Collaborative Post
Being faced with a messy house can be incredibly overwhelming. In fact, it makes it impossible to know where to start. If everything is messy, what should you do that’ll make a dent?
It’s a relatable situation that we’ve probably all been in. To help you out, here’s a comprehensive list of where to start when cleaning a messy house.
Where Do I Start Cleaning a Messy House?
1. Make a List
All big jobs should start with a list. Write down the rooms that need doing and the jobs for each. For example, your bedroom might involve changing the bed, dealing with laundry, hoovering, etc.
Breaking the overall task down into rooms, and then into individual jobs, can help make it all more manageable.
2. Start with the Biggest Impact Jobs
Once you’ve got your list, start with the jobs that’ll have the biggest impact on your house. For many, this’ll be laundry. Pick up and sort dirty washing and then start washing it. If your bedroom is littered with dirty clothes, removing them will make a big difference.
This step should help you figure out your priorities. For example, we see hoovering as a big job but, comparatively, it doesn’t have much impact on your home’s overall appearance. Decluttering and tidying jobs, however, do.
3. Clean the Busiest Rooms First
After doing the most impactful jobs, move on to cleaning specific rooms. The busiest rooms are often the messiest, so they’re a good place to start. For most people, this’ll be the kitchen and living room.
Refer back to your list to figure out what needs doing and get started. Focus on one job at a time to help your sense of achievement. In the living room, for example, you might want to do the following:
- Tidy away toys, games, etc.
- Straighten cushions and wash any blankets or throws
- Dust
- Hoover
- Mop
Write up a similar list for each room and work through them.
4. Work from Top to Bottom
Generally, when cleaning a room, it’s best to work from top to bottom. For example, dusting before hoovering to avoid getting areas you’ve cleaned messy again.
For wiping down surfaces and tackling everyday spills, it’s worth keeping some blue roll handy — it’s super absorbent, disposable, and ideal for everything from kitchen counters to bathroom surfaces.
There are some exceptions, of course. You’ll want to make your bed or straighten the sofa before dusting, as these jobs will likely kick a lot of dust into the air. Essentially, you’ll want to ensure you hoover the room last to make sure it’s clean.
5. Hoover and Mop All in One Go
It’s best to hoover and mop your home all in one go to avoid tracking dirt through the house. If you’re focusing on one room at a time and breaking up your cleaning, it’s fine to hoover as you go along. But save your mopping so you only need to use one bucket of water. It just means you might need to quickly hoover each room again. If you haven’t thought about it yet, now could be a good time to think about replacing your floor, especially if it never looks clean after it’s been mopped. Timber flooring is a great investment, especially if you want something that’s easy to mop and looks great for years to come.
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
Keeping Your Home Clean
Now you’ve tackled the mess, let’s look at how you can stop it from happening again. Staying on top of cleaning jobs stops them from snowballing, which is how they can become overwhelming.
1. Do a Job Every Day
Aim to do at least one cleaning job every day. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but breaking things down into smaller cleaning bursts helps keep it more manageable.
2. Assign Tasks
If there are other people in your home who can clean, get them involved. One of the most important things is to ensure everyone cleans up after themselves, provided they’re able to.
3. Make Routines
Routines are vital for keeping on top of cleaning. Have one for the morning and one for the evening for daily jobs, such as:
- Loading and unloading the dishwasher
- Starting and finishing laundry
- Making beds
- Tidying up dirty clothes
It can help to set up a board or chart with daily tasks to ensure they’re done at the right times and by the right people.
4. Don’t Feel Bad
Perhaps the most important thing is to not feel guilty if things start to look a bit messy. It happens to us all and is a sign that our homes are lived in. If things start to get out of control because you’ve had a busy week, take a step back, regroup, and tackle things at the weekend when you’ve got some free time.
Final Thoughts
Cleaning a messy house takes a bit of work, but breaking it down into manageable jobs will make things far easier. Hopefully, this list will help you realise that it’s all achievable. If you feel like you can’t handle the workload, then consider getting yourself house cleaners to help you around the house. You can visit their website here.