They say that death and taxes go on forever, but so does the need to clean!
After just a day, the house can already feel and look like a warzone, especially if you have kids running around. To keep every corner of your home sparkling clean, here are some household cleaning tips straight from Ninja Made Ph’s CEO Ace Lara.
For all rooms in the house
To keep your home free of dust and dirt, create a cleaning schedule that works for the whole family. This can mean cleaning a specific room every day or leaving the major cleaning chores for the weekends.
Having this system not only teaches kids to be organized; it also keeps parents from getting overwhelmed with all the things to clean in the house, especially if you don’t have househelp.
Open windows early in the morning to ventilate your home.
Clean from top to bottom. This means cleaning the ceiling with either a vacuum or a flat mop first, then wiping down the walls, and finally cleaning the floor after all the dust has fallen.
Have catch bins ready, so you can put all the misplaced items you find around the house. Doing this prevents you from going all over the place just to return objects where they should be.
For the bedroom
You spend most of your time in our bedrooms, and chances are, lying down here in peace is what you look forward to at the end of a long day.
To make sure your haven isn’t just perfect but also clean, make sure to change the bedsheets at least once a week, twice if you, or your kids, sweat a lot at night.
To make sure your beds are deeply cleaned and free of dust mites, just mix baking soda and five to ten drops of your preferred essential oil. (Try Kindee’s organic citronella essential oil to also repel mosquitoes.) Then sift the mixture directly over your bed and leave it there for 30 minutes so it absorbs the moisture in the mattress. It will also create a dry environment that dust mites can’t live in.
To act as natural air purifiers, put plants in the room. (Qubo PH’s Thai basil doesn’t just clean air; it can also make pesto!) You may also use air fresheners or even diffused essential oil to help keep the air clean.
For the bathroom
It’s important to always keep the bathroom dry since moist environments encourage mold growth.
Soap scum should be washed and wiped away immediately using a squeegee. Letting it just dry out may encourage mold to grow. Once the mold turns black, it isn’t just disgusting to look at—it may also cause respiratory problems.
Use toilet cleaners or all-purpose cleaners on toilet bowls daily to keep yellow rings and germs from building up in the bowls. (Try Nature to Nurture’s All-natural multi-purpose cleaner.)
To remove water marks, regularly wipe stainless steel fixtures with a mixture of distilled vinegar and warm water.
For the kitchen
One of the best ways to keep the kitchen clean is to enforce a clean-as-you-go policy. Not only will it train your kids to be organized, but it will push everyone to wash dishes and glasses immediately after use.
No matter how humungous the effort may be, it’s still best to leave the sink empty and clean at night. Cockroaches, rats and lizards may be attracted to piles of unwashed dishes, spreading germs. When you’re done washing, scrub the sink with a eucalyptus disinfectant from Gentle Mama to discourage bugs from laying eggs in the drain.
Salt and lemon are extremely useful in cleaning chopping boards. Speaking of these, use different chopping boards for different kinds of food to not mix the bacteria each ingredient brings—i.e., use one for vegetables, another for poultry, and another for red meat.
To degrease your pans or stovetop, just wash them with a mixture of baking soda, dishwashing liquid (or a Pigeon liquid cleanser) and either vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. Use the latter if there is dried-up stubborn grease.
For the living room
To keep things tidy in the living room, a vacuum cleaner will always come in handy.
Without a vacuum cleaner to clean your couch, you can always go the traditional way of cleaning: using a rag and doing “pagpag.” It’s best to take your couch outside, though, when you do this so that the dust doesn’t just settle on other pieces in your living room. Alternatively, you can use a lint roller or even tape to remove dirt and pet hair on your couch.
Cleaning the house is certainly time-consuming. But you can make it easier for yourself and your family (whom you should, by all means, recruit to help you!) if you know which spots in each room need extra attention. So get those cleaning materials out, call the troops (i.e., your partner and kids), and let the cleaning begin!
We don't need to wait for spring (or summer) to undergo a home improvement and organization project! Check out these tried and tested Spring Cleaning Tips and Essentials for Mamas