This post is brought to you by Bounty.
I'm a member of the #QuickerPickerUpper Crew, but all of my opinions are mine.
Need to clean the house fast? I promise it can be done.
Today, I'm sharing my favorite tips and tricks for cleaning the house in under an hour....because company's coming, y'all!
And we may not have had a warning. ;)
Can you believe the Rio 2016 Olympic
Games are right around the corner? Bounty, the Quicker Picker Upper, has teamed up with one of the quickest women in the world, Olympic Sprinter and Four-Time Gold Medalist Allyson Felix. Allyson Felix is quick on the track, but she’s also quick at home because she uses Bounty Paper Towels, which helps her clean up messes and spills in record time.
And along with that theme of QUICK...today, I am sharing how to clean your house fast for company...because sometimes you don't have a lot of warning, right?
Grab a fresh roll of Bounty Paper Towels, a good multi-purpose cleaner and let's get started!
Tell me you've been there...the milk just spilled across the counter, supper is splattered all over the stove, the kids have their homework strewn all over the table (and their sports gear up and down the hall), the toilet is over flowing, and the dog just threw up. Then the phone rings and your friends who you haven't seen in a while are about to blow through town and want to stop by and say heyyyyy! Ahhhh-freak out.
It's time to pull it together and do the quickest clean you've probably ever done. But you got this, friend.
One thing you will need to speed clean your way through the house is a timer...use one on your phone or a kitchen timer. But stick with it. You'll just have a short amount of time per space...and if you get caught up looking through the mail and not sticking to your time, you're already sunk! BLARGH!
First off, all hands on deck. In our house, this kind of cleaning is a group affair. If you don't have that luxury, you can still press on and be successful. But, if you do...use it to your advantage. I divide things out: one kid is my picker upper, one kid is my wiper-downer, the husband is on dish duty, and I tackle the rest of it. The timer is usually just for me.
I start in the kitchen. Set the timer for 15 minutes. While hubs does dishes, I clear off counters (I pull out a laundry basket and put the random stuff in there...then my picker-upper kid grabs this and distributes it properly-ish). I clean off appliances and my wiper downer kid uses the Bounty Paper Towels and all-purpose cleanser (my cleanser is made from essential oils and also disinfects as it cleans...I need dual purpose in all facets of life, really). He cleans any spills we have, too. Don't forget to empty the trash can. The final step is to sweep up and spot mop. I would love to say I mop the whole house, but our new home is larger and that just isn't possible, time wise. I have a mop that has the cleanser in it and I can spot out the problem areas. I do mop the entire house once a week...but not for a quick clean. (Oh, and BONUS...these new floors don't show the dust nearly as bad as our old ones did...SCORE!).
Having the dishes done is half the battle. In my single days, I remember placing a dirty casserole dish in the oven to hide it from a friend popping in. I forgot about it until preheating the oven a few days later. GAH. These days, we do better about keeping the dishwasher emptied all the time (having preteens is great, y'all!). So, if folks are swinging by, it's easy to load that baby up. The key is to not turn it on until after they leave...you don't want them to know you just cleaned up! ;)
The other hot spot? Bathrooms. I set a 15 minute timer and focus on all bathrooms (I run between them as fast as I can). My picker upper picks up towels and anything else that made its way to the floor (again, two preteen boys...towels aren't always hung up perfectly). My wiper downer wipes countertops with paper towels and cleanser. I clean potties and sweep. I also make sure to put out a fresh hand towel in the half bath and give the rug a good toss to fluff it up. If I have a lot less than an hour, I only tidy up this space. But, with a new house, we get a lot of "give us the tour!". So, more time is very beneficial so I can touch up each bathroom.
I have a wax warmer or essential oil diffuser in every bathroom (except the half bath...no plug!). I add a fresh oil or wax to each one of these. In the half bath, I light the candle. Be sure to empty out the bathroom trash cans, too.
We do have multiple living areas in this home, but we try to keep the "nice one" tidy most of the time. But, I do spend a good deal of time tidying these living spaces. Again, Mr. Pick-Up and Mr. Wipe-Down follow me in here (laundry basket in tow!). In here, it's a two minute dust, two minute pillow straightening, sweeping and spot mopping. Overall, it's about a 10 minute job.
I think a good, chopped pillow always makes for a fresh, clean room.
After living areas, we move to bedrooms. Books are tidied, beds are straightened (made if they're not already), and I do a quick dust with a feather duster. I don't stress too terribly much over my boys' rooms. I have one kid who is neat-as-a-pin. He will usually help the other to tidy his room, so that works out pretty well. If guests are staying overnight, I make sure the sheets on that bed are clean. I definitely don't have time for a good "pattern vacuum", but usually the hubs does the vacuum touch ups if we're quick cleaning. We spend about 15 minutes in the bedrooms.
For the last couple of minutes, I use glass cleaner on our three sliding glass doors...they're all visible from the main living area, and our dogs get them filthy. So, they do need a both-sided wipe down. I also give a quick sweep to the entryway and porch and spot mop the entry.
Light a candle in the living area and call it good! It is possible to clean your house fast for company. The trick is to stay focused and move very quickly from task to task. Our house does stay fairly tidy on a regular basis (well, as much as can be expected, I suppose). If you have smaller kiddos, this may take just a bit more time.
Bounty is inviting everyone to join Team Quicker Picker Upper online and share
their best quicker picker upper tips showcasing how Bounty helps you beat the
clock when it comes to cleaning up spills and messes. Tweet your tip to @Bounty and use #quicktip and #promotion. Bounty will
donate $1 for every #quicktip tweet to Community Olympic Development
Programs (CODP), which helps progressing athletes from the beginning stages of
development to the elite level.
Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:
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