How to Clean

Some of my earliest memories are of listening to records and dusting tables with my father while mom napped with my newborn brother.  He would spray Pledge on the tables while we danced around the living room then I wiped the Pledge off.  

At some point that all stopped.  They hired a cleaner and I didn’t think about cleaning until I was 17.  We didn’t even really think about tidying in my home, and we had way too much stuff.  The cleaner kept things clean, but things were often cluttered and messy. 

Not having good cleaning and straightening habits made my college years a little chaotic.  A messy room makes everything just a little more difficult, especially during high-stress times like finals.

So let’s take a moment to talk about how to clean and how often different spaces should be cleaned.

How Often Should You Clean

The number of people using a space will greatly affect how dirty it becomes.  High traffic areas and spaces dedicated to hygiene or food need to be cleaned more often than most recreational spaces.  There are a lot of factors that go into deciding how often things should be cleaned. 

These are general guidelines, but they are a good starting point.

Daily or at Every Use

• Dishes
• Cups
• Utensils 
• Water bottles
• Lunchboxes
• Kitchen Counters
• Surfaces you eat off, like the dining room table or your desk
• General tidying

Weekly

• Bathrooms
• Kitchens
• The toilet
• Makeup brushes
• Sheets and pillowcases
• Floors

Monthly

• Dusting rarely used/ display items
• Baseboards
• Light switches
• Mirrors
• Windows
• Deep cleaning

Cleaning Strategies

Everyone cleans slightly differently and at slightly different intervals.  Some people like to spend a day cleaning everything all at once, while others like to pepper cleaning throughout every day.  Busier people tend to find it easier to stay on top of household maintenance if it is built into routine.  

Start building a cleaning habit now.  Put things away immediately.  Instead of putting things in the sink, put them straight in the dishwasher, or wash them.  If a chore needs to be done, do it.

Find little ways of incorporating cleaning into daily routines.  For example, I have a scrub brush in my shower.  It has cleaning fluid in the handle (half vinegar, half dish soap).  I use it to give my shower a quick scrub while I’m getting my hair wet.  The shower is always clean.  

Stage cleaning supplies where they get used.  If the toilet cleaner is under the kitchen sink, the toilet isn’t going to get cleaned very often. 

Easy, Cheap Cleaning Supplies

Buying a bunch of cleaning supplies is unnecessary and expensive.  I know a lot of people who have a specific cleaner for every specific surface they clean.  What a waste of money and space!  The whole house can be cleaned with a glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, and an all-purpose cleaner/ sanitizer.

For day-to-day cleaning, I recommend just using some white vinegar and water.  The vinegar sanitizes the surface without costing tons of money.  Vinegar can also be used as a fabric softener and banishes hard water stains.  

When deep cleaning, it is nice to use something a little stronger than vinegar.  Consider a multipurpose glass cleaner for monthly or quarterly deep cleans.  I have an affinity for Lysol and Windex, but everyone has their favorites.

Any toilet cleaner will do.  Just pick up whatever is on sale in a 2-pack so there is always some in reserve.  I’ve been experimenting with toilet cleaning bombs, but haven’t found one I like yet.  I’ll add the recipe below when I do.

Finally, cleaning wipes can make cleaning common surfaces fast and easy.  There are a bunch of cleaning wipes on the market, but they are extremely easy to DIY.  Make reusable wipes out of a worn-out sheet or T-Shirt, some soap, water, and vinegar.  

How to Deep Clean a room

Top to bottom, right to left.  

Start cleaning at the top on one side of the room, and work around to the other side of the room.  Finish each level of cleaning before proceeding to the next highest level.

As an example, when deep cleaning a kitchen, start with the upper cabinets.  Clean each cabinet top shelf to bottom shelf, then clean the outside.  Work around the kitchen from one side to the other and don’t skip anything.  Once the upper cabinets are clean, clean any appliances built into them (like the microwave).  Then clean the backsplash, and then the countertops.  After the counters, clean the sink.  Next, clean lower cabinets and then finally the floor.

Each level will shed dirt and grime onto the surface below it.  Start at the top and then work down to avoid having to clean something twice.  

Work from right to left so when interrupted it is easy to remember where you left off. 

Move methodically through the space.  It will be faster and result in a better clean.

