Cleaning tips to make things easier for the "future" you

[Flutterby63]

Any cleaning tips for making life easier in the long run e.g. I wipe down the freezer with bicarb of soda after defrosting because the next time I need to defrost, it helps the ice break off in sheets and is easier to clean.

Similar tips welcome, especially those that make it easier to clean the oven!

I thought this was a great idea for a thread and had market it to come back to and have a think of my own ideas.

Tumbleweed.

Sorry OP. I'm still thinking.

Fewer ornaments on flat surfaces so you can quickly clean them without a palaver.

All I can think of is putting the bedding into the matching pillowcase. Also trying to think of a way to put appropriate amounts of coal into a paper bag to transport to the living room!

Line the top of your kitchen cabinets with paper- I often used the rolls of paper that Father Christmas had wrapped the stockings with as they couldn’t be used for other presents!

Line the top of your kitchen cabinets with paper

Happy to do this but need to know why!

Wipe down the surfaces of your shower with the lathery leftovers in your shower puff when you've finished using it, then rinse off and dry. (This works best with cheap high detergent shower gels, not oil enriched shower creams.) Saves a lot of bathroom cleaner and Viakal.

After you've cleaned your shower screen and it's dry, wipe it down with some pledge (other household polish available). Easier to clean next time and creates a barrier to stop water and soap scum.

Line the top of your kitchen cabinets with paper

Happy to do this but need to know why!

Because cupboard tops get filthy and greasy and are horrible to clean, but paper can just be picked up and thrown away.

Well every day is a school day! Although I've realised why I don't worry about the grease at the top of my kitchen cupboards... They go right to the ceiling!

Never go to bed leaving anything in the sink

Never go to bed without knowing where your keys, purse and kids school shoes are

Lay out kids uniforms the night before so you know if you need to wash that one pair of trousers for the morning

Peg out matching socks together by the toe so you just have to grab them both and roll them up when dry

Get uniforms both adult and child ones ready the night before.
Get bags packed and ready. Find keys ( or hang them up where you know where they are) handbag sorted.
Just don’t make a mess.
Put stuff away immediately you finish using it.

Stand the pepper grinder in a ramekin.

Do it now not later.

Hang dresses and shirts when wet - so much easier to iron.

Get a cleaner

For the oven you can buy a liner for the base. Another thing is to quickly wipe it out after you use it, once cool, as that stops dirt building up.

Two sayings to live by-

1. A place for everything and everything in its place

1. Touch it once.

I always clean the kitchen down after evening meal, takes minutes, couldn't bear to come down to a messy kitchen the next day.

Teach your children that wiping down the shower with a squeegee is a fun game and whoever is best behaved/quickest during their shower wins and gets to do this at the end.

After cleaning chrome cooker hood polish with baby oil.

Pop a roll of bin liners in the bottom of your bins saves looking for them when you need to change them and there is always one there so no excuse for DH to leave bins bare

Line the fridge drawers and door shelves with grease proof paper.

Put opened out newspaper under the chopping board. Veg peelings get rolled up like fish-n-chips and just lobbed into the compost.

No composting possibilities for me, and so:
Have a plate next to the chopping board before starting to prepare food. All peelings go straight onto the plate, from which they are easily carried to and pushed into the bin.

All bottles which are prone to dripping, such as oil or soy sauce, are kept in the cupboard inside a shallow Tupperware container. The container is lined with a couple of pieces of kitchen towel, so any drips go into the kitchen towel, which is easily replaced.

Oven: wipe the inside with paper towel (dampened if need be) after cooking anything which will cause spattering when the oven has cooled down enough to touch BUT IS STILL WARM FROM USE. The muck hasen't had a chance to dry out and really set on, and it is far easier to clean.

Great idea for a thread!
I put a load of washing in most evenings on delayed start, timed to be ready to unload when we get up so it can go straight into tumble dryer first thing. It makes me feel like I have a head start on the day