HELP! How do I quickly clean the house?Looking for tips!

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Landlord scheduled an inspection on Monday. It's Saturday morning where I am.

How do I go about this in a speedy way?

We have 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, living room, kitchen and laundry room.

I'm ashamed to say I haven't cleaned in a long time so the house is a mess.

Really? You have ages! Search flylady but for now, throw out anything that you don’t want, tidy up what’s left, and then clean. Put on marigolds and attack windows with winded and black and white newspaper; stubborn marks with Magic Eraser; floors with bleach if tile, or dishwater if wood (dry afterwards). Everything else, use a cloth and dish soap. Any particular concerns like marks on the carpet etc?

Windex not winded

Start at the top and work your way down. Cob webs at the ceiling, dusty walls, dusty wall hangings, windows, then down to furniture surfaces, baseboards, etc. Throw out as much as possible. Be ruthless. Focus on one section at a time, because gaping at an entire room will just overwhelm you.

Not sure if this is any good to you, but if I have guests coming I do a quick clean up.

I find the best way (for me) is to go around with a bin bag and recycling bag and throw out any rubbish you can see, I also empty the bin in the living room at this point.

Any mugs, glasses or plates get taken to the kitchen.

Wash all dishes, then dry and put away straight away. Otherwise it doesn't get done and we end up taking a plate from the draining board instead of the cupboard

Any random paperwork which is dotted around gets filed. Anything which has a home gets returned to its home. Anything without a home could find temporary lodgings in a cupboard for short term inspection.

I aim for clear surfaces. Wipe over all surfaces. And then run the vacuum around the place. I open the windows to air the house out and I spray fabric spray like febreeze around too.

I have read the life changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo (which I recommend). It helped me to get rid of so many things and most items have a place of their own now.

I realise that my post makes it sound like I have my shot together. I really don't.
I hate cleaning, but like being organised. I also take a lot of tea breaks when I clean!

Shit*

Get the windows open and get as much air in as you can

If you’re dreading cleaning up, try putting on some upbeat music that you can dance to while cleaning. It really helps the time to go by!

Oh and wear clothes that you don’t mind getting ruined by bleach...just in case.

get a rubbish bag and an empty basket go room to room, picking up everything out of place, stuff into basket and rubbish in to bag, once you got that sorted get in the kitchen and give it a good clean down, dishes all away and also wash the windows, dont do floors yet, go room to room polish and clean etc and do each window, once you have done that vacuum the whole place, then mop the floors, head outside and do a quick garden tidy, if you have one, clean the windows outside too and do a sweep of paths and driveways, again if you have any...get ya staging ready on the monday morning, scented candle or air freshener, maybe a pan of cookies baking ( when you get up, double check each room and give the drapes a freshen with fabreeze or air freshener, make sure you open the windows a crack too, just before the inspection time shove those cookies into bake... you will look like a show home ;)

Go round the flat and throw away all the rubbIsh and bits of crap you don’t need.

Do not get side tracked tidy drawers or sorting through jewellery etc. Get everything in a drawer or cupboard. This should take 2 hours max!

Once that’s done you have clear surfaces and the cleaning commences. Start top down wear old clothes
Old toothbrushes are great for getting into corners in bathroom and kitchen and great on taps

Good luck!

You can get away with all sorts of things hidden under a duvet on the bed. Just looks like the mattress is a bit thick! :D I found that out when we were selling and had viewings at short notice.

The good news is you have 2 days to do it and a manageable amount of rooms. Definitely get bin bags , bin all your rubbish first. Put all plates cups etc into the kitchen, clothes account for a lot of the ‘clutter’ in my house, again get them all in the right room, either in washing basket or wardrobe. Tidy shoes etc.
Only start cleaning when it’s tidy otherwise efforts are futile!

In this order:

1. Declutter first. Buy bin bags and chuck out all broken toys, electrical stuff,old clothes, pillows, towels, bedding, shoes - any bulky stuff you just won't use again. Chuck papers, junk mail etc too. Chuck manky old washing up brushes, cloths and sponges and put out fresh ones. Do this for 15 mins in each room: TOTAL 1 hr 15

1. Then tidy. Hang up coats & bags, pair shoes, put toys in baskets. 5 mins in each room: 25 mins

1. Hoover everywhere including hard surface floors. Use attachment to hoover away cobwebs on ceilings and dust on skirtings/dado rails etc. Pull out sofa to hoover under it. 10 mins in each room. 50 mins

1. Clear surfaces so every room has at least one surface with nothing on it. Makes it look tidy. 5 mins each room 25 mins

1. Polish inside windows, mirrors and wood, wipe surfaces including kitchen cupboard doors. 5 mins in each room + 15 mins in kitchen 35 mins

1. Bleach sinks and loo. Polish taps. Clean bath and basin. 15 mins

1. Mop floors in kitchen and bathroom. 10 mins each = 20 mins

TOTAL time: 4 hours. That's 2 hours each day today and tomorrow. easily doable.

