Tips and Hacks for Cleaning House Fast Like The Pros

Tips and Hacks for Cleaning House Fast Like The Pros

If you’ve been spending a lot more time at home due to the pandemic, then you’ve probably noticed that things get dirty a lot faster. Kitchens and bathrooms are used more frequently and trying to keep up with the mess can be a real challenge, especially if you have a family and only a couple of minutes to spare before your next Zoom meeting. With your house getting so much use, it really does require more frequent attention. In this article, we are going to discuss how professional cleaners can quickly, but thoroughly tidy a house from top to bottom.

Make these professional cleaning tips and tricks – for speed and efficiency – your own, and you’ll be well on your way to a cleaner home in no time:

Keep all the supplies you need close at hand

Start by gathering up the supplies you will need. Having all the tools and cleaning products you need at arm’s reach means you won’t waste time walking back and forth to the cabinet under the sink. Place your supplies in a caddy or a bucket to stay organized and save time. Reduce the amount of stuff you have to carry by buying products that multitask, like an all-purpose cleaner (or make your own) that disinfects for your kitchen and bath, or a wood cleaner that’s safe for both furniture and floors.  

All supplies you will need: 

• All-Purpose Cleaner
• Baking Soda
• Bleach
• Broom
• Bucket
• Cleaning Gloves
• Mop
• Microfiber Cloths
• Paper Towels
• Scrubbing Brush
• Vacuum
• Window/Glass Cleaner

Make your own all-purpose cleaner

There many great reasons to start making your own all-purpose cleaner to clean your whole house, whether you’re trying to create a chemical-free environment, or you are looking to save some money. Start by adding together half a cup of white vinegar, one teaspoon of dish soap, two cups of rubbing alcohol, and enough water to make a gallon. Then pour the mixture into an empty spray bottle. Certain surfaces like natural stone, stainless steel, and wood may benefit from cleaners created specifically for them to prevent damage. 

Have a system and use a pattern

Cutting your cleaning time in half starts with having a system. That means focusing on one room at a time. You can even start on the room that needs the most attention, whether it’s a bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen. To save time, be consistent. You can clean your house effectively in half the time by following the same routine. Don’t just clean surfaces willy-nilly. If you use a consistent pattern to clean things, you won’t waste time by having to go back and hit spots that you missed on the first pass.

Pros go from left to right and from top to bottom to make sure they get the job done right the first time. If you start a room by wiping the coffee table, then cleaning the blinds, you’ll watch the dust from the blinds coat your newly cleaned coffee table. Start at the top of the room, such as dusting a ceiling fan or light fixture, and work your way down to the floor to eliminate extra work for yourself.

A microfiber mop works great for this, but if you don’t have one, tying an old towel or T-shirt over a broom is also effective. Doing this on a regular basis will prevent dust from collecting throughout the rest of your home and ultimately allow you to spend less time with a vacuum or mop in hand.

Change the bedding

Gather the clean sheets and pillowcases you will need for all bedrooms. Go to each room, strip the sheets and remake the bed. Gather all the soiled sheets and take them to the laundry room. It is important to make the beds before dusting the ceilings in the bedrooms. This avoids getting dust under the covers. If the ceiling is particularly dusty, you may want to cover the freshly made bed with a sheet while dusting the ceiling.

Degrease your kitchen

Grease inevitably ends up on kitchen cabinets, especially those above or next to the range. You can buy a cleaner with orange oil to wipe off the grease, or you can use a standard grease-cutting dishwashing detergent. The detergent will cut through the grease on the cabinets just like it does with dishes.

Mix one tablespoon of dish detergent with a gallon of warm water. Wipe it on with a clean sponge or cloth, then rinse it off with a clean sponge and warm water. For stains or grime that won’t come off with detergent, mix baking soda with water and lightly scrub the problem area with a cloth.   

Clean your microwave like a boss

Does the inside of your microwave look like a war zone? Baked-on food, especially if it’s been sitting for days or longer can be tough to remove. The trick is to have the microwave do the heavy lifting for you. Place a coffee cup of water in the microwave and heat it up until it’s boiling hot. The moisture will loosen up anything stuck inside. You can then take a damp cloth and wipe the inside surfaces clean.

Shine up a stainless steel sink   

A shiny stainless steel kitchen sink is a glowing compliment to your kitchen. To quickly clean the sink without scratching it, use a damp sponge and baking soda. The baking soda will remove stains without scratching the surface. Once you’ve cleaned the stains, use a spray bottle filled with vinegar to rinse the sink. The vinegar acts as a disinfectant. Rinse with water and your sink will shine like new.  

Squeegee the windows   

For a faster, streak-free shine, try using a professional-grade window squeegee. Place a drop of dish soap into a gallon of water. Clean windows with a sponge using water that has just a little bit of dishwashing liquid in it. Then use a squeegee to wipe the water off, using a large S pattern on big windows and a single top-to-bottom stroke on smaller ones. Use a lint-free cloth to wipe off the squeegee between strokes for a streak-free clean. 

