Cleaning hacks

One of my goals this school year...

Ha!  I say that as if I have more than one.  Goal that is.  It just sounds better than "my goal this school year".  Because honestly, who has this as their one and only goal in life?  Huh?  This girl, that's who.  Pathetic.  But at least I have a goal.  Anyway...

One of my goals this school year is to take back the house from entropy.  It's not that my house is excessively dirty or anything, but a certain...shall we say...deficiency...in my house cleaning technique (Ha! again.  As if I have a house cleaning technique...) has come to light.  At 11 years, this is the longest Hubby and I have lived in one location.  We lived in our previous homes for less than two years, four years, and six years.  And it turns out that dust and dirt and gunk and such don't really have a chance to build up all that much in less than two years, four years (without kids), and even in six years (with itty bitty kids), even if one has deficiencies in one's house cleaning technique.  But eleven?  Yup.  It's catching up with me.  So I'm taking it back, this year.

I started with a four week rotating schedule.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who needs a schedule to tell her what to clean when.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Please?  No?  Alllllrightythen, back to the post.

Kitchen, dusting, and vacuuming, along with laundry, are addressed on Mondays.  Wednesdays the bathrooms and laundry room get attention, along with the hard floors.  Friday is reserved for paper, calendar, and money.  It's a rotating schedule because different aspects are emphasized each week (and yes, I know this schedule does not cover everything, but it's a good start).

Know what I've found out?  Yes!  Cleaning is never ending.

And, it gets easier to clean the more often I do it.

Who knew?

Well, I guess I kind of knew, in theory, but apparently I didn't actually believe it, because I fought myself, hard, over this schedule thing (still do, some most days).  But here's the thing.  When you clean the seams of your glass-doored shower for the first time ever in eleven years, they're gonna be pretty gross.  And it's gonna take a bit of time and effort (and a toothbrush) to get them clean.  In fact, you might not even be able to get them clean all in one session.  But, listen.  There is no way they're gonna get that dirty and gross again in four weeks.  So when that job comes up again, you can do it faster and better than the last time.

Image source

Know what else I've found out?  Cleaning hacks, you know, the ones all over the internet?  Those things work.  Like, actually work.  I have been having so much fun with cleaning hacks, that I'm going to start sharing them with y'all.  Because I want you to have fun, too.  It's all about serving the public, friends.

So look for cleaning hack posts starting next week, and, in the meantime, I will try to remember to take before photos...

Happy cleaning, y'all!