If you have time, wash bedding, towels and teatowels to make sure fresh ones are in use when they come.

Make sure kitchen is clean when landlord comes - food and dishes cleared away.

I find lists infinitely helpful, write down EVERYTHING you want to do and cross it off as you go, seeing stuff get crossed off always makes me feel like I'm making progress

How bad is it on a scale of 1-10?

Are you doing it alone?

I'd prioritise bathroom and kitchen first.

Get washing on now - the weather is amazing for drying.

Put rugs on the line and jet wash / batter them while the washer is on

Go buy a new mop head

Minapaws i love this.

Personally I do it room by room.

And I start with the easiest (which is always bathroom as it's 'just' cleaning, not sorting junk).

I find having one perfect, ticked off room gives me a massive motivational boost to do more, even when it's only the bathroom that took ten minutes.

The Unfuck Your Weekend list from UFYH is my go-to. Set a timer for 20 mins on 10 mins off (you can download the UFYH app which is brilliant and has the timer). Here’s the list: docs.google.com/document/d/11mhzv4VINd7SgUu-gVP805-4F_S0epsPHk2W3t_pjxo/mobilebasic

Just crack on and do it! You don’t have too many rooms to clean so even if it’s a pigsty 2 days is plenty. Start by going round with a bin bag and chucking away rubbish.

Move everything out of the way, chuck unwanted stuff out, put wanted stuff in cupboards or boxes and hide it behind sofa, in loft etc.

Wipe surfaces and windows with vinegar and water, it cleans everything, finish windows with newspaper scrunched up or a micro cloth. Sweep floor and vacuum, make beds, just pull them up unless they need clean bedding due to visible marks.

Towels etc. hang neatly. Wipe front door to remove dust, first thing they see.

I used to bung stuff in boxes, stack them in a room we didn't use much and cover with a throw. I know they peeped underneath but so what.

A room at a time. One box one rubbish bag. If it’s a bedroom, make the bed and put the box on it. Collect everything that needs putting away in the box. (Except clothes - dirty ones in the laundry, clean ones in a pile to put away). Rubbish in the bag. Once floor is clear then wipe surfaces, dust and vacuum. Repeat for all rooms

Once done you can either go around putting everything in your box away properly or in an emergency fold a towel on top of it and shove it in a cupboard.

Haven't read all of the replies but I normally set a timer for 15/20 minutes and challenge myself to do as much as possible in that time. So the first 15/20 mins I might clear every room of rubbish, clothes, glasses etc and put them in the room they belong. Open all windows and put bathroom cleaner on sink/bath to soak for a while.

After that things seem clearer and often I feel motivated to do more. If you work quickly and start with the things that make the most difference visually (hanging towels up neatly, clean draining board, minimal clutter). Then you should see a real difference quite quickly

Find everything that's in the wrong room, pick it all up and put it in the right room. Then tackle each room putting things away. Once everything is away, clean.

✅

Ok, pick so pick a room to start in.
Then gather cleaning supplies, bin bags and a few bags for life/ baskets enter room and do not leave! Also music if you like or even better an audio book. Preferably of a book you already know, it helps the time wile away in calmness.

• pick a corner and start sorting, rubbish in bin bags, if something is in the wrong room put it in bag for life, DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOM. This is where most people loose it. They leave the room with something to put away, get side tracked and side tracked again and again. So nothing gets done.

• work round the room sorting and tidying. Then move the bags and baskets out. BUT COME BACK! Then clean. Start at top and work down. Cobwebs dusted, then surfaces dusted and polished (the smell of a polished room is always a good clean smell for inspections!) finally do the floor.

• repeat for next room taking bag of stuff which belongs in that room with you. By the end there should only be one bag to sort (the bag of stuff that belongs in the first room).

The feelings you will have by the end will be amazing. It is euphoric seeing change happen in front of you!

(Sorry I sound a bit mad, but I have helped many friends and colleagues sort cluttered homes and rooms. This generally works. Just don't get side tracked)