TIPical Mary Ellen host Mary Ellen Pinkham offers tips on making cleaning less stressful and more efficient.
- Clean a crusty microwave by placing a damp dish towel in the middle and setting the microwave time for 30 to 45 seconds. The steam will loosen those tough, crusted stains and make it easier to clean.
- It may sound obvious, but why make a job harder when it doesn't need to be? For example, if there are dirty footprints on the floor or a spill on the countertop, take care of the spot, not the entire surface. You'll go crazy re-mopping the entire floor each time a little smudge appears.
- Make cleaning convenient by keeping all of your supplies in one place, such as the laundry room closet.
- Put tools like brooms and mops in easily accessible areas that you are more likely to frequent. Hang a broom up in the closet. Put the cleaners and sprays that are most often used in the front, where you have easy access to them.
- Instead of using the same sponge or all-purpose cleaner and storing it in the same closet or cabinet, get another sponge and put it in an easy-to-reach place. The more you have to walk back and forth for an item, the quicker you will wear out.
- Clean things from top to bottom. If you're cleaning the surface of the refrigerator, make sure to start from the top and work down. That way, as you move the dirt off the top, you don't have to worry about it until you work your way down. Cleaning the opposite way will only cause you to go over the same surface again and again.
- Know when to quit. Just because you wipe down one part of the wall, it doesn't mean the whole wall needs to be wiped down. You'll end up cleaning more than you bargained for.
- Think small. Tackle small jobs before they become large. Whip out the handheld vacuum cleaner, and suck up the crumbs before they get ground into the floor or carpet.
- Keep the bathroom vanity clear of objects, including decorative items such as silk flowers. The more items on the vanity, the more cleaning, and nobody likes to clean those silk flowers.
- Use a good dust mop that has been sprayed with dusting spray. It will pick up dust on all hard-surface floors instead of just moving dirt around, as does the typical broom.
- What do you do with all the stuff you collect in your pockets from the day? Have a decorative basket or a porcelain vase near the front door or in the bedroom, and dump the things in it that you won't use tomorrow. Another option is to start a change drawer. Soon you will have enough money in it to take to the bank.
- Develop the motto "Put it away, not down." Spend 15 minutes each day just picking up and putting away. Don't do any more than this, or you are likely to get carried away. Don't go crazy and get upset over a spotless house--organization is the better solution.
