Housekeeping Mom Tips

[Anonymous]

I am an anti-clutter FREAK and my husband is...let's say...not one! One thing that has really helped is a standing rule that when you leave one room, you look around to see if you should bring anything with you. For example: if my husband would look before he left the family room, he would realize that the empty cereal bowl and beer bottle should be brought up. Or, the day old newspapers left in the kitchen would be brought down to the recycling bins. Or, the shoes left in the foyer (a huge pet peeve of mine!) would be placed by the stairs so we know to take them up when its time to go upstairs. It literally takes 2 secnds but it prevents things from piling up!

[Anonymous]

My husband and I do a "tag team" trash run. I know what time he leaves the house for work each day, so I empty the trash around the house and leave it for him by the door - and he takes it out. It helps get the trash (I can't believe two adults and a baby make so much trash) out of the house...and makes my feel a little neater.

[Anonymous]

I read on here to have your family make sure their clothes are right side out before putting them in the hamper. I asked my husband and kids to start doing this and it saves so much time when I fold the clean clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like routines, like the pp suggested leaving baby wipes on the kids sink so they wipe down each time they brush teeth. Any more tips like this? I need my housekeeping (and kids) on autopilot or it just doesn't happen.

What are your 'routines'?

DH and I set the kitchen timer for 10min each night and clean the house as quickly as we can for those 10min. My house is always very clean, it is amazing what this will accomplish if you do it each night. The houscleaners do a deep clean every 2 weeks. Once we implemented this, we NEVER had to spend weekends doing marathon cleanings.

This is the only way I can manage having a clean house and two FT working parents.

What do you mean by "clean" ? Pick up/straighten or actually 'clean'? Do you decide ahead of time what needs doing? i.e You take the upstairs bath, I'll get the kitchen floor. Do you wait for the kids to be asleep?

Often we do it after the baby goes to sleep (around 7ish), but before our older goes to bed (while he has his TV time).

Often it is a combo of cleaning and picking up. I can often run the vaccuum, wipe down the batrooms, wipe down the kitchen, I can even do a quick mop of the floors. Since we implemented this, there is never a huge mess. I also have the kids toys organized by "type" into bins. I keep the kids toys pretty sparce and do some rotation, so keeping a handle on their toys is pretty easy.

Seriously, try my method for a week. Do a deep clean first and then do the week of 10min sprints and you will be amazed at how organized you will feel. The 10min are quality, super fast and focused-no procrastinating.

DH and I often gravitate to our own "specialties". He likes doing the kitchen and straightening, while I often like the actual cleaning tasks. I might direct him to a certain area I know needs attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I bought my flatware, the sales person suggested not using citrus scented products in the dishwasher, as they can lead to rust on stainless steel items over time. Most dishwashers are metal inside now too - I wonder if using the lemon kool aid might cause a problem with that. Seems like a fairly acidic product.

I'm a crumby housekeeper, and I may be very different than the OP, but cleaning the inside of my cleaning machines (dish and clothes washers) seems very low on the priority list! I feel like those areas get cleaned each time they are run in the normal course of washing the dishes and the clothes. I've never heard of doing a separate cleaning routine for them. But, as I said, I'm not much of a housekeeper.

I like the tip to put a set of clean bedsheets into a pillowcase.

When I wash sheets, I try to do it early enough in the day so I can put the same sheets back on the bed. That means no folding.[/qu

Did I write this? Do people really clean the inside of dishwashers and washing machines? I kinda saw them as self cleaning ... ! And I also almost always have the same sheets to avoid folding. I just wash 'em and put 'em right back on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe more of an organizing tip than cleaning, but when I fold sheets I fold them and use one of the pillowcases as a bag. Never hunting down a set of sheets again.

Was it you I got this tip from? If so, thank you. I started doing this and it has made my life so much easier! Well - that one small part of my life.

[Anonymous]

Do any of you "Our house is so uncluttered and awesome" posters have 2 or 3 kids over the age of 5?

I find that once they have a mind of their own and tons of tiny parts and dioramas-in-progress from school, well, the uncluttered thing is over. I found my house much neater (not cleaner, but neater) when the babies were immobile and couldn't insist on setting up forts and trains in the dining room.

