Saturday, March 13, 2010

Saturday morning house cleaning in 90 minutes


Morning!
The picture above is a Banksy public wall art... it's great, and although I can identify with wanting to sweep everything under the rug (or wall in this case) on a Saturday morning when I need to get on with other stuff, this morning I am not allowing myself to do just that.

Today I am planning on finally painting the front door (I'll do a separate post on that for you all), but I'm not letting myself do anything until the house has been tidied and cleaned today. This week has been particularly busy, and I've not kept up with my regular weekly cleaning routine, so I really need to go through the whole house. I've made a list, I have my timer (or my running watch with it's timer) and I'm set to tick everything off my list as I go along. Best of all... the house should be lovely and tidy, and mostly clean after just 90 minutes.

I set my timer for 10 minutes per room - it's amazing how much you can get done in 10 minutes, I mostly focus on tidying and dusting during that time, but if there is time left I grab a cloth and do some proper cleaning too. In our bedroom 10 minutes is enough time to make the bed, tidy clothes away, dust the blinds and lamps etc. If within the 5 minutes vacuum time, I vacuumed all the floor space and there is time left, I turn on the nozzle and aim for the cobwebs in the corners. Cleaning with a timer really is the best way for me to clean because I work better under pressure, and I know that by 10:30 this morning I can get on with my day without having to worry about the state of the house. This 90 minute cleaning plan is not by any means a proper spring clean, but it's certainly good enough to get most things done that need doing. Here's my plan, I'll let you know how I get on with it:

  • 10 minute bedroom tidy, 5 minute bedroom vacuum
  • 10 minute spare bedroom tidy, 5 minute vacuum
  • 10 minute study tidy, 5 minute vacuum
  • 10 minute bathroom clean
  • 5 minute cup of tea break
  • 10 minute kitchen tidy, 5 minutes to mop the floor
  • 5 minute hallway tidy
  • 10 minute lounge tidy, 10 minute sweep and mop downstairs
And there you go - how to tidy your house in 90 minutes (yes, I've excluded the 5 minute cup of tea break - that's not cleaning!). I do of course realise that if you have a bigger house with more rooms this will all take longer. But if you are pressed for time, grab your timer and do a 60 minute general house tidy. Do you do some Saturday morning cleaning?

Oh, and Ivy, thanks for your question on the laundry post, I'm working a post all about how to avoid yellowing laundry with bleach... still doing my research on that one.

Have a great weekend!!!!
x

A note on perfection

Many of the posts featured on this blog are about doing household chores the correct, or so to say perfect way. My intention is not to make readers feel that the way they are running their households are wrong. So if making the bed, or ironing shirts in a certain way doesn't fit your lifestyle, do not feel guilty about it. But by learning the correct way of doing things it might just come in handy for those times when special guests are staying, or when you need to iron that shirt perfectly for a job interview. So enjoy the learning, but skip the guilt and LOVE your homes. x

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