The Maids 7+ BEST Tips For House Cleaning to Help You Clean House Faster!
You come home after a long day at work and your house is a mess! It feels like an overwhelming job that you can never catch up with!
I feel your pain. Believe it or not, I clean house all day and still come home to a house that needs to be cleaned.
That’s because I’m “the cleaning lady”. I love my job and it’s easy to clean house for myself too! Let me share my easy tips for house cleaning to help you get the motivation to clean house faster than ever!
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Why I love to Clean House!
I love my job as a cleaning lady because I love my families!
It may sound crazy but I take a very vested interest in the idea that I am helping them to feel more comfortable in their homes. I love to dwell on the idea that because I clean they will have more time to do things together.
Over the years I have had some truly wonderful, kind, and generous families I am truly grateful to have known.
The cleaning itself is admittedly boring but you can’t complain about any job where you get to listen to books and music all day!
Tip for House Cleaning: #1 Avoid HARSH CHEMICALS! And here’s why…
One of my first tips for house cleaning seems obvious. Don’t kill yourself with chemicals!
I remember when I started I used all the basic cleaning supplies. I soon learned that some combinations are very very dangerous.
For example, any product with Ammonia and any product containing bleach when combined or used at the same time becomes a DEADLY combination. Also, these ingredients can sneak into products that you wouldn’t expect. I quickly veered away from a lot of basic products including window cleaner and shower spray because of that! For some reason, I hated feeling like I couldn’t breathe.
Also, some cleaners say “DO NOT ALLOW CONTACT WITH SKIN” or “DO NOT USE ON COOKING OR PREP SURFACES” Now let me ask you? What surfaces in your house do not either touch your skin or your food? Not many! And it should scare us that these products are self-claimed POISONS.
I knew that as a cleaning lady I could not have constant contact with this stuff and I certainly could not subject my families to these products even in residual amounts.
Tips for House Cleaning #2: Use Safer Products
For years I used this great combination for my all-around multi-surface cleaner. While not completely natural it’s super cheap, very effective, and safe!
THE DIY RECIPE
- Start with a big spray bottle:
- One good squeeze of dish soap
- A little pour of hydrogen peroxide (effective against viruses, bacteria, fungus etc)
- A couple of drops of a smell-good essential oil of your choice (if you want to) Some essential oils are antibacterial, antiviral, etc.)
- and now fill the bottle up with water!
For glass and windows, I stick to good old-fashioned white vinegar because it always comes out nice! Sure it’s pungent but the odor dissipates quickly and it’s 100% natural, safe, and cheap.
Or you can purchase:
In recent years I have switched to Shaklee’s Get Clean Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate which is a very natural and safe product sold in the concentrate so even though the initial price is a little high it ends up being cheaper than anything else because a bottle of it, at two or three drops per spray bottle, lasts forever! I’m a professional cleaning lady and the small bottles lasted me 2 years.
For tough scrubbing, I absolutely adore Shaklee’s Get Clean Scour Off Heavy Duty Paste made from cherry pits! It saves a lot of elbow grease, doesn’t scratch, and smells divine!
Tip for House Cleaning #3 Clean House In An Efficient Order
One of the best tips for house cleaning I can give you is to batch your work.
Instead of doing everything in one room and then doing everything in the next you need to put similar tasks together. This will help you clean house faster.
I like to clean “wet’ stuff first. What are your wet house cleaning tasks? Cleaning the bathroom and kitchen involves spraying and wiping. After the wet work is done you do the dry work. That includes dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming. Of course, mopping has to be last.
I consider sheets and laundry and special projects like cleaning out the stove or the fridge as separate from the BASIC cleaning process because they are needed on a different schedule.
One key to cleaning like “the maid” or the “cleaning lady” is to not get distracted. This is not the time to declutter or organize or do laundry or pluck your eyebrows. This is the time to put on your jams and just clean!
#4 Tip For House Cleaning in The Bathroom
I know that when you think of cleaning the bathroom you might cringe. But it doesn’t have to be gross or hard. And here’s my top tip for house cleaning. CLEAN THE BATHROOMS FIRST!
I usually start with the bathrooms because I want to get them over with. Don’t be lazy. Go ahead and clear off your counter and spray and scrub it then wipe the mirrors, the shiny faucet and handles, the counter, and the sink.
Move on to the toilet. I’m assuming you know how to clean a toilet. Spray it all down and wipe it all off. If you can, pop off the lid clips and wipe under that once in a while. It gets pretty gross. Don’t forget to scrub the bowl.
The Bath and Shower:
Fill the tub or a bucket with some warm water to work with. Spray everything down and scrub. You can use a toothbrush on the grout and corners. Rinse it all off and wipe it dry.
If you have hard water I would recommend some of that wonderful scrubby paste from Shaklee first and then make sure you rinse it off. To finish spray your vinegar and wipe it off with a paper towel because that will leave a glorious shiny and clear finish! Do this in your subsequent bathrooms, if you have more than one.
