How to do a nice house cleaning without much effort

With the busy routine, no one wants to spend hours of the day cleaning at home, right? But, it is a fact that this is a necessary work. In this sense, the best way is to seek tips that help make this task less “suffering” and more practical!

As in the case of other activities, planning what will be done and knowing exactly which steps to take are essential to remain calm and focused and, in fact, complete the cleaning successfully.

For Rose Moraes, personal organizer at Kiiro – Organiza e Simplifica, it is essential to understand the difference between cleaning and cleaning the house. “Cleaning is what we do daily or a few times a week so as not to accumulate tasks later. Using about 30 minutes a day to do basic cleaning will make cleaning not tiring and you can keep the house always in order”, she guides her.

On the other hand, cleaning, highlights the personal organizer, is done to maintain cleanliness, that is, a deeper cleaning done once a week, every 15 days, or even every month (depending on the case). “Anyway, there are things that have to be done every week, like changing the bedding and cleaning the bathroom. As for the other tasks, it is possible that they can be adapted to the needs of the house”, she comments.

The essential step-by-step of a good cleaning

Do not know where to start?! Do you think you need to organize yourself better so that when you do the next cleaning in the house, you don’t suffer so much?! Check out the main professional guidelines to do a good cleaning and still keep the house always in order (of course “without fuss”), basically using the right strategies and products!

Starting point: avoid clutter buildup

For Adinalva de Souza Ruggeri, organization consultant and personal organizer at Casa Ruggeri, a good cleaning is one that starts with discarding everything that has not been used for more than six months (except for those items that are used on special dates, such as , e.g. Christmas tree and ornament). “That way we’ll have more space to organize and keep everything we have in order,” she says.

After discarding, Adinalva points out, he recommends doing a good cleaning at least once a month. “However, this is that cleaning where we remove everything, clean the inside of the cabinets, windows, etc. And, during the weeks, a lighter cleaning in the environments is recommended to avoid accumulation and, without the accumulation of mess, we avoid procrastination for the organization of the residence ”, he says.

For the organization consultant, on a day-to-day basis, in order not to accumulate too much work for the cleaning day, it is very important to maintain order and obey “the classic organization rule”:

1. If you don’t use it, discard it.
2. Open, close.
3. Called, hang up.
4. Messed up, tidy up.
5. Dirty, clean.
6. Broke, fix it.
7. You don’t know how to fix it, call someone to do it.

“Following this rule, we will certainly have less work on the day of the cleaning and the result of the cleaning will be much more satisfactory”, highlights Adinalva.

Step one: organize your schedule

You can’t talk about a single rule, after all, each person / family has their routine, so the ideal is to set up a schedule taking into account the particularities of your home.

But it is always valid to have a general basis to, from there, be able to organize yourself in relation to cleaning and/or cleaning your home.

Rose suggests making a daily and weekly cleaning schedule. “You must organize the tasks to be done to organize the routine. This is much more efficient than doing all the cleaning in one day, or trying to clean randomly, because that way, we are sure to forget something or other,” she says.

The daily schedule will contain the tasks that need to be done on a daily basis, and with your household routine in mind, you will easily be able to make this list. “Remember to add items as you remember, but be careful not to put unnecessary items that can ‘clutter’ your day”, guides Rose.

A simple example of a daily schedule, according to the personal organizer:

Daily

• Make the bed;
• Wash the dishes;
• Collecting trash from the bathroom and kitchen;
• Set aside 30 minutes (divided into two periods of 15) to clear out any mess that is all over the house.

The weekly schedule should also be set up by you, according to your home routine. “It will include going to the supermarket, taking care of plants, scheduling payments, washing and ironing clothes, among other things,” explains Rose. And so there will also be sporadic tasks, as the personal organizer exemplifies:

Once a week

• Change bed and bath linen;
• Dust and polish furniture on wooden pieces;
• Vacuum sofas, rugs and carpets.

Once every 15 days

• Defrost the fridge (if necessary) and clean the inside;
• Clean switches;
• Sanitize rugs and carpets (specific products);
• Clean windows.

once a month

• Clean and sanitize washing machine and dryer;
• Clean the vacuum cleaner accessories;
• Flip the mattress;
• Tidy up the pantry and kitchen cabinets;

Every 6 months

• Wash curtains, rugs and/or blinds;
• Clean drains and siphons;
• Wash the water tank.

Once a year

• Dedetize the environments;
• Paint the rooms in the house;
• Check the need to call a plumber for any leaks.

“The most important thing, however, is to delegate tasks. If you don’t live alone, you don’t have to do all the chores. And if you live alone, organizing your lists will be a great ally in your routine”, Rose emphasizes.

