Home cleaning is a niche market that serves those who have a preference and those who need a hand. Just as I may naturally enjoy cleaning, someone else may dislike the task. Whether you're a clean freak or a liiiiittle messy, the following tips can help you save time and enjoy a deep clean.
After a decade of cleaning, I prefer a foaming bleach cleanser in sinks, showers and tubs. Creams can gum up, and it's easy to use the wrong amount and create more work for yourself. They stain grout if not scrubbed away with a grout brush. The other cleaner that rhymes with grommet? Nightmare fuel.
The grout brush is my other best friend. I use a sponge for the faces of the shower and tub tiles, but it's the grout brush that powers the rest of the cleaning ritual. No corner gets missed. The grout gets cleaned properly. You can kind of get in there with the edge of a sponge, but it's not the same. Bleach also kills mold and mildew. I use this technique on structural components like doors, door frames and baseboards. A little bathroom cleaner (the typical name for a foaming bleach,) and a grout brush can quickly and easily power away the grime marks around the doorknobs, edges and frames.
For thick layers of dust, I actually use the vacuum with the soft bristle brush attachment before taking a microfiber cloth and Lemon Lysol or Windex to the surfaces. It's faster, keeps your cloths cleaner and prolongs their quality.
For everything else, (before we get to floors,) there's the soak. Microwave? Soak and sit before you go to tackle it. Stuck on food stains? Soak and sit. Kitchen grease is a tough opponent, and for that you need a degreaser, but do not let it sit too long. In the humid summer months, don't feel bad if you can't stop a mirror from streaking as you wipe it down. It will streak. You can play with it until it looks good on one angle, but you could be there all day trying to get it perfect. Don't sweat it!
Floors are pretty simple. Sometimes carpeted floors can harbor a thick layer of dust within the beveled edges at the baseboards. You can actually clean those areas with the narrow attachment. No matter what, you want to use a beater bar on carpets and rugs. My cannister vacuum has a beater brush attachment for carpets. I also use the vacuum nozzle to dust baseboards. The best advice I have for mopping, well, Murphy's oil is the best product for wood floors. Nothing can touch it. I personally use Lavender Pine Sol on all of the other floors, the clients have always enjoyed it!
Hopefully this article has been helpful to you! Thanks for stopping by.
- Shannon @ Maid of Honor | Burlington, ON
