Two Hour House Cleaning Check List

                                                     

Cleaning is Cool

There is an obsession with house cleaning at the moment influenced by the Netflix series based on Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Cleaning Up.
I trained as a Home Economist back in the 1960s , a time when women were expected stay at home and devote their lives to house cleaning, cooking , bringing up baby and having a hot meal ready the minute your man walked through the door, all on a tight budget.There was about enough time for the occasional coffee morning or afternoon tea with a friend but  the daily clean was a dominant occupation of many women's lives. For a long time my job as a home economics teacher was to train girls to carry on this tradition .
Nothing wrong with the cooking part ,but constant cleaning, forget it.

My House Cleaning Check list- you should be able to do this in 2 hours.

•  No fit adult or child over 10 should expect another human being to flush away their poo from the loo , clean up their spittle and toothpaste from a washbasin or make their bed.
• Nag kids and partners until they understand this.

1. After breakfast put on a load of laundry,garments only on a short programme.
2. Put the dishes from breakfast into the dishwasher or wash by hand. 
3. Wipe kitchen surfaces.
4. Collect all trash in one large plastic bag and take out.
5. Collect all the towels from the bathroom(s).Spray  and wipe bathroom surfaces ,clean toilets.
6. Put first load of laundry to dry and replace with towels or linen on a hot wash.
7. Dust  main communal rooms if necessary and vacuum the floors.Open the windows while this is done.
8. Fold the dry laundry

Stop after 2 hours. Make your morning coffee, sit down , take a break and enjoy you clean home.

 Additional weekly jobs 

Mop the kitchen and bathroom floors. 

Check the fridge for stale food and wipe clean.

Vacuum stairs and bedrooms.

  Cleaning products for kitchen and bathroom floors

 Buy cleaning products that are fit for purpose and a large supply of soft cloths.These are some of my favourites.
This stuff is brilliant ,it cleans floors rapidly without the need for buckets and hot water.It is hard to find in supermarkets so I sent for the three pack as soon as I start to run out.



                                        



The bathroom 


                                         

                                                                                     

 Flash bathroom cleaner is great for a daily swipe around the toilet,washbasin and bath.Finish the shower with a good dose the shower spray while it is still wet after you have used it  and it will dry clean.
I live in a very hard water area which causes deposits on taps and shower heads. Use  Viakal  once a week to clear these annoying deposits.

Follow the instructions on the containers and only use the cleaners for the purpose for which they were intended. 

The Kitchen

                                                                                      

Use a degreaser like Dettol Power on kitchen surfaces, Flash for floor cleaning.

                                          

Communal room surfaces

   Specialist surface cleaners for wood, leather and glass give the best results.
     I have tried many spot carpet cleaners and prefer Dr Beckmann with the brush attached.




                                                                   


A daily cleaning routine will help you keep on top of things and mean that on difficult days you can leave things until you have more time.A tidy house makes for a calmer family.