Over the past few weeks I have been thinking of making some changes to our cleaning routine. Ok to be honest I mean “Creating” a cleaning routine because until now there has been no method to the mess. It has always just been a case of doing what looks like needs doing. But it felt like some jobs were never getting done and others seemed to be on repeat. So I set about creating a cleaning schedule.
Before I go into the schedule I wanted to say…..
This is my schedule. We have a big house with two storeys, lots of rooms, multiple living areas and 3 bathrooms. It requires a LOT of cleaning. You may be able to get away with less. Secondly time is on my side NOW. But it hasn’t always been. Since having children I have always worked. I have had to find time around my work schedule for cleaning. I don’t believe in spending every minute of my day cleaning. But I do think everyone can find 30 minutes a day to stay on top of things. Our house will be messy during the day. But when we go to bed and when we wake up the mort I don’t work, have only two children, one of which is at school and both are awesome at helping. Thirdly, cleaning is everyones job in our house. My children do not get pocket money to clean the house. They clean and tidy because they want to show respect, pride and appreciation for their belongings. We call it LOVE jobs. You do it because you LOVE your family, LOVE your home, LOVE everything you are grateful to have.
We make it fun, we help each other. By keeping on top of it, we don’t feel like we spend half our weekend cleaning. You do what works for you.
So back to the schedule. I had to get in on paper once and for all. Maybe so I would be accountable, maybe because I just love creating little lists or maybe because now I feel like I at least made an effort to get organised!
It is divided into three components.
Daily, Fortnightly and Zones.
Daily
These are the jobs that need to be done EVERY day. I have divided them into morning and evening.
Dishwasher
Make Beds
General Tidy and Declutter
Laundry
Dishwasher – Goes on before we go to bed. Unpacked when we wake up. Loaded through out the day. On average we do a load EVERY day.
Make Beds – Each person makes their OWN bed EVERY morning. Yes, this includes Little Miss A (who is nearly 3). For Christmas “My Pigeon Pair” each got coverlet sets. The doonas were making it too hard to make beds. The coverlets are so much easier. Naturally they are not perfect but just pulled up and tidy. Cushions placed on and pyjamas folded under the pillow.
10 Minute Tidy – This is a timed, ten minute tidy and declutter. We all do this together. It is amazing how much you get done in ten minutes, and how much children will do when their is a deadline about to literally buzz! We turn the music up and get into it! Our 10 minute tidy time is divided into UP and DOWN (For Upstairs and Downstairs).
Downstairs is our living areas, kitchen, playroom etc. It needs tidying twice a day. Once before school and once after dinner. The Kids (return toys to their places, pick things up off the floor, throw any rubbish in the bin, check all breakfast/dinner things make it to the kitchen) whilst I clean the Kitchen.
Upstairs is our second living area, second study space and bedrooms. Usually the mess up here is clothes and books. This ten minutes is before school and starts AFTER they have made their beds. Kids do 5 minutes in their bedrooms (putting clothes in laundry shoot, returning toys and books to places) and then 5 minutes in living area. I do 5 minutes in the Master Bedroom (clothes in laundry shoot, general straighten up) and 5 minutes in the kids bathroom ( Wipe bench, quick toilet clean) Upstairs doesn’t see much action during the day so only needs tidying once.
To me this is the most important time of our day as it means regardless on how our day turns out the house has been left in a fairly orderly state.
Laundry – This one is a work in progress. I do laundry of some description EVERY day. I try to wash and hang before we leave in the morning and then take off and fold during afternoon play time (before dinner) This was one of my biggest schedule needs. I wanted a better system for washing. So I have tried to schedule clothes 3 times a week, Linen once a week, towels once a week and ONE DAY OFF!!! I have also included a laundry schedule in each zoned section of my schedule (the middle boxes)
Fortnightly.
These are the jobs or areas of the house that don’t need cleaning weekly. Here I have included the Garage, Laundry, Car, Entry Way, Linen Cupboard and Second Study. These are also jobs I can share with my husband on the weekends!
Zones.
This is really the “schedule” part of the process and the bulk of the work! Each day of the week has a different focus “zone.” I have always cleaned a bit like this but thanks to Leanne at Organising the Three of Us, I now know the word for it! In addition to the zone I have used my schedule to coordinate the type of laundry I will do and the floors in that area. I just felt like I was vacuuming every day! So now I will vacuum or vac/mop depending on what “Zone” I am in. Each zone is chosen for a particular day according to our family schedule.
Living and Dining – Mondays (After the weekend when this area gets the most traffic)
Bedrooms – Tuesdays ( this is a big job and we have no commitments on Tuesdays)
Kitchen – Wednesdays (The day before grocery shopping, this gives me a chance to clean out the fridge and pantry before doing the shopping)
Groceries – Thursdays ( This is our errand day as Little Miss A has Ballet so we are out and about anyway)
Bathrooms – Friday ( Another big job for a quiet day)
The weekends are for Fortnightly jobs and all the little rooms that only need a quick tidy (Laundry, Second Living Room) It is also the time we give outside a tidy and have fun together as a family!