#5 Tips for House Cleaning and Having A Shiny Kitchen
Now on to the kitchen. If you want to clean house faster I think it is essential and basic to do the dishes first! Make sure this includes any glasses or coffee cups lying around the house. It is also a good time to clean the coffee pot.
Now that the dishes are finished, move stuff from one part of the counter to the other part of the counter.
Spray the counter, wipe it down, scrub away any globs, dry it off and move the stuff back.
Go to the next section of the counter and then the next until you are finished.
Don’t forget about the microwave and stove!
What about the microwave?
I like to throw a wet rag or a bowl of water in it for 2 minutes because steam will help everything in there to soften.
Now carefully pull out the hot rag or bowl of water and also the glass tray and the track. Wipe down the whole microwave and the tray. Wipe it dry and put the tray back in there.
The good news now is that if your microwave is above your stove the junk is on the stove. That’s time-efficient because that’s the next place for you to clean.
Take the grates off and scrub and wash them in the sink. Turn your attention to the stovetop. Spray it, scrub it, and use paste for hard-cooked on junk. Don’t scrub it so hard that you scratch it.
Finishing touches:
Wipe down all shiny surfaces like the stainless steel fridge, dishwasher, and last but not least, the sink.
Check the front of the cabinets for smudges and drips.
Clean the dining table and the chairs, especially if you have sticky-handed children, and you are finished with the kitchen!
It’s the little things like this that make your house look like a clean house at first glance. And when you do these things often it’s easier to clean house faster!
#6 Dust? You have no power here!
People hate dusting and because they hate dusting they don’t dust until it’s really truly awful!
But here’s tip for cleaning house. If you dust every week or every other week it shouldn’t take too long or be too hard! Especially if you don’t have a lot of clutter and knick-knacks.
Just pick things up or move them over to dust under them as you go. I am happy to use a Swiffer for most things.
If you have sticky dust you will need to tackle that with a damp rag and if you need to shine some furniture that’s another project.
Use your extending handle Swiffer on the fans every time and they will never get awful. Definitely dust them with a mask or something over your face the first time and definitely dust them BEFORE you do the floors!
Also, turn and dust your blinds on both sides every time to keep them nice. Run your Swiffer along the tops of doors and corners because that will help to keep cobwebs at bay.
Windows and glass:
Look for any window smudges or glass surfaces that need spruce at this time and wipe them off with vinegar and a paper towel.
Also, use this trip through the house to round up all the trashes and pick up rugs and small items because it will ready the floors which are your next project.
#7 Clean House Faster and Have Floors that Impress!
Now to your biggest project. The good news is it is also your most impressive project.
Clean floors make the whole house look a thousand times better so crank up some upbeat tunes and buckle down.
Vacuum your carpet. I adore the shark rocket! It has a long cord. Cordless vacuums always run out of battery in larger homes.
Sweep or vacuum your hard floors. I sometimes prefer to sweep because you can really get in all the corners better.
Move light furniture as you go and sweep or vacuum under the big items.
Remember your not trying to have a house that looks clean, but you actually want a clean house.
…and last you mop
You’re almost done! But first you need to mop!
For wood floors, you will need to be careful about how much water you use and you may want to use a product for wood like Bona.
For mopping tile, just a little dish soap and water in your mop will work fine.
I favor a self spraying mop like the ones Bona or Leibman offer but a sponge mop is just fine.
There’s nothing to it but to do it!
I know, it’s not like any of this is brand new to you! All of these tips for cleaning house are common sense or discovered through my own trial and error.
There are no special tricks and in the end. When you use house cleaning services you are paying for the elbow grease, not expertise.
But now you know how a cleaning lady stays focused and gets your house shining in a reasonable amount of time! Now you know how to clean a house fast like the maid does.
You can do these steps separately with a daily house cleaning schedule or all at once depending on your schedule. You will also need to fit in some deep cleaning tasks once in awhile to catch those overlooked items you may not clean every week.
It will take more or less time depending on how much stuff you have and how big your space is. That’s just another motivation to simplify and declutter. A clean house is a tidy house.
Now You Know How to Clean a House FAST!
Throw on some good music, set organization and chores aside, and use these tips for cleaning house to clean house faster and easier than ever before! You too can clean house like a cleaning lady!
I know you can do it and have a beautifully clean house in 3 hours or less! You can keep it up fairly easily doing this every other week. And it will contribute so much to your happy simple life in a house you actually like to be in!
Or, if you still hate to clean take my best tip for cleaning houses. Hire a cleaning lady and enjoy one of the most valuable services around!
Do you have any cool cleaning tips? Please share in the comments below!
That was great! I’d like to hire this cleaning lady. How much to come to Florida?
Well I’m not traveling much these days but maybe soon 🙂