[Anonymous]

I bought a cordless stick vacuum. Between sand from my kids shoes (playground) and dog hair my house was always trashed and I hate lugging out the big vacuum. I find hitting the high traffic areas with a stick vaccuum each day (Ok, some days) makes a huge difference. Plus its so lightweight, my preschooler can use it (and will actually go get it after he plays with playdoh).

My son has to clean up his toys each night. If not, I pack them up in a box and put them in the basement (only had to do it once). Wish my husband and I were as good about this as him.

I've been teaching my son that if he makes a mess, he cleans it up. He actually does it without urging sometimes.

I've started keeping some sort of cleaning wipe (some green product) in the bathroom to clean up after my son brushes his teeth.

I clean in increments. I hate cleaning the whole house. So I break it up into pieces (dust upstairs, dust downstairs, vaccuum upstairs, vaccuum downstairs, clean bathroom). The most effective times are when I just make it a habit to do a certain peice on a certain day, but I've gotten out of the habit).

[Anonymous]

Sorry, PP here. My tip is to drop ice cubes into the garbage disposal every day. Also, pull out the black plastic "lip" splash guard from the disposal -- it's meant to come out -- and sent it through the dishwasher once a week.

It's amazing how many people don't know that that piece is meant to be taken out and scraped clean ...

[Anonymous]

I know someone mentioned putting foil on the bottom of their oven, well I use those oven liners. I know they say not for the bottom of the oven, but we have electric and they fit perfectly underneath the electric coils. If I set the oven on self cleaning I take the liner out first, but it's nice if there's a spill to take the liner out and trash it.

[Anonymous]

I spray cooking spray in my plastic containers before putting in any food that will stain (like pasta sauce).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe more of an organizing tip than cleaning, but when I fold sheets I fold them and use one of the pillowcases as a bag. Never hunting down a set of sheets again.

If I knew you, I would kiss you.

Seriously, that's genius.

[Anonymous]

any advice on how to keep all the socks together?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I bought my flatware, the sales person suggested not using citrus scented products in the dishwasher, as they can lead to rust on stainless steel items over time. Most dishwashers are metal inside now too - I wonder if using the lemon kool aid might cause a problem with that. Seems like a fairly acidic product.

I'm a crumby housekeeper, and I may be very different than the OP, but cleaning the inside of my cleaning machines (dish and clothes washers) seems very low on the priority list! I feel like those areas get cleaned each time they are run in the normal course of washing the dishes and the clothes. I've never heard of doing a separate cleaning routine for them. But, as I said, I'm not much of a housekeeper.

I like the tip to put a set of clean bedsheets into a pillowcase.

When I wash sheets, I try to do it early enough in the day so I can put the same sheets back on the bed. That means no folding.[/qu

Did I write this? Do people really clean the inside of dishwashers and washing machines? I kinda saw them as self cleaning ... ! And I also almost always have the same sheets to avoid folding. I just wash 'em and put 'em right back on.

I think the need to "clean" washing machines is a relatively new phenomenon that has developed as a result of "high efficiency" machines and the removal of phosphates from detergents. The detergent doesn't wash off as cleanly (notice that build up you're getting on your dishes, lately?). Saw an article the other day talking about all the complaints that dishwasher detergent manufacturers are getting these days. Front loading clothes machines (and I think even top loading machines now) are air tight and can mildew if you aren't careful (google "washing machine mildew" and you'll get thousands of hits). I use vinegar in softener dispenser about every other wash, as it rinses the scum away, and I always leave the door of the clothes washer cracked so it won't mildew. When you open the washer, you get a faint hit of vinegar smell, but it goes completely away in the dryer. I also bleach my whites, which also serves to clean the washer.

[Anonymous]

Two tips--
1. I keep a bucket around for soaking things in vinegar during the week. Anything that is pooped on/peed on/spit up on to the point of being rancid gets rinsed and then put in the bucket. Makes it so no stain sticks (seriously I have never thrown out a poopy onesie because of stains) and I only have to do laundry once a week.
2. I clean two rooms on my house a day using a stick vac. It takes ten minutes and my house is ridiculously clean.