Keeping the home clean can sometimes feel like such a chore but after I discovered these 7 genius cleaning habits my house stayed effortlessly clean! You might just be surprised by how easy it actually is to keep your home in a continuous state of clean with these easy tips!
Some of these habits are just mindset changes. I mean, it sounds easy, but in the beginning you might have to remind yourself a few times until it becomes a true habit.
7 GENIUS HABITS OF PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS KEEP A CLEAN HOME
1. CLEAN WHILE YOU COOK
The first tip and this one is probably the biggest! We all have gotta eat, therefore our kitchens will get a bit messy from time to time. The secret to a clean kitchen is to ultimately clean while you cook.
Once you get in the habit of this you will be amazed at how nice your kitchen looks even after you had just whipped up a whole meal. What I also love about cleaning while cooking is how easy it is to clean up after you finish eating.
The worst thing is to look at your messy kitchen right after you just enjoyed that yummy meal and think “look at that mess-I gotta clean all that!”
So if your all busy cooking, how in the world are you actually supposed to clean? The secret is to pick it up, throw it away, wipe it down as soon as you are done with the current activity-before moving onto the next.
The trick here is to be consistent and put things away as you finish using them. You will be amazed at how much less cleaning you will need to do when you are done cooking.
My husband loves to cook but always leaves everything out whenever he makes dinner. The kitchen always looks like a mighty explosion by the time he is finished. He is happy to clean up after, so it works for him. I am completely the opposite and cannot stand cooking where everything is out. I constantly put things away when I am finished with them and wipe things down as I finish using them or stick them in the dishwasher immediately. Sometimes the only thing left to clean up by the time I am done with dinner is the pot and spoon.
Some examples you can easily try
- Put dishes away while waiting for water to boil
- Wipe down counters while food is simmering
- Waiting for rice to cook? Wash the dishes
- While you sauté, throw away empty food packages
- Used a seasoning or spice? Put it back in the cupboard as soon as your done
2. PUT YOUR DIRTY DISHES IN THE DISHWASHER
This one sounds pretty obvious right? Well the secret here is to put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher immediately. As soon as you are finished using that dish or utensil, rinse it and plop it into that dishwasher right away! This also means that you regularly need to have an empty dishwasher available.
You can empty the dishwasher first thing in the morning, fill it up as you go throughout your day and run it before bed. This way you will never have to "do dishes" and will always have a clean kitchen, an empty sink and more time to spend doing something else you enjoy.
I remember when I first learned this trick I was truly amazed at how simply genius it was! Growing up our family would stack dishes into the sink until it was full, and then someone would have to clean up the mess. Usually we traded off who did the dishes each night, but it was pretty dreadful. In my home today, we immediately clean up after ourselves. By the end of the night or after dinner, there are only a couple pots and pans to clean up. It takes just a few minutes and it's not even a "thing" anymore.
If you can get your family on board with the simple task of cleaning up their dishes after themselves, you will all enjoy the extra time and cleanliness together. If you find that you are the one constantly getting dish duty, a simple conversation to guide your family into practicing this good habit will be totally worth it. Trust me, you'll thank yourself later!
3. HAVE A HOME FOR EVERYTHING
So what exactly does having a home for everything mean? It means that all items in your home have a designated place.
Homes that are always clean are also well organized homes. All things have a designated location, which makes clean up a breeze. If you don't have a designated location for a certain item, it may be time to re-evaluate its importance.
Finding a good "home" for all of your things will help keep clutter at bay and will also make it easier for you to find certain things. Especially those things that you always seem to need, but can never really find when you actually need them. Things like scissors, or keys, or pens, receipts, or even buttons from new clothes that you purchase.
Small things like this can easily create clutter and distraction. Having a safe place to put your things away when you are finished using them will truly make your life easier and keep your home looking nice and tidy.
Make organizing your home a priority to keep it always looking nice and tidy.
4. PUT IT AWAY THE MOMENT YOU ARE DONE
This is something my mom used to tell me all the time when I was a kid and it drove me crazy! I would be too busy playing and having fun in the moment that I definitely didn't want to stop what I was doing, just because I was no longer playing with XYZ Barbies and their wardrobe.
As an adult I totally understand this. Although I am no longer playing with barbie dolls, I am doing other things like craftings, DIYing and such. The moment you are done with the project-put it away.
This isn’t a rule for just big projects either. This habit should pertain to just about anything and everything you do. You take it out, you use it, you are done with it, put it away immediately. Don't let your future self deal with the mess. Take care of it in the moment. This will keep your home looking spotless at all times! No mess-no fuss!
Think in terms of daily use items. You are putting your makeup on in the morning and you take out your moisturizers, primer, foundation, mascara, make-up brushes-etc. Instead of leaving everything on the counter to deal with later, just immediately put it away. You will be amazed at how easy it is to keep your home clean when you practice this simple good habit.
- Finished eating that granola bar? Toss out the wrapper
- Finished washing your face? Put away the face wash
- Finished drinking that soda? Recycle the bottle
- Finished using that pen? Put it back in your pen holder
- Finished reading that book? Put it back in the bookcase
Once you do this a few times, it will seem as though it's become ingrained in your system. You just start putting things away without even thinking twice about them. All you have to do is start!
