Tips for general and deep house cleaning when you lack experience

[Bookofspells]

Can anyone give me any tips on general /deep house cleaning I grew up in a really dirty neglected house so have brought no skills to my own house and it seems to never seem clean once you look past the surface. Thank you.

Get rid of things you don’t use/need. It’s amazing how much easier it is to keep your home clean when you have less things. I didn’t a huge clear out recently and gave 20 charity bags away and sold things on Vinted. The space I managed to acquire has had a huge improvement on helping things have homes around my house.

I’ve found once things have homes I can concentrate on actually cleaning rather than tidying.

Join The Organised Method community fb group. They'll answer any questions.

I also use the TOM Rocks guided cleans (a subscription service though) as they keep me focused on what I'm doing and break past the overwhelmed brain freeze when there's too much that could be done.

Useful items: vacuum (with crevice tools), duster, cloths, washing up liquid, window spray. They'll get you through 90% of jobs outside the kitchen/ bathroom and tbh, they don't need much more (toilet cleaner, limescale remover)

Start at the top of a room and work down. ie dust the lights, the tops of bookcases, top of the door, then pictures/mirrors, then surfaces, then skirting boards, then hoover last.

If the dust is thick, use a damp cloth and rinse it often

Don't worry about a million different cleaning products. Washing up liquid is safe to use everywhere and good at cleaning things. Window spray on a microfiber cloth for windows, mirrors, glass

Wipe down things you touch often, cupboard doors in the kitchen, door handles, lightswitches, plugs, doors.

Wash blankets, cushion covers, removable sofa covers, curtains

Clean marks of painted walls and woodwork with a magic sponge. Touch up paint as needed

Treat any mould and repaint if needed. HG mould remover spray is excellent for walls. Mould magic gel is excellent for grout, silicone sealant in the bathroom and around window frames.

I was also going to say - the organised method really works if you don't want to spend your weekends cleaning. You need to do the bootcamp first, and then just follow the steps she sets out. You don't have to pay for the app (though it does do all the thinking for you) - you can just read the blog posts here: https://theorganisedmethod.com/blog/