My Top 7 Cleaning Hacks for Busy Parents

7 Cleaning Hacks for Busy Parents!

Ask my family and friends, and they will all tell you the same thing: Vicki loves to clean and tidy.

The truth is, it’s less that I love cleaning and more that I can’t relax in a messy home.

I literally cannot go to sleep unless I’ve emptied the dishwasher and tidied the playroom.

My three kids are mostly proficient in helping with chores; my husband is as much as a clean freak as I am, but the endless mess, usually thanks to my untidy toddler, means I spend a disproprotionate amount of time, cleaning.  Add a job into the mix and cleaning can feel overwhelming most days. I’m sure you feel the same so below, I’m sharing a list of tried and tested domestic cleaning hacks that work for me I hope will work for you too.

Let me know if these hacks below, help you, won’t you?!

 

1. Clean as You Go

 This is hardly a cleaning hack but it’s a good place to start. Clean up as you go to make actual dedicated cleaning time shorter and easier. While you can’t do this with everything, some useful tips include:

• Tidy up straight away after a meal
• Wipe down the shower or sink after each use
• Ensure toys are back where they belong before the kids go to bed

 You should be able to get the picture from these tips. The point is to not leave mess lying around so cleaning time is dedicated to actual cleaning rather than tidying up and decluttering. I like to do a weekly deep clean and tidying as I go makes this less time and energy consuming!

 

2. Make Sure Everything Has a Home

This is a follow-up point to the one above. Make sure everything (within reason) has a home (shelves, drawers, desks etc) to make tidying up easier. I like to have a collection of storage boxes for toys, shelf space for books, and huge, organised wardrobes for all of our clothes. Mine is the biggest of course!

Quick and efficient tidying needs space. What’s more, everyone needs to know where things belong so you don’t have to be the one who tidies. If your home is currently a bit cluttered, this might take a bit of work, but it’ll be worth it almost immediately.

 

3. Delegate Tasks

 There’s no reason why kids shouldn’t get involved in cleaning. Not only will it make your life easier, but it will also teach them useful life skills. Of course, you need to only give your kids age-appropriate tasks but as we follow a Montessori style approach to raising our children, my three have been helping with chores safely since they were one years old! Younger children can’t differentiate play from chores and relish in tidying away their toys, putting washing in the basket, and wiping up mess!

Older kids can help empty the dishwasher, make their beds, straighten cushions and put their clothes away. My older two enjoy washing the car as well.

Figure out what tasks you think your kids can do, ideally making a task sheet together, rotating tasks weekly if you like and stick to it!

 

4. Write Lists

Aside from daily tidying and minor cleaning tasks, it will help to have to do lists of what needs doing and how often stuck somewhere visible to all (on the fridge for eg). Hoovering and dusting are weekly tasks, whereas deeper cleaning jobs only need doing monthly.

 Print out a checklist and tick jobs off as they’re done. This will help you keep track of outstanding jobs and means your partner or kids can jump in and help if needed. My husband and I divide these jobs equally. 

Similarly, have a dedicated time slot each week to take care of the larger cleaning jobs to make sure they get done.

 

5. Break Tasks Down… And Finish What You Start

This is a 2-in-1 cleaning hack. First, break larger jobs down into smaller tasks to make them more manageable. For example, cleaning the bathroom is actually cleaning the shower or bath, the sink, and the toilet, as well as other jobs. Tackle each one separately when you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes. I personally clean all the toilets daily.

Always finish a job when you start it. You’ll find this easier when the jobs are quicker but don’t move on until the job you’re doing is finished. Leaving things half done will create a lot more stress than dedicating the necessary time to finish the job.

 

6. Have Dedicated Areas

An easy way to reduce clutter is to have dedicated areas. This isn’t for toys as such, but more for clothes, shoes, and so on. Have an area near the door for coats, shoes and bags, for example. You’ll find it much easier to get kids out of the house this way but it will also cut down on clutter thrown about the house.

 

7. Lower Your Standards

 If possible, reassess your standards for what you consider to be a clean home. I remember my Mum advising me on this when I said my first baby and I couldn’t imagine dropping my standards but it’s impossible to clean as much with a baby or young child/ children to look after! 

Specifically, your home does not need to be show home clean as long as the areas you use are clean and hygienic. Particularly when you have small children, there’s a level of acceptance that is required. I tend to clean and tidy once my toddler goes to bed otherwise it’s a cycle of mess!

My advice is to focus your attention on cleaning the kitchen and bathroom as the top priorities. If this means you don’t get a chance to dust once a week, so be it. The cleaning list you’ve written will help you prioritise tasks, and be sure to go easy on yourself if you’re not able to do all of them every week.

 To keep a clean home, busy parents should focus on cleaning smarter, not harder.

Tidying up and cleaning as you go along, and getting your kids involved, should make cleaning your home far more efficient, simply because there’s less mess to contend with! Leave a comment with your own cleaning hacks too please!