Please tell me how to clean my flat

[slattern2020]

I'm so sorry and quite embarrassed about asking this question but I've never had to clean a place and I'm realising how little life skills I have when it comes to just surviving.

Anyway, I have just moved and need to give my place a clean. It's a very small flat but I just don't really have a clue.

Could someone help? I was thinking tomorrow I could go and buy some detergents.

I'd really appreciate advice on what detergents to use and how often certain things should be cleaned. Like do you clean once a week your whole house, oven once a year?

I have wooden worktops in the kitchen and am wondering how to clean those?

i'd also quite like to use environmentally friendly/home based products - or I should say I'm not adverse to using that!

Please do let me know your advice and tips.

The floor is also engineered wood and Im just wondering does that mean I can hoover it or will it scratch? Should I just use a damp cloth to wipe down?

Thank you!

Frequency depends on lots of factors tbh.

Live alone? Pets? House mate/partner?

Oven-how often do you cook, what sort of meals?
I do a weekly wipe over & racks in the dishwasher then monthly scrub but that’s with cooking family meals at least 9 times a week if you count occasional hot breakfasts/lunches.

Living room &hall hoovered 2/3 times a week upstairs &bedrooms once a week.
Bathroom floor twice a week, sink wiped over everyday with full on bathroom scrub once a week.
It really depends, some houses seem more dusty than others, depends on the local environment.

I think wooden worktops are oiled?

www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/cleaning/a19633448/how-to-clean-and-maintain-solid-oak-worktops/

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/1675559-Are-solid-wood-worktops-easier-to-care-for-bett-than-laminate-worktops

I don’t have engineered wooden floors but found this
www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/how-to-maintain-engineered-flooring

If you ask MN to move this to the Housekeeping in the Home & Garden section you will get loads of different responses from people who clean top to bottom everyday, clean as and when or as little as possible. It’s kind of a personal thing, as are products tbh.
Enjoy your new home!

Just to add, if I lived alone I wouldn’t have to clean half a much

Have a look at The Organised Mum method. There’s a Facebook group, she’s on Instagram and she’s written a book. Basically you clean a room for 30 minutes a day on rotation. If you join the Facebook group it’ll give you ideas on cleaning products etc. I rate e-cloths for cleaning and Elbow Grease (cheap in places like B&M) for stubborn grease and clothes stains. I’ve been doing the ‘Team TOMM’ method for over a year and it’s definitely helped me.

Keep it simple - I have two spray bottles, one full of thin bleach and the other has white vinegar in it. That does me for most things. Obviously, watch your clothes when using bleach. Otherwise I have a bottle of Stardrops and very occasionally use Cif.

Get an oven liner for your oven - they are a thick sheet of heat proof plastic that you just cut to size and wash when needed.
To clean your hob, spray white vinegar on it, leave for ten minutes then wipe off.

I have a microfibre mop for my floors - white vinegar is great on hard flooring. Sweep the floors firs t or hoover them, then spray lightly and mop.

I have two sponges in the bathroom, one for the loo and one for everything else. I spray everything with thin bleach, then use Stardrops to clean it off. Don't use abrasive pads on a plastic bath as it will scratch. For mould, spray with thin bleach and leave overnight. DO NOT USE THICK BLEACH - it contains starch which mould feeds off and it will make the problem worse.

Line the tops of your kitchen cupboards (outside not in) with newspaper and attach with masking tape. You can't see this from the ground. The tops of kitchen cabinets get terribly greasy from cooking fumes - when they get really grubby just rip the paper off and throw it away and replace.

Bog standard furniture polish does nicely for wooden furniture. Old face cloths make excellent dusters and are very absorbent.

To clean inside a microwave, fill a bowl with water and vinegar and heat it until boiling. The steam loosens and dirt and then you just open the door and wipe it all off.

Wooden floors can be hoovered. Once a week if you live alone and no pets.
Dust once a week. Plain dust cloth or a hand held duster you can take duster bit off and wash.
Kitchen. Wipe surface down with some anti bacteria spray once a day or with a damp cloth.
Cooker job as it needs it. Oven once a year or as it needs it.
Bathroom once a week but sink a few times a week. Cloth and anti bac spray. Bleach to bung down loo.
Windows. Window spray and two cloths. When you think they could do with a clean.
Bedroom. Change sheets once a week. Dust and hoover once a week.
I use micro fibre clothes.
You decide if you do whole flat in one go or split it up over the week.
Do what suits you and how you live. These are ideas not rules.

If you live on your own it should be really easy. You really only need a couple of products. I can’t handle the smell of bleach and DH hates the smell of vinegar, so while both work well, we use instead ecover or method kitchen and bathroom cleaners, with occasionally a splash of general cleaner (you can get a big bottle of supermarket general cleaner for about a pound, a capful in a basin of water does for floors, can also be used on bathrooms etc).

The only expensive investment I’d make if I could afford it, is something like a dyson cordless - it’s so light and easy to manoeuvre that it makes you much more likely to do quick regular hoovers.

I like the tip about newspaper on top of kitchen cupboards

Thank you so much! This is all very helpful. There are no other people or pets, just me so I’m hoping it will just be an easy quick job.

Im very nervous of the wooden window sills and wooden worktops though.

I’d quite like to limit cleaning products and detergents to max 3 or 4 as I just know I would never use them all. What would you recommend?

I was thinking:

1. Zoflora
2. Method general anti bac?
3. White vinegar
4. Window cleaner

Would that be enough to see me through all rooms and surfaces?

What tools do you have?

A small flat only needs a relatively small vacuum cleaner.

Dusters
soft broom
soft dustpan and brush
mop and bucket

At the moment I have none!

Where would you suggest I buy them from? I have very little storage space. In fact I have pretty much none and might have to store them in a box outside.

What dyson would you recommend?

I just have:

• antibac for kitchen counters
• glass cleaner for windows and mirrors
• furniture polish for everything else, including wood, window sills, tv, leather sofa.
• bleach for toilet and mopping

Wet dusting is much better than dry dusting.
Dust first then hoover.

Mop- hot water, fairy liquid, splash of bleach.

Start at the top, and work your way down - any dust/dirt dislodged will go downwards. So you wipe upper surfaces first, last job is vacuuming and or mopping floors.

What dyson would you recommend?
For a small, single person flat I don’t really think you need to spend that much. A basic small vacuum-any brand that will fit where you think you want to store it will be fine.

I’m the opposite of above poster, hoover first because that throws dust up, wipe down afterwards- but it’s all personal & trial & error.
If it’s just you then a damp cloth will be plenty for windowsills/skirting boards after hoovering. It won’t be ‘dirty’ so won’t need deep cleaning.
If you are short on space then bleach next to the loo, a multipurpose cleaning spray and cloth in the cupboard under the kitchen sink & a small hoover in the bottom of the wardrobe is fine. Don’t feel you have to shell out on a dyson, DustBuster, feather duster, special cloths, sprays etc.

Anti bac spray.
Floor cleaner or zoflora.
Window cleaner.

Mop
Micro fibre cloths.
Dustpan and brush
Hoover.

Just dust the windowsills. A damp cloth to wipe them down.

Anti bac work surface or damp cloth to wipe down.

Use chopping boards , trays etc to prevent food staining the work surface.