You would think being a stay at home mom my house would be immaculate every second of every day.
Maybe in fantasy land! I struggle every single day to keep my house looking clean. It’s a pain in my ever-growing bedonk. I’ve tried doing certain chores on specific days, but that completely failed. I tried doing upstairs one day and down the other. But I get too tired and usually end up only doing one. Lately things have gotten a bit better, and sometimes I do break down and hire a cleaning lady (I’m a sell out! But so worth it).
I have become quite obsessed with finding easier ways to keep up with the house maintenance on a more day-to-day basis and to get my house smelling that “clean” smell all the time. Even using household items that have less harmful ingredients than some of those cleaners that they sell at the store goes a long way. So I have found a few short cuts to keep our home looking so fresh and so clean-clean and smelling that way too! Of course I had to share with all you fabulous people too….
Floors
This is my achilles heel. My floors are always dirty – even after I mop, my daughter will spill juice, spaghetti sauce or crumbs somewhere. I keep a broom at arms reach to sweep up every night after dinner. After, I have a Swifer if there is any sticky juice or sauce stains around. Going to sleep with a clean house makes the world a better place. At least twice a week, clean your floors (I have tiles, so I clean them as much as I can!) with bleach diluted in warm water or 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide with one gallon of hot water and your floors will look sparkly clean.
Swifer + Sock = my favorite broom
My other floor trick involves my Swifer again. The upstairs bathrooms tend to get a little dusty/hairy. After a couple days it looks like Cousin It shaved his head in there. My shedding problem has always been an issue since as far back as I can remember, I don’t have a problem with it but my husband still does. You’d think after 3 years of living together he’d be used to it too but no! I take an old sock – preferably those soft, cozy ones (my sister buys us all a pair every xmas so I have a million), put it over the end of the Swifer and you got yourself a duster broom. It picks up all the hair in no time. Then you just take it off and wash it for the next time. Simple and easy.
Stinky Sink
works like magic
My sink – well, disposal – was giving off this nasty odor. It was so bad my entire first floor had a stench of garbage. I had no idea where it was coming from. I would take my garbage out every night, clean my garbage bin daily and then I realized it was the disposal! So I inquired to a couple of the cleanest people I knew, my aunt and my mom. Both told me to use baking soda. Then my aunt said to also add a splash of hydrogen peroxide to the baking soda in the disposal, turn the water on and let that bad boy go for a few minutes. It deodorized the sink with in minutes and my house went back to smelling yummy.
Bar Keeper’s Friend: the secret to shiny steel
To make your sink shine like Orion’s Belt, I like to use Bar Keeper’s Friend. You can buy it at Walmart or any other store that carries cleaning supplies. It works wonders! Keeps your stainless steel sink so nice. Also, it works wonders on the bottom of your pots!
Never Ending Laundry
I tend to push this off till the last minute possible and that shit piles up and up! I have been getting in the habit to do at least one load every day or every two days. It keeps the nasty stench of dirty clothes at bay and plus you’re not spending hours folding! You should always clean your washer and dryer every month. It’s super easy to get your washer smelling fresh and keeping it from funkifying your clothes, check it out here!
Sparkly Toilets
homemade bleach spray
Nothing more than I hate then nasty ring around the toilet! I am slightly obsessed with a bleach-scented house, so I use it as much as I can to clean certain things, especially the toilets. I took an old spray bottle and poured about 1/2 cup bleach and filled the rest of the bottle with water. I keep one upstairs and one down and spray the toilets at least 2 times a week. It keeps the bowl smelling great and cuts down your scrubbing time! Be sure to label your bottles though – you can confuse your husband easily 
Doing these things a couple times a week will keep your home feeling and looking clean and only takes 15 minutes at most. So you get things done in half the time AND your house is smelling great!
Do you have any tips/short cuts when it comes to cleaning? We’d love to here!
– Amanda