Favorite Cleaning Hacks & Recipes

Cleaning Vinegar

Vinegar alone makes a fantastic cleaning solution, but it doesn’t smell particularly good.  Vinegar alone doesn’t clean grease particularly well either. 

A lot of people get around vinegar’s shortfalls by adding essential oils.  But essential oils are expensive and potentially bad for the environment.  

The solution?  Make a cleaning vinegar using scrap citrus rinds.

Citrus oils cut grease and make the vinegar smell nice.  Simply take some leftover citrus peels and soak them in vinegar for 2 weeks.  The liquid will absorb the citrus “essential oils” 

Strain off the vinegar into a storage container and toss the citrus peels.  Use the improved vinegar in cleaning and sanitizing solutions.

Soap and Water

A surprising amount can be cleaned with just soap and water.  Don’t spend money on a bunch of abrasive chemicals to clean a stove or the counters.  A little bit of soap on a damp rag will usually do just fine.  If something is particularly stubborn, try soaking it in a little soap and water before reaching for something harsher.

Default to soap and water before bringing out something stronger.

Scrub Brushes and Wash Cloths over Sponges

Sponges get dirty quickly, and they are impossible to fully re-sanitize.  We did a lot of dishes and I think we went through a sponge a month, even after throwing it in the dishwasher.  They just wear out fast.

Scrub brushes and washcloths last.  They make dishwashing cloths that have a scrubby side.  I got a 4 pack in my sophomore year of college.  I still have them, and I use them almost daily.  They last and are easy to clean.

Scrub brushes also last a long time, and they clean very easily in the dishwasher.  

Floor Cleaner

There are a thousand specialty floor cleaners out there.  I don’t know why when vinegar and water will easily do the trick.  When floors need a deep clean, just add a touch of castile soap, and then do a rinse mopping afterward. 

The ratio: ⅓ vinegar: ⅔ water

Cleaning Rags

Most kitchen paper can be replaced with reusables to save tons of money.  Rip up a dead sheet to make “paper” towels.  Then if they get too dirty, don’t feel bad about tossing one or two.  They were free anyway.

Worn out t-shirts make great cleaning rags too.  Before tossing anything made of cloth, consider turning it into cleaning rags.

Clean Dishes with a Bar of Soap

Bar soap has a tendency to be cheaper and last longer than liquid soap.  Just about anything can be cleaned with bar soap.

To wash dishes using bar soap, make sure the soap doesn’t have any lotions or moisturizers in it.  Pure coconut or castile soap is best for household cleaning tasks.

Rub a damp dish brush or sponge on the bar of soap and then wash dishes like normal.  Enjoy the savings!

Salt

Salts make fantastic abrasives.  Epsom salt with vinegar can cut through even the oldest water spots.  A little salt on a cast iron pan can pull off all the built-up grease and frond without pulling the finish.

When stuck scrubbing, consider throwing some salt on the problem.  It usually makes things go faster.

Buy Refillable Bottles

I aim for minimalism so I can’t stand having duplicates of most things.  Cleaning supplies are an exception.  If the cleaning supplies aren’t exactly where I need them, things aren’t getting cleaned.

Get some empty plastic spray bottles at the local hardware store for under a dollar.  Pick up enough to have a cleaning solution staged where it will be used throughout the apartment.  In a small one-room apartment, that may mean keeping one bottle in the kitchen and one in the bathroom.  A larger roommate situation may require more.

Make it Routine

Put things away immediately.  Do the dishes as they come.  Build cleaning into the routine.  

What do all these tips have in common?  

Cleaning and tidying are built into the routine.  It keeps things from being overwhelming.  

I like to think of this as having empathy for my future self.  If everything is tidy, it reduces frustration.  I don’t have to worry about having to clean all the dishes in the sink to get to the measuring cup so I can make dinner because the sink is already clear.  

Of course, I don’t manage to stay on top of things all the time.  Sometimes I fall behind.  I’ve fallen behind recently, and it is going to take a couple of hours to catch up.  

Wrapping it all up

Creating a cleaning routine and sticking with it will reduce long term frustration and allow for more fluid and frequent study sessions.  Start practising now by keeping your room and bathroom clean, and do what you can to help maintain common spaces. 

You deserve to live in a clean space so you feel comfortable hosting random study sessions or a paramour.  

What are your favorite cleaning hacks?  Let me know in the comments below.  And don’t forget to like and share.