I could not wait to become an adult. My reasoning? I can do whatever I want. To be honest, I really like that part of being an adult. But, with great freedom comes great responsibility. Let’s face it. Adulting has some downsides. Cleaning, chores and paying bills are some not so fun parts. Add in commuting, taking care of the kids, and cooking and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. If you don’t have time for deep cleaning, don’t worry! I have some easy speed cleaning tips to make your life easier. Your house will look clean without a lot of extra stress. Remember the saying Fake it ‘Til You Make It? It’s like that, but with cleaning.
Easy Speed Cleaning Tips
1. Keep a Large Basket to Store Out of Place Items. If your family room is like mine, by the end of the day it’s filled with items that shouldn’t be there. Keep a basket nearby to contain the clutter. At the end of the day, gather up everything that is out of place, add it to the basket and return it to its proper spot. Even better, challenge the kids to have a race to see who can pick up the most items and add them to the basket. *This strategy does work better on younger kids.
2. Keep All Cleaning Supplies in One Place.You’re ready to clean and discover the cleaner you need is in another room. While you’re in that room, you discover something you need to do. By the time you get back to where you started, you find you need a different type of cleaner or paper towels for another chore. It’s a vicious cycle. Instead, save time by placing all the cleaners and small supplies you need in one tote basket. It’s easy to move through the house and you won’t be distracted by other things–maybe.
3. Make a Checklist of Items To Clean Each Day.By doing a few chores every day, you’ll save time in the long run with less deep cleaning. Plus, it makes the house look clean, always a bonus in case the in-laws drop by unexpectedly. Some easy suggestions? Make the bed, wipe down the bathroom and kitchen counters, and place the dishes in the dishwasher.
4. Spot Clean Spills When they Happen.Spills happen. Especially at my house, where I believe the cats and the baby compete to see who can spill the most. Keep paper towels (or cleaning clothes) and all-purpose cleaner handy and wipe up the spills as soon as possible. It’s much easier to remove stains when they’re still wet. And those sticky spills? It’s no fun to clean when they’ve dried and you find yourself sticking to the floor or scrapping off a coat of crud. A fresh spill that takes 30 seconds to clean can easily take 5 minutes when it’s dried. And wouldn’t you rather spend that extra 4 minutes and 30 seconds doing something fun?
5. Invest in a Wax Warmer. Seriously, what is it about great smelling houses that allow people to overlook the clutter? I invested in a wax warmer and a few scented wax melts in comforting flavors, like sugar cookie or vanilla cream. When I know someone is coming to visit (or if someone drops by unexpectedly), I turn on my wax warmer. It covers any smell I might have missed, like stinky shoes someone has left out or cat litter. The first thing people say when they walk in the house is, “Wow! Something smells good!” Although, now that I think about it, this could be disappointing if they think I’ve made special treats for their visit. No matter. The house still smells good.
6.Use the Proper Cleaning Tools. I have a few tools I swear by. My favorite is my collection of Swiffer products. I even have a Swiffer with my name on it. Yes, seriously! I use my Swiffer Sweeper every day to keep my floor clean. My Swiffer WetJet is great for my weekly deep clean and for spot cleaning all those spills I talked about earlier. I also have a supply of dusters. Pro tip: Just because there is some dust on the duster, you don’t have to discard it until it is completely cover. And, you can keep one in the car for quick clean ups too.
7. Put on Some Music.Cleaning is much more fun if you have a “Cleaning Playlist.” You can even add some dance moves when you’re Swiffering. (Or at least I do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve surprised the UPS person when he peeks in the glass door with my song and dance routine. They’ve been variously amused or astounded, depending on who drops off a package. So, not only did I make cleaning more fun, I’ve also either amused or horrified someone else. 😉
Did you Swiffer is now an adult? Swiffer swept the nation by storm in 1999 and this year the brand is celebrating its 18th birthday. Now that Swiffer is an adult, it is on a mission to show consumers that while #adulting is hard, Swiffer makes it easy! On Thursday, March 16, Swiffer teamed up with “Dancing with the Stars” favorite, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and #adulting expert, Kelly Williams Brown to celebrate Swiffer’s 18th birthday with a special appearance by Hannah Simone from “New Girl”! The birthday bash taught guests how Swiffer, now an “adult” itself, can help you nail those key #adulting moments – like dancing your way to a quick, clean home!
Want to celebrate Swiffer’s 18th birthday? You can win a Big Green Box just like you see in the commercials! Just enter below.
You might like these posts:
How to Keep Your House Clean with a Pet
10 Speed Cleaning Hacks
5 Tips to Keep Your House Clean with Toddlers
I make sure the guest bathroom is clean and the house smells fresh.
I focus on picking up first with a laundry basket
Focus only on the areas that someone will see and don’t stress about the rest
My biggest tip is to have everyone pick up after themselves.
These are great tips. I try to keep everything picked up and wiped down daily.
My best cleaning tip is to use all natural products to clean your home.
My best speed cleaning tip is take off your shoes before walking around your house.
The Swiffer is a life saver for us! We use it all the time – the duster is awesome.
I try to make sure to do something everyday . It goes a lot faster when you dont fall behind.
My best cleaning tip is to do something every day. It takes longer when you let it go.
