6 Easy Ways to Have a Cleaner Home

Hi guys, happy Monday! As many of you know if you've been following me along for awhile, Monday is my favorite day of the week. I catch up on everything that gets put off on the weekend. I write out my menu, grocery shop, wash my sheets, and try to be productive. 

Today I wanted to share with you 6 easy ways to have a cleaner home. These aren't new, earth shattering tips, just simple things to do everyday to help make your life easier and house a little happier.

#1. Take your shoes off at the door

This one is such a big and the reason it is number one! I owned a cleaning business for a few years and I can tell you with out a doubt, people who take their shoes off at the door have cleaner houses. Dirt, bacteria, germs, toxins, fungi, yuck!, everything gets left at the door instead of all over the floors, carpet, and, ugh the horror, your furniture. This is especially important if you have small children that are laying and crawling around on the floors.

Since we have built our new house, this is something we do and I have noticed a big difference. There is way less dust and dirt in the house, my floors are easily cleaned, and my carpets don't have any track marks or stains. We have a boot tray under our entry bench at our front door, this is usually used by our guests. We also have a mud room bench just inside our garage door into the house, that's where Alan & I leave our shoes.

I promise you, if you take your shoes off at the door, you will notice how much easier it is to keep your floors clean. And bonus, your carpets will last longer too!

Here's a few excerpts from an interesting article I read online...

"In a recent study, researchers at the University of Arizona found nine different species of bacteria on people's shoes. These types of bacteria can cause infections in our stomachs, eyes and lungs."

"The study also found bacteria live longer on our shoes than in other places. As we walk, we constantly pick up new debris that feeds the growth of more bacteria."

"The researchers tested to see if bacteria on shoes would transfer to the tile floors in a house. More than 90 percent of the time it did. Carpeting harbors bacteria even more."

"Children under age 2 are the most vulnerable to the germs we track into the house, because they play on the floor and put their hands in their mouths an average of 80 times an hour."

"That means that your child can possibly be exposed to every single bacteria that you picked up on your shoe [...] all the bacteria from the park, the store, everywhere you went that day." Source: ABC News

#2. Make your bed...every morning

This is another must for me, and it's one of the the quickest things to do. As soon as I get up and ready in the morning I make my bed. I timed myself once and I think it took me 90 seconds. It's not a hard or time consuming thing to do everyday, but it makes such a big difference. It sets a tone for the rest of the day and it's so nice to walk into a bedroom that's nice and tidy. It's calming to me. It makes the whole room look clean, even if you haven't dusted in a week ;) And if you do have drop in guests, this is one less thing you are scrambling to do. Plus it keeps anything creepy and crawly from getting into the bed, that's one of my phobias, eek!

#3. Do your dishes & laundry...everyday

Seriously, I saw that eye roll. But hear me out. Isn't it nice waking up to a clean kitchen? Nothing stinky or lurking in the bottom of the sink? Just a clean counter and empty sink to greet you first thing. It makes me feel extra good to wake up to a clean kitchen instead of last nights mess. Yes I let my dishes sit overnight occasionally and I always want to cry the next morning, "Why!? Why!? Why!?" Keeping your sinks clean will also help with nasty kitchen odors.

Bonus tips: Get out a fresh set of dish cloths and towels everyday. Please, no one likes a soured cloth, yuck. Also, take out your trash everyday. Even if your kitchen is sparkling, a stinky, overflowing trash will ruin it.

Same goes for your laundry. Just put one load in as soon as you get up, eat your breakfast, go for your morning walk etc., then put it in the dryer or hang it on the line. Be productive for a an hour, call a friend, watch some Netflix ;), vacuum and dust, clean out and vacuum the car, rock your baby etc., then for the hard part, fold it and put it away! In a couple hours you will have everything caught up for the day! The more laundry that piles up the stinkier it gets and harder it is to do. Even if you do just one load per day, it will be way more manageable and might help keep the huge laundry pile mountain from appearing. Oh and it will definitely keep you from having to hear from your husband that he is out of clean underwear again lol!

#4. Clean up as you cook

When I am cooking I always have a sink full of hot soapy water. As soon as I make a mess I wipe it up. It makes cleaning up the kitchen after a meal so much easier. Without fail, I will spill some flour, knock over the salt shaker, splatter pasta sauce on the stove, or drip iced tea on the counter (just to name a few). I also throw my trash away asap. Butter wrappers, egg shells, boxes, cans, just by putting them in the trash can as soon as your done with them, helps keep the mess to a minimum. I LOVE to be in my kitchen, so messes are inevitable. I am human. But I find it much more enjoyable if I clean up as I cook.

I also load my dishwasher as I go, as soon as I use a bowl or spatula I put in. This saves so much time at the end of the day when I clean my kitchen for the night. Usually I just have a few plates, silverware, and glasses to put in last minute. Then the most important part, push start and run that puppy! I can't even tell you how many times I have opened up my dishwasher in the morning to unload it and I find dirty dishes instead. Ugh technology, shouldn't it be able to read my mind and know that it needs to run?! I am getting better about remembering, even if I have to get out of bed at midnight and push start.

#5. Pick up clutter daily

When I leave a room I look around to see what needs put away or taken to another room. It's something that s simple and easy to do, you just have to get into the habit of doing it. This helps keep clutter at bay and piles from growing. It's something I've done for years, I'm not sure if I've just trained myself to do it or what, but it helps keep my house tidy.

Throughout the day, mail, clothes, dishes, books, toys, jewelry, pens, trash, you name it, gets strung out all over the house and from room to room. Before you know it you can't see your counter tops, table, bed, floor, you see where I'm going here. By simply grabbing a couple items when you leave a room and put them back where they belong, this will save you tons of time at the end of the day and help keep your house clutter free! If you have a multi-level home, keep a basket at the bottom or top of your stairs and add to it, then the next time you go upstairs or down, take it with you and put the items away.

#6. Wipe down the bathrooms daily

Now I don't mean scrub every nook and cranny, I just mean take 5 minutes every day and do a quick wipe down. I deep clean my bathrooms weekly, but the rest of the time I do a quick clean up. Usually while I'm waiting on my laundry to dry, I find the time to clean up my 2 bathrooms. I wipe down the toilets, and use the toilet brush, I wipe off the countertops, wipe out the sinks, clean any spots on the mirrors, change the hand towels, and Swiffer sweep the floors. This takes hardly anytime at all and my bathrooms are clean for the day.

Kids can be messy little things, so keeping on top of their bathrooms is a must. Hanging up wet towels, wiping out tubs, picking up bath toys, wiping up the bathtub crayon mess (who in their right mind invented those awful things? lol), scrubbing toothpaste out of the sink and off the counters, may be a few things that have to be added to the list if you have kids :)

There you have it 6 easy ways to have a cleaner home. I really do enjoy doing all of these things and it's nice to know that if I do have unexpected guests, my house, for the most part it presentable, and I'm not scrambling around cramming things in closets and slamming doors lol!

Do you have a routine? Things that you have to do everyday to keep your sanity? Let me know! Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day :)