Tips for efficient cleaning

[ClaireMarathonFeeder]

Hello everyone

after having cleaners for many years I have decided I have had enough of having other people clean badly my house.

I realise it is probably a very bad idea as I have 7 month old twins plus 8&11 year old girls, but I want to give it a go...

I thought the older girls could do their room (vacuum and dust) and their bathroom on a weekly basis, we have two more bedrooms and two more bathrooms, separate kitchen and open plan dining-living room, plus a large liveable cellar that is used as playroom/storeroom/guestroom.

Can you very clever and organised ladies help me organise a fast and efficient schedule for keeping it clean?

Many many thanks in advance!

I have a chalk board with a list of tasks on it for every night. It keeps it liveable which as a ft working lp is the best I can hope for!

Do the bathrooms and kitchen daily, so it never gets that bad.

I know you have two bathrooms, but I only have one and I clean it every evening when I'm in there anyway getting ready for bed, or after DS has cleaned his teeth for bed, or at any other time I am in there and can quickly whip on the marigolds, get out the cleaning stuff form the cupboard under the sink, and give everything a wipe down.

This way I always have a clean bathroom, nothing builds up that needs a lot fo scrubbing.

I pay DS to clean all the windows too (he is 9). I tought him how to do them properly and now they get done weekly without me even having to think about it (I pay DS to do it, so he does it religiously).

Lean methods are what we use. If something needs doing we do it straight awy.

Keep it really tidy, then the cleaning takes almost no time.

Also, do things logically. For example, if I hoover the bedrooms then I always go over the stairs and hall quickly, even just with the handheld, otherwise bits get trekked upstairs into where I have just cleaned.

Having said that, I do have a cleaner, but she is good and cleans at least as thoroughly as I do.

Yes I work full time too, as does DP. I find if I just do things when I see they need doing, rahter than setting aside 'cleaning time' it gets done without being a hassle.

Also, make sure everything you own has a place, and your kids all know where everything belongs.

If everything has a place it is easy to put it away. If your house is tidy because everything has a place then cleaning isn't so daunting. It's not hard to get the hoover out if the floor is clear of any mess that needs putting away. Dusting is also easy if the surfaces are not cluttered with stuff.

This is why all my kitchen surfaces are clean of anything (apart form kettle and toaster and big pot of utensils), and so are my bathroom surfaces (no shampoo bottles on the side of the bath or windowsill or anything horrible like that). It's very easy to wipe a cleaning cloth over a clear surface.

Like the suggestions so far.. Keep them coming will check again after bedtime!!!

Keep your house clutter free. Don't hoard things . . When assessing if you really need to keep something think of a BUS. . If its not:

B - beautiful
U- useful
S- seriously sentimental

. . Then chuck it!