Cleaning can be a chore or it can be cathartic, but either way, it has to be done. When there is a family living in that home you can feel like you are up against the impossible, but it doesn’t have to be like that, at least not every day.
Mother and daughters cleaning the house together, smiling.
We’ve researched what works and what doesn’t for family homes big and small, and have taken a closer look at where households fall down in the cleaning responsibilities we hold. Now let’s stop beating ourselves up and take some action against the hurdles of cleaning the family home, so we can start to relax and enjoy them.
Modern appliances and materials
What if the cleaning wasn’t actually that challenging, but it was all your old appliances and shabby materials that were ultimately letting you down? Well, you would probably be in the majority as replacing these important items tends to be forgotten until they literally break down. BISSELL Australia is an example of a company that has revolutionised the way we clean, halving the time but getting a more quality result. You and your house deserve the best, and when you spy your friends clean home, it might be more indicative of their great appliances than their appetite for cleaning. By working smarter and not harder, you might find that cleaning is more enjoyable than you thought it could be and can even be carried out less frequently with the right tools on the job.
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Nominate a day or create a schedule
It’s not an exhilarating way to spend your time, but perhaps you need to take some time out to design a cleaning schedule that is going to keep you accountable to your duties. This can be as loose or structured as you choose, but it should be something that you want to follow and stay accountable to. Cleaning procrastination can only occur when it doesn’t fall into a day or timeslot, and this should be the responsibility of everyone in your household, as even your kids can help and learn how it is done.
If you are an early riser, why not tackle the showers on a Thursday morning before you start your day? If you have most of your energy in the evening, listen to a podcast like you mop the floors while others are in bed. If you feel like you can’t get on top of your cleaning in the family home – segmenting jobs and forcing them into your schedule will work for you. Who knows, maybe you can set up a reward system where the family goes out to dinner when everyone ticks off their jobs for the week!
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Get to the root cause
You probably already know the root cause of the mess and mayhem, and it’s probably coming from the kids. Sound familiar? Although before we lay all the blame on their tiny shoulders, you might find that by taking a deeper look at the root cause of the mess and the rooms and offenders in question, you might actually be able to create a system that stops this mess before it starts. Is there a way that you can refigure your rooms so that it is not getting untidy so often – say moving the toy room next to the kid’s room instead of being separated by a floor? You could also have a separate zone for parents and one for kids so that entertaining can happen at a moments notice without the mad dash of cleaning the house. This could also be a great exercise to let your little ones design the home with you while teaching them where belongings go instead of on the ground.
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There is also a case to be made that houses with too much ‘stuff’ are the houses that are messy, so is it time to carry out a cull? When it comes to the family home, our little ones grow out of clothes and toys so quickly, but they don’t find their way into storage and second-hand shops quite as quickly. You could even get all these items together and try to sell them online, and spend your earnings on something nice for the house that doesn’t contribute to the mess.
Consider a semi-regular professional clean
Getting a professional cleaner is not a cop-out, in fact, it is a smart way to maintain that base level of cleanliness so that you only need to tidy and do a light clean to keep it there. You can even go to site to have your cleaner do those jobs you don’t like doing such as cleaning the oven, the toilets, the showers and even bigger jobs like cleaning the walls. Being a parent is hard work, and coming home to a house that looks and smells clean can be such a beautiful reward that not enough of us treat ourselves with. Start looking for a cleaner in your area and get an idea of how much a monthly clean is, and consider how much that help would mean to your family and home.
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Your family home will be clean once again, and you can even maintain that level for much longer by following this guide. Having a young family is a job in itself, so don’t be too hard on yourself if things slip. Maybe all you need is to get the kids and your partner out of the house for long enough to just get it done, and establish some order!