Bonus tip: If it takes less than 1 minute, do it. This is something that sounds simple, and pertains to the "Put it Away the moment you are done with it" scenario but slightly differs. It means, if you see something that's out of place and it will take you less than a minute to do it, just take care of it immediately.
5. LAUNDRY DAY IS EVERYDAY
You know that person who can never hang out on the weekends because they always tell you it's laundry day? Well this is especially for that person. Let me tell you that laundry day should be everyday. Yep, you heard that right!
Think of it this way, if you are using dishes everyday, several times a day, you are most likely doing the dishes every single day. Well, you wear clothes everyday. Sometimes you change into a few different outfits throughout the day as well.
For example, you wear a robe after a shower in the morning, you work outfit, you come home and put on your loungewear and then get into Pjs before bed. Well, maybe you don't change that much but you get the point. Just like washing the dishes daily, you should be doing a load of laundry daily too.
What if I don't have enough dirty laundry to make a full load?
Lucky you! Just do your laundry as needed, but you are more likely to need to do laundry every few days. If you are using sheets, blankets, towels, then you will need to clean these items regularly too. Consider adding some of these items to your daily routine and make it a habit of having a full closet of clean clothes and fresh linens.
Laundry is one of those things that can pile up quickly and instantly make your home look messy and potentially smelly too. If you can manage to do just one load of laundry everyday you will be set. You will never have to deal with massive piles of laundry and you won't have to miss out on doing fun things because you have a huge laundry project every sunday.
Doing a load of laundry everyday means not only putting your clothes in the washer, but also moving them into the dryer (this is for the forgetful) AND putting your freshly cleaned clothes away immediately. This habit will help your home always look sparkling clean, clutter free and absent of any questionable fragrances.
If you did just one load of laundry a day, that's a total 7 loads in one week. No more spending your entire weekends doing chores!
Its honestly so much easier to do just a single load of laundry a day (or as soon as you have a load ready) rather than waiting for "laundry day" and having a gigantic mound of laundry to clean, organize and put away.
Think you don't have time to do a daily load of laundry? I get it, life is busy and somethings are just not that fun to do. You could trade 15 mins of social media time to fold and put away your laundry. You’re future self will thank you for it, even if your in the moment self wants nothing to do with laundry.
- Put your laundry in the wash before you go to work and switch it when you get home, then put away
- Get in the habit of putting a load of laundry in the wash at night and switch it in the morning to the dryer, then put away after work
- If you work from home, or are a SAHP (stay at home person) then get into the habit of running a load first thing in the morning
If you are concerned that your clothes might smell a little musty after leaving them in the wash for a few hours, try adding a cup of baking soda to your loads. This will help to eliminate any musky scents.
It's better to switch the laundry right away and put your clothes away while they are still warm. You will avoid wrinkles and you will feel that instant satisfaction of a job well done.
Avoid "The Sweet Spot" like the plague!
You know the sweet spot. Its that spot that you put your worn clothes basically anywhere other than the hamper. Like the chair, a corner of your bedroom, the bathroom floor or even right next to the laundry basket. This is a habit you should immediately work on if you want to have an effortlessly clean home! Just do you'r self a favor and immediately hang your clothes back up, fold them and put them back in the drawer or if they are ready for a wash, stick it that laundry basket.
6. KEEP IT CONVENIENT
This one is probably the easiest one on the list here. This is more of a something you do once rather than a habit, but I had to include it because the convenience factor will gain you bonus points it terms of establishing good cleaning habits.
Keep your cleaning supplies and tools readily available, convenient and nearby the location you are most likely to use them.
For example, if you have a trashcan in the kitchen, but you keep your fresh trash bags out in the garage, you may be less motivated to take out the trash because you have to walk all the way out into the garage and bring it back to the kitchen. But if you had your trash bags readily available under the sink right next to your trash can, the convenience factor plays a huge role in motivating you to ge that trash out.
This works for all spaces. Keep shower cleaners in bathrooms, dish soaps and sprays in kitchen and you get the idea. Convenience like this breeds good cleaning habits.
If you have little ones who could potentially get into the cleaning products and you need to keep it out of their reach, you can try using a basket or bucket to carry all of your supplies to the designated space to make cleaning more convenient.
7. MAKE YOUR BED
I should have probably started off with this tip first. Making your bed first thing in the morning can help set up your entire day for success. It's a fantastic habit to develop and practice every day. Making your bed takes just a few minutes, doesn’t take much effort and can instantly transform a bedroom. Have you ever walked into to a home that just looks effortlessly spotless?
Making their beds are the very first thing they did that day. Make it a habit! It will help to make you feel more mentally clear, clean and will motivate you to continue on with your successful day. It will also keep you from crawling back into bed during the day and spending too much time scrolling through Instagram or Tik-Tok.
7 GENIUS HABITS OF PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS KEEP A CLEAN HOME
- Clean While You Cook
- Put Your Dirty Dishes in The Dishwasher Immediately
- Have A Home For Everything
- Put it Away the moment you are done
- Laundry Day is Everyday
- Keep Cleaning Supplies Convenient
- Make Your Bed
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