Time
I currently only spend 30minutes on Zones like the Kitchen, Living and Dining and Playroom. These rooms are getting tidied every day in our 10 minute tidies. On their zone day, they get dusted, wiped and decluttered. The first time you do each room you may need a little longer. But after a week or two of cleaning you will find there isnt much to do! Bathrooms would take me about 45 minutes but my husband cleans the ensuite bathroom ( there is a whole lot of glass to get scrubbed in there) so bathrooms also only take me 30 minutes.
10 Minute Morning Tidy – Down
10 Minute Morning Tidy – Up
30 minute Zone
10 minute Evening Tidy – Down
That is 1 hour a day! 1 hour isn’t much! But it is a lot if you don’t do it every day!!! It becomes a whole day of your weekend and time lost during the week trying to find things!
The Nitty Gritty
I know it sounds silly but you need to be organised to clean. Otherwise your 1 hour easily doubles.
I choose to clean the “Zones” during Little Miss A’s nap time. Although it is nice to have a helper I find I get distracted! If this doesn’t work I try to include her in jobs or set her up with a “busy bag”
I have a cleaning caddy which has everything I need in it for each space. I carry it to each space (more about that below)
I am flexible but strict. If I know I will not have time on a particular day I do two zones on one day.
A Cleaning Caddy
It is no secret that my cleaning products of choice are from “Method.”
Here is my “Method” stash! They had a great sale on them at Woolworths last year so I stocked up!
First I was converted and then I became addicted!
I love that they do the job, are non toxic and smell divine. They are the perfect cleaning product in between the mess and fuss of bicarb and vinegar and your toxic store bought products.
My cleaning caddy is full of my favourites.
So here is a closer look at what is inside…
1. Microfibre Cloths for dusting.
2. Method “Flushable Wipes” – I love these and also keep a packet up above the toilet. It makes giving the toilet a quick wipe over easy during our 10 minute tidy.
3. Method “Wood For Good” Wipes – I use these on the dining table and wall units. They are a great for a quick dust and clean and smell AMAZING!
4. Method “Leather Love” Wipes (can you tell I love a good wipe) – One of the jobs during the Living Room Zone is to wipe down our White Letaher couches. Yep two children and white couches. You dont want to see how much dirt ends upon those wipes!
5. Garbage bags – To bag up rubbish as we go.
6. Eucalyptus Solution – Great for more stubborn sticky residue, pen marks and lipstick!
7. Method “Bathroom Cleaner” – I use this for tub, sinks and showers. I also keep Method “Daily Shower” in the shower to give it a quick spray to keep the soap scum at bay.
8. Method “All-Purpose Cleaner” – This is a great lavender spray that I use on nearly any surface including the doors, blinds, desks, window sills, bookcases, wall units, dressers everywhere!
9. Method “Glass and Surface” Spray – For mirrors, windows and my high gloss vanity unit! Leaves no streaks!
10. Paper Towel – For use with the glass spray. I use micro fibre cloths for all other sprays.
So there you have it! I do have a few other cleaning products up my sleeve, but these are my everyday go to girls. I gather up all my supplies in this tin cleaning caddy I bought from Aldi last year. Then she gets carried to each space. When not in use she lives in our Laundry shelves.
The three products that arent in there are….
1. Laundry Detergent – Yep Method again! I love this pump bottle of Laundry Detergent and it seems to just keep on going and we do a LOT of laundry. You may have also found me smelling the clothes! it just has the nicest fragrance to it and all natural!
2. “Wood For Good” Spray – I use this for the outdoor setting and dining table when it is really filthy. Maybe every second clean. The dining table has a table cloth or placemats on it so it doenst get to filthy.
3. I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST. This is the product that got me in and then got me hooked. We have high gloss black granite bench tops. NOTHING would clean them! The high gloss meant everything we used left a streaky residue. and I mean EVERYTHING! The Method Granite Spray was the first Method product I ever bought. Let me tell you in all honesty it is THE BEST BENCH SPRAY I HAVE EVER USED! No streaks or residue, sparkly clean, safe for the bench and once again smells divine!
Some Method products are available in Supermarkets and others you need to order online.
Lastly, I wan’t to spend my precious time with my kids, not cleaning. But by doing a little every day, involving them and working around them, I feel I can have both. It also makes me enjoy our time together more as I am not looking at a mess, trying to find things when we need them and loosing valuable moments in the chaos.
Ok so now really lastly (boy is this one long post!) the very generous folks at METHOD are going to give one reader the chance to stock their own cleaning caddy with some amazing method products!
to win this amazing prize pack simply ENTER via Rafflecopter below and tell me… What sums up your “METHOD” of cleaning?
DISCLOSURE: When the people at Method saw how much I loved their products and my little stockpile they sent me some new products to try! Products referred to in this post have been either bought by me or supplied by Method for me to sample.
Here is my “Method” stash! They had a great sale on them at Woolworths last year so I stocked up!
So here is a closer look at what is inside…
1. Microfibre Cloths for dusting.