Clean your mirrors  

If streaky mirrors are a problem for you, use foam glass cleaner instead of a spray. Pros like it because it doesn’t drip and wipes away easily, reducing the chances that you’re going to wind up cleaning your mirrors multiple times.

Get rid of bathroom mold & mildew

Bathrooms that are not well-ventilated can have mold and mildew because water remains on the walls after showering. Use hydrogen peroxide in a trigger-spray bottle to spray on visible mold and mildew. Spray it on, let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes and it will kill it. To keep mold ad mildew from coming back, use a fan when showering. When you’re done, take a couple of minutes to squeegee or wipe down the shower tile and door.

Clean the toilet (in 3-minutes)  

First, spray your toilet with the all-purpose cleaner from top to bottom covering everything from the tank, flusher, hinges, both sides of the lid and seat, rim, exterior bowl, and base. Let it sit for a minute to break down the dirt. Next, Add the toilet bowl cleaner into the bowl. Gently glide the nozzle around the inner rim while applying the cleaner.

Begin wiping the toilet bowl clean, re-tracing the first step. Next, start wiping the tank cover, flusher, tank, and change the paper towel. Wipe the lid top, flip it up and wipe the lid bottom, and change the paper towel. Now, wipe the seat top, flip it up and wipe the seat bottom, and change the paper towel. Next, wipe the top of the rim and then get the exterior bowl, sides, and base. With your toilet bowl brush, scrub under the rim and work your way around it.

Then, spiral the brush around the inside of the bowl, starting at the top and swirling it around until it gets to the waterline. Continue swirling until you get to the chute and pump the brush in and out of the chute a few times to clean it as well. The entire process should take 3 minutes tops.

Use one big trash bag 

Take one big trash bag with you around the house while you are cleaning and empty all the wastebaskets from around the house into it. Not only will this save you time while cleaning, but it will also give you a clear indication of which rooms you’ve already finished with if you come back to hit them later.

Keep a couple of extra bags stashed in the bottom of your wastebaskets. That way you don’t have to carry them around and can put the new bag in as soon as the old one goes into the one big trash bag that you’re taking through the house.

Clean your floors 

Once the higher surfaces have been cleaned, finish with the floors. Hard floors like wood, ceramic, and stone should be vacuumed, then mopped. For hardwood floors, the mop should only be slightly damp because too much water can damage the wood.

Reduce the likelihood of streaks forming when you mop a hardwood floor by keeping the mop head moving in the same direction as the grain of the wood. Use a cloth afterward to keep any remaining cleaning liquid from pooling and damaging your floor. You can use a floor cleaner like Bona or equal parts white vinegar and water on floors. 

Vacuum your carpet 

If your carpets are looking a bit grungy, and perhaps even smelly, try sprinkling baking soda over the surface before vacuuming. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes, then vacuum over it. That will take out a lot of the buildup and leave your carpet smelling fresh. Vacuum high-traffic areas once a week.

Generally, you should dust before you vacuum. Otherwise, you might wind up vacuuming twice to clean up all the dust bunnies that got knocked onto the floor while you were dusting. The secret to effective and efficient vacuuming is to do the entire length of the room in a straight row, then move over and start again at the front of the room. When you are finished, your carpet will look amazing.  

Invest in an extension cord

Instead of unplugging your vacuum after you finish a room and plugging it in in the next room, use an extension cord so you only have to plug it in one time to save time. A 50-foot cord should make it so you can do most if not all of a floor without ever having to pause to find a new outlet.

Save time with more frequent, lighter cleanings

If you really want to cut down your cleaning time, you can maintain the feeling of cleanliness with more frequent, lighter cleanings. Once you’ve given your house a deep cleaning, you only need to give it a once-over every couple of weeks. This will keep your home looking tidy and spare you the time and agony of having to do several months’ worth of cleaning at once. You’ll be doing maintenance cleaning instead of catch-up cleaning.

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When you hire Cleanstart cleaning pros, you can be assured that each member of our team undergoes extensive vetting and receives a background check before they are hired. Our cleaners are also thoroughly trained in all aspects of professional cleaning, including the latest technologies, tools, products, equipment, quality standards, and safety. We are a licensed company and fully insured for your protection.

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Cleanstart is a full-service cleaning company you can always count on for dependability, professionalism, and consistent, high-quality cleaning services.

We proudly offer:

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For more information about our professional house cleaning services or to schedule a cleaning visit, please give us a call at (253) 921-2593 or request a free online cleaning estimate today!

Cleanstart services the following locations in the Greater Puget Sound:

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5013 Pacific Hwy E unit 16 Fife, WA 98424 • Phone: 253.921.2593 • Email: Caleb @ thecleanstart.com