Step two: have the right products on hand

Adinalva points out that, when cleaning, there can be no lack of “the right products for the right dirt”. “In other words, you don’t wash a floor with soap powder, for example, because, in addition to foaming a lot, you take a long time to remove it, so you’ll have a waste of time and water, so something will be left without to do. Today, there is already the right product on the market for all types of cleaning, as well as concentrated products that with just a small amount can achieve excellent results”, he says.

As well as products, there are also several equipment on the market that help a lot in the result of a great cleaning, as highlighted by the organization consultant:

Electrostatic duster, excellent for removing dust from furniture, glass, mirrors.

MOP Powder, excellent for removing dust from ceiling, wall and floor.

Microfiber cloth, excellent for general cleaning of the residence and, because it is colored, one can be used for each environment of the residence. Widely used in finishing – as it does not leave lint – to remove dust and shine from glass and mirrors.

Window and blinds cleaner, which makes cleaning those hard-to-reach places much easier.

These are just a few examples of products that make a difference when it comes to a good cleaning!

Step Three: Start with the last rooms of the house

Of course, each house has its particularities, but, in general, the orientation of the organization consultant Adinalva is to start cleaning the last rooms of the residence, as well as bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and, finally, the kitchen, laundry area and backyard. “In that order, the person avoids going through the environments that have already been cleaned”, she explains.

“And whenever we finish cleaning a certain room, we must make sure that we don’t forget any cloth or bucket in the environment”, adds the organization consultant.

Step Four: Start at the Ceiling

Adinalva comments that one of the things people forget is to clear the switch. “This happens because people aren’t in the habit of removing dust from the walls either. A good cleaning starts with the ceiling, then goes to the wall (including switches) and finally to the floor,” he says.

“In this sense, it is very important to use appropriate devices and equipment, and one that is widely used is the MOP Powder, this equipment is excellent for removing dust both from the floor and from the ceiling and wall”, adds the organization consultant.

Another object that people forget to clean is light bulbs. “Dirty ones decrease their ambient lighting power by up to 50%. Whenever we clean the chandeliers, they should also be cleaned”, highlights Adinalva.

Step five: Clean the furniture before cleaning the floor

Adinalva explains that it is advisable to remove dust from the furniture before cleaning the floor, so there is no risk of residue being left on the clean floor.

“Another tip is not to use a broom to sweep the floor, but to use the MOP Powder equipment, because, when sweeping with a broom, the dust ends up lifting and thus dirtying the furniture and upholstery”, highlights the organization consultant.

Step six: Never wipe a damp cloth over a dirty floor

Adinalva points out that an important tip is not to pass a damp cloth over the dirty floor, without removing the dust first. “Because water and dust turn into clay, and it is this combination that ends up grimying grout and baseboards”, he explains.

Step seven: do not mix the product that will clean the floor in the bucket of water

“Another important tip is not to mix the product that will clean the floor with the water in the bucket and keep washing the cloth several times in the same water, because, in the second wash, the product will already be contaminated, and thus it will lose its action, and the dirty water will be dirtying and not cleaning”, explains Adinalva.

“The ideal is to dilute the product in a spray bottle and apply it on the floor with the help of a damp cloth, and in a bucket with only clean water, wash the cloth and, when this water is dirty, it must be replaced… This way, we don’t dirty the floor, we don’t contaminate the water and we save product, because when we throw it away, we’re just throwing dirty water”, highlights Adinalva.

Tips and tricks that can make a difference

Getting organized is ideal to be able to do a good cleaning at home, but there are also other tips that will make a difference. Check out the expert guidelines!

Take advantage of product action time

Adinalva explains that one of the tricks that can make a difference to optimize cleaning time and obtain a great result is to use the right product, the time of action of this product and scrubbing. “That is, first we must apply the product on the surface just spreading (without rubbing). After spreading, let it act for approximately three minutes – depending on how dirty it is – and only after that, we should rub the surface. By doing so, we will have a cleaner surface and less physical effort, because we let the product work for us”, he highlights.

Count on the help of good old vinegar

For tiles, there are vast product options for each type of dirt, however, according to Adinalva, a homemade, economical and widely used recipe is a combination of white vinegar with baking soda.

Learn how to make this and other homemade recipes with vinegar, recommended for a good cleaning, according to professionals:

Vinegar + bicarbonate of soda: mix ½ cup (tea) of vinegar and ½ cup (tea) of bicarbonate in a container, mix well and use a spray bottle to apply, let it act for 10 minutes and rub with a sponge. The use of gloves is recommended.

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