How to Keep Your House Spotless

How to Keep Your House Spotless

Follow these commandments for good house cleaning and learn how to keep your house spotless. 

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Don’t Wait

Don’t wait to keep your house spotless. Spills and stains are easier to clean up when you attack them right away. The longer you wait, the more chance the stain has to set. The rare exception to this rule: Mud tracked onto your carpet is easiest to clean when you’ve let it dry first. Wait until it’s bone dry and crumbly; then just vacuum it up.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Top to Bottom

Here’s another way to keep your house spotless. Don’t fight the power of gravity when you clean. You’ll lose. When you’re cleaning the entire house, start on the top floor and work your way down to avoid tracking through rooms you have already cleaned.

When you’re cleaning a room, first remove the cobwebs from the ceiling and upper molding. Then dust the ceiling fan and light fixtures, followed by window frames and wall hangings. Finally, conquer the furniture, baseboards, and floors. This ensures that any dust shaken loose from on high does not settle on something you’ve already cleaned below.

When you clean windows and mirrors, start up high and work your way down. Since your cleaner obeys gravity, this saves you elbow grease and time.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Dry to Wet

Another way to keep your house spotless is to start with the dry cleaning first. When you’re cleaning a room, start with the cleaning jobs that require dry methods like dusting or sweeping. Then move on to wet methods like using an all-purpose cleaner and mopping. This way, there will be less dirt floating around in the room to cling to wet surfaces.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Stretch Out a Gentle Hand

One way to keep your house spotless and make it easy is to start with the gentle cleaning first. Use your gentlest cleaning methods first and move up to more aggressive techniques only if necessary. Make sure that you know your materials well enough to stop your cleaning efforts before you do damage.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Time

Another way to keep your house spotless: A little time management trick will make your cleaning easier and faster. When you plot out your approach to a cleaning task, remember to spray on your cleaning chemicals first, and then find another job to do while the cleaner does its dirty work. For example, if you’re cleaning in the kitchen, spray your cleaner on the counters and appliances, then occupy yourself with removing old food from the refrigerator while the cleaner soaks in. When you come back to wipe clean, there will be little or no scrubbing to do.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Accessories

Keep your house spotless by carrying your core cleaning products with you. This will save you from making multiple trips around the house looking for the right tools and cleaners.

Pick up these accessories at a home improvement store:

• A plastic carrier with a handle, and compartments for holding your gear
• A sturdy, large plastic bucket with a good handle
• A rolling supply cart
• An apron with roomy pockets

Put all of your cleaning supplies into the receptacle you’ve chosen, including clean rags, paper towels, and a trash bag for emptying wastebaskets, and cart it with you from room to room. If your house has more than one floor, keep a fully stocked caddy on each level.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Delicate

Keep the house spotless: Before you use a new cleaning technique or product, test the method on an inconspicuous area of the object you’re cleaning. This rule also applies when you first clean an object that’s delicate and might be damaged by a cleaning compound. Testing will show you whether the object is colorfast and whether the cleaning method is likely to do damage.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Delicate Items

Keep your house spotless: When you clean items like electronics or paintings, which can be harmed by liquid cleaning products, spray the cleaner on your cleaning cloth before you wipe. Don’t spray cleaner directly on the object you’re cleaning. Cleaner dripping into your electronics could damage them, and cleaner dripping into a frame and soaking the matting could harm your artwork.  

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Directions

To keep the house spotless, follow the manufacturer’s directions when cleaning anything. This goes for everything from toasters to silk blouses. File the directions and cleaning tips that come with any new appliance, rug, or other household item. Don’t remove care labels from clothes, linens, and other potentially washable objects.

How to Keep Your House Spotless: Care for You

Keep your house spotless, but remember to take care of yourself. Many cleaning products contain acid, bleach, and other ingredients that can damage your eyes, skin, nose, and lungs. So make sure your cleaning kit includes a pair of rubber gloves and protective safety glasses. If it’s not too steamy, wear old long pants or sweats, and an old long-sleeved shirt to in case of spatters from cleaning products. Cover your hair with a kerchief or baseball cap.  To protect your nails, dab a line of petroleum jelly underneath your nails to keep out dirt. Dot more on your cuticles to keep them from drying out, roughening, and splitting from exposure to cleaning chemicals.  Don’t let your cleaning products get mixed together. Combinations like chlorine bleach and ammonia will produce poisonous gases.  When you’re using cleaning chemicals, make sure the room you’re in is properly ventilated.

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