To ask for your top tips to clean a house from top to bottom?

[CraneBoysMysteries]

I have a day off tomorrow and am planning on trying to get our house back into shape

We have two young toddlers and are in a constant state of chaos. We usually manage to swing the hoover around and keep on top of washing up but deep cleaning rarely gets done.

I really want to tackle this in the most efficient way possible and, if I can, put in place some systems to help us keep on top of it more easily going forwards

So I have washing to do and put away, 1 bathroom, 1 toilet, 1 kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 1 office and 2 reception rooms.

I've no idea where to start and to be honest I worry I'm going to spend the whole day procrastinating and making lists of how to do it rather than getting stuck in!

Help!

Thanks you @Opaque11 . We have a real lack of storage and there is definite clutter.

A toy box in every room is such a good idea as we have an 18 month and 3.5 year old and it's impossible to keep it all in one room.

I think once I'm done today I'll be looking at storage solutions!

However, I've just watched todays Eastenders on iPlayer and think I need an hour to pull myself together after that to be honest 😭

My method

Start with washing. Go through the house collecting all dirty clothes. Sort into piles to be washed and keep processing it through the day

Next is pots. Go through the house collecting dirty pots. Load the dishwasher then hand wash and put away the rest.

Things are already better!

Next is rubbish. Go through the house and empty all bins and gather anything that can go. Clean the bins and re line.

Then i take a basket and a pen and paper round the house with me room by room. Anything for a different room goes in the basket. Any jobs that are beyond today goes on the list. Tidy, dust, clean and move in. Empty from the basket anything that belongs in the next room........ and repeat!

Sounds stupid but put comfortable shoes on - I work so much better when I can move fast rather than slippers.

Then timers are your friend. I set a timer in each room and I'm not allowed to leave it until the timer goes off. I start at the top and work down - dust ceilings/walls/light fittings/surfaces etc and then at the very end, hoover and mop all floors.

I'm off to start now...

Get rid of as much stuff as possible, that’s the key. Plus surfaces, consider them. I will not have a coffee table because I know it will get stuff just left on it.
DH wanted one when we married 25 years ago, we have managed without.

Also when buying anything consider it carefully, to me every non essential ornament is a dust gatherer. I have some small antique perfume bottles and two photographs on my mantelpiece along with a piece of hand blown coloured glass and six blue and white jugs on my kitchen windowsill, candlesticks on the dining table. A few plants are round the house as well and that’s it.

I put the dishwasher and washing machine on.
I open all the windows and doors.
Start at the far end of the room and work my way to the door, putting things away. I spray the bathroom and let it soak whilst I dust everywhere.
I clean the bathroom.
Hoover everywhere.
Mop the floors.
Take the bins and the dog out whilst the floors are dry.
HTH

I've written a 'How to tidy a room' for my 13 yr old son. It goes like this:

Put everything away
Rubbish in bin
Clothes in wash basket
Pots in kitchen
Vacuum
Wipe/polish

Keep it simple, good luck!

Have your favourite playlist on. It really helps!

All piles of washing put away. Second load of dirty washing put on. Main problem bedroom relatively tidy and trying not to get sucked into organising!

Thanks @AliceMay55 I've just put a playlist on upstairs 🎵

No tips, but solidarity! This is my plan for today as well.
So far, I have a wash on the line and another just started. Hoping to take all towels and bedding to launderette tomorrow for service wash which always feels like one big job out of the way- for 3 beds and family worth of towels it usually comes to around £22, so not cheap, but well worth it!
Going to start with ironing and laundry mountains in our bedroom, then clean whole room and get winter clothes/bedding into loft.
DH been tasked with sorting through DC clothes to see what fits.
Really need to pull things out of cupboards, but not sure I can face it 😂
Have hairdresser booked at 5, so want to have done this and bathrooms by then....

I have this on the inside of a cupboard

Maybe this one is clearer sorry

I had a go at mine yesterday as we have visitors today.

I put washing on, did the dishwasher, tidied everywhere and then moved the robot vacuum from room to room while I cleaned 3 bathrooms.

I also cleaned the kitchen cupboard fronts and kitchen windows. There's loads more to do but that was more than enough for one day!

It looks clean enough for guests so anything else can wait until they're gone.

Let me know how you get on @Happyface120 ! And, you iron???? I feel like such a slob, I haven't ironed for years 😬

I've got distracted by getting clothes down from the loft for DS2 who is outgrowing his clothes and ready for DS1's next size up.

A distraction but it needed doing

Thanks @SideProfile

No chance of an hour today but one to use for keeping on top of it all

Douse the kitchen and bathroom and loos in cleaner and bleach first and then tackle everything else.
Come back to the bathroom and kitchen at the end once the cleaning products have done their stuff and you just have to sloosh and do a bit of wiping down.
Hate housework with a passion.

Try the sweepy app - you can set your own tasks by room or just the whole house (I have a list for clean and a list for tidy) with frequencies too. I like a tick list so find it quite rewarding!

@SideProfile I wish I could clean a whole room in 6 or 7 minutes! Including changing sheets, vacuuming, cleaning whole bathrooms etc.

Just doused bathroom. Kitchen needs tidying first!

In the interests of efficiency, could you possibly spring for some professional help? Eg is there a local cleaning company that will do a one-off deep clean? You could work alongside them.

Many hands make light work!!

Thanks to the posters who recommended thoroughly spraying the bathroom first. I've just gone back in and it's taken me much less time and only a bit of elbow grease to do the bathroom

So I'm nearly done upstairs. Last thing is hoover and mop bathroom. I'm going to move everything downstairs that needs to be there and leave all upstairs rooms as done.

Now onto the kitchen which requires a lot of work 😬

And I'm also filling an Amazon list with things I'll need to keep on top of tidying and storage

Such as storage for bathroom toys so they done just get left in the bottom of the bath

Any recommendations for gadgets and gizmos/storage wizzy things are very welcome!

Documenting for my own sense of triumph! 15 minutes before the kids descend and I'm done.

Managed to do quite a lot of clothes rotation and organising but certainly not the deep clean I'd hoped for. However, the house looks ship shape and I've made a list of what needs doing over the next week to get that little bit further. Just 30 mins a night and I reckon we can make some big inroads

I've also ordered some under bed storage which I think will help

How are you doing now OP?
Any more progress?