Today’s question is from Jessica who asked about establishing a summer cleaning routine. Here is Jessica’s question:
What are ways you keep a house where everyone is home all the time? Clean one time each day? Clean as you go? Same with dishes, do them as you go, or spend one lump sum of time doing the dishes each day. Which is more time effective?
With more people coming in and out of the house during the summer, I find my house can really take a hit. So the first strategy I’d suggest is to look for ways to minimize the mess so it’s easier to stay on top of the cleaning. For example, establish a “take off your shoes at the door” rule so that the dirt stays in one spot and doesn’t get everywhere. If your home has kids who will be swimming or running through the sprinkler, keep beach towels by the door and encourage everyone to dry off at the door instead of running through the house wet.
As for how to fit in the ongoing cleaning, this one really boils down to personal preference. If your current cleaning routine is working well for you, consider if it would make sense to change it up during the summer. What benefit could you gain from doing something different? If it takes several hours to clean your home from top to bottom, then you may favor spreading the task out over the course of several days, instead of being stuck inside for hours at a time cleaning. My personal preference is to clean once a week and get it all done in one fell swoop. (And I enlist the help of my family members so it goes even faster.) But, I can certainly see the argument for cleaning one room a day or doing one cleaning task a day (such as floors one Monday, dusting on Tuesday, etc.) Choose the approach that feels right to you and then give yourself permission to change your mind if you decide it isn’t working as well as you’d like.
As for dishes, I’m a fan of washing them as you go. It’s easier to deal with dishes as soon as you’re done eating—before the food has a chance to get dried on and hard to remove. So I think it’s most time effective to do the dieshes right away, plus, having a clutter free kitchen sets the stage for the rest of the house.
If you’d like to read more about the pros and cons of creating a cleaning schedule, check out this post: Cleaning: Is it Better to Create a Schedule or Not?
What is your preferred approach to cleaning and dishes—do it all at once or clean as you go?
Thanks for sharing!
I prefer to do my dishes all at once, once a day. After dinner, I clean all my dishes from the day. This seems to work for me as I don’t have a dishwasher. However, when I had a dishwasher I washed as they became dirty.
A home is a place that is supposed to be inviting, so aesthetics will definitely have to be considered. Organizing ang maintaining cleanliness of the house are factors that makes it more inviting.
Thanks for your comment Mrs.McB. I’m definitely a fan of doing what works! Sounds like you’ve found a great system. Thanks for sharing!
~ Aby
I”m definitely in the camp of do the dishes as you go. That way that little nagging voice in your head that says “do the dishes” is gone! Your kitchen stays neat, and your mental clutter is reduced. a least a little bit!
I do as I go so if we have unexpected company we aren’t doing a mad rush.
I’m more of a neat freak in the kitchen so I do as as I go.
Thanks for you comments everyone! 🙂
~ Aby
Having an established cleaning routine can indeed make our cleaning tasks easier. These ideas that you have shared in establishing one are very helpful. Thanks for sharing.