Essential Cleaning Tips for Busy Moms

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When you’re juggling kids, work, husband, and social life, housework can often be the last thing on your mind. When time is short and the chores are many, keep these tips in mind for a spick and-span home in no time at all.

Get help from the rest of your family

We all know the old saying ‘Prevention is better than cure’. So this tip is good to keep in mind before the housework gets out of hand. Organize your family so that each member has a daily or weekly chore they must complete. Keep track of chores and whether they’ve been completed or not using a Star Chart, or you could use a Circle Chart where you can rotate the chores so everyone gets a new one each week.

Make sure that everyone is capable and knows exactly what to do to complete chores properly – you can even get them to work together to complete bigger tasks. But if the house is a mess and you have guests arriving, you need help fast! Design a competition where the person who helps the most wins a prize – a quick way to get some cleaning done.

Make sure you have the right tools for the job

Nothing is worse and will waste more time than trying to clean without having the right equipment. One of the best cleaning tools to have on hand is a powerful and versatile vacuum cleaner. This can help take care of hard and carpeted floors, pet hair, nooks, and crannies around the house, as well as dusting and getting rid of crumbs from cooking and eating areas. Powerful and effective vacuum cleaners remove more than just visible dirt and dust, they can also remove harmful allergens like dust mites and purify the air as you clean, leaving you with a safