones! But before I go, just a few more tips to maintain cleanliness in the first place!

- Spend some money on the paint you use on the inside of your house if you at all can! the nice the paint, the easier to wipe off dirt and smudges! The finish also has something to do with it. I know matte is prettier, but glossy is easier! Decide which of the two you can live with - dirt or gloss?

- If you have a tiled shower, you will either have to use a lot of bleach (gaspppp!!!!) or you will have to dry it completely after almost every shower! I do not prefer either of these ideas, so I will never have a tile shower, but if you do, you must come to terms with one of these two choices! Unfortunately, if you resolve to using bleach on a regular basis, you may still end up with mold. My beloved vinegar is a mold deterrent, but I am not sure how good it is at preventing it. Maybe one of you could experiment for me by spraying your shower down ever couple days? Hmmmmmm. I'm afraid that drying the shower every time you use it is the only guaranteed way to keep mold at bay. If you buy a squeegee the job won't be quite so difficult. There is a third aspect to this issue that I must mention. Re-sealing your grout every six months or so would do a lot to keep the mold and dirt from settling into the porous crevices of grout. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzz! I'll never have a tile shower!

- Speaking of squeegees . . . if your shower has a door, then you need one! I used to be so annoyed when I visited my mum's house, because she was always on every ones case about drying the shower door with the squeegee she had hanging inside of it to keep it nice, but she was right to do so! Keeping the water off it keeps it from getting hard water spots, which are not easy to remove. It also removes soapy substances which would later turn to soap scum, aaannnnnddd - DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN - it keeps mold away! Leaving your shower door open for a while after you shower will help the track and the hinges dry out without molding as well.

A special, oh so special note from me as a housekeeper, and on behalf of all housekeepers everywhere!

Tile showers and shower doors are my own personal cryptonite! The shower squeegee is the only real anecdote! When you utilize the potential of the shower squeegee, you make the world of the housekeeper that much brighter and bearable!!!

- Have your air ducts cleaned regularly to keep the dust at a minimum. (and don't forget to replace your air filters every few months!)

- Remember to check the filters on your vacuum cleaner to maintain it's efficiency.

Thanks for reading - now it's your turn to add some ideas!