So many great tips! I have always loved my Swiffer. I like to use it after meals just to keep the floors clean until I actually drag out the mop. I love the Swiffer because I have pets as well, my 80 pound dog loves running in and out and of course his paws get the floor dirty!
My tip is to clean 1 room at a time, the Swiffer dry/ wet mop helps clean fast!
I love the Swiffer as I can run it over my kitchen floor even while guests are getting out of their car. It is so fast and easy.
We are avid users of Swiffer dusters here! I think I have one in every room…
My tip is to stay in 1 room at a time instead of running room to room to put things where they go. Instead make a pile and put it away AFTER you are done cleaning that room so you don’t end up distracted from the job in another room.
I do housework daily and Swiffer is one of my favorite products to use when I’m dusting. Great tips.
I couldn’t agree more on using music to make cleaning go by faster! I always have my playlist at full blast while cleaning.
My tip is to do only one thing at a time. That makes it go a lot faster for me than if I’m trying to do two or three cleaning chores all at once. I’d LOVE to win this, but I’m not sure if I’d give it to my oldest or not (I probably would even though I’d love the prize). It’s a standing joke in our family how much he loves Swiffer. 🙂
The Swifter is great when it comes to cleaning! I love having checklists too! There’s just something that feels so good about checking off a list – ha ha!
My husband does the cleaning in our household. I know he also likes to listen to music while he cleans; he swears that it is very helpful.
My tip is to clean while listening to music to make it fun.
I love easy and speed cleaning!! Will use your tips in here!
My tip is to tidy up as the week goes by so that by the weekend it’s not too bad when you have time to really clean.
We love the Swiffer product, they make our life easier. They are awesome for dusting and the sweepers are amazing for cleaning up the pet hair from the floor.
What a brilliant tips! This is really helpful, I know someone who really need this
Awesome tips! I have a swiffer and use it all of the time, it is quick to pull out and clean up around the house. Or when a mess happens.
My best tip is to stock up on only the best cleaning supplies before starting.
I try my best to keep my house tidy. I dust and sweep everyday. The carpets are my weekend chore. The swiffer mop looks like something I am going to get this weekend. Anything to make my household chores easier is a winner for me.
I use Swiffer dusters at home and in my office, speedy and efficient!
These are great ideas. Cleaning is not an easy job. We love using swiffer to clean our hardwood floors!
Thankfully I have a cleaning service come every three weeks so I don’t do much heavy duty cleaning. However, with two messy little boys I am definitely using our Swiffer often!
Happy birthday, Swiffer! So random but my friend’s mom is responsible for making the blinged out Swiffers. I wondered what she was making those for!
I have sealed hardwood floors and the swiffer products would be great to help with my cleaning!
Great tips! I am forever loving my swiffer. I use it multiple times a day. We love swiffer products and always make sure to have them on hand!
Clean as you go.
This is adorable and cute! I do think that Swiffer products has made it easier for me to get motivated to clean, they have a fantastic line of cleaning products perfect for Spring Cleaning season!
I like these tips! I do want to make my cleaning days quicker and easier. Maybe I should get some better cleaning tools!
Swiffer products definitely make cleaning easier! Their dusters are my favorite and a total lifesaver.
I love Swiffer. I have had one for as long as I can remember. I really love the dusters too. They make cleaning so much easier!
OH I love that big green box and I really like their dusters too. So useful.
My best speed cleaning tip is to clean as you go! Pick up after yourself throughout the day and you’ll find the deep-cleaning messes easier to tame!
I think that is a good tip too. I pretty much pick up stuff around the house and put them in their place, but then I’d hear someone ask me where their stuff is. I think they find their things easier if their rooms are cluttered. 🙂
I was just saying that my house needed a good cleaning! It will be scrubbing it from top to bottom in the next few days. I will definitely be using a Swifter.
My tip is to take just one room a day, and (using Swiffer, of course), clean it thoroughly. Assign one day a week to one room (Sunday – bathroom, etc), and stick to it. It works best for me!
My best sped cleaning tip… Get the whole family involved! It gets finished much quicker so you still have time to play, cuddle, and spend quality time together.
well i try to use my swiffer everyday, my house is so dusty
Lol, that is a funny way at looking at cleaning! Swiffer seems to have been around forever though because its always been a staple in the house.
This are the best! Speed cleaning is the best cleaning, especially if you HATE cleaning (like I do).
I love using Swiffer. They are great for ceiling fans.
These are awesome tips. I’m not a fan of any sort of cleaning, but at least speed cleaning is well… speedy.
Great tips! I love this contest, I’m a Swiffer lady for life. I have been since they first came out!
Thanks for the great tips. I love how my home looks after spring cleaning, but I hate how much time it takes to do it.
I have used swiffer for both dusting and for the floors. Found them easy to use and they really do work. Wish I had come up with the idea. Started out with the dusting and love the long bendable handles for ceiling fans and hard to reach places.
A basket to sort out of place stuff is a great idea. All of mine ends up on the island in my kitchen.
My best speed cleaning tip is to grab my swifter mop when everyone is done with dinner and sweep the kitchen and hallway as fast as I can. I do this each day.
I use my Swiffer every day, too! I like keeping up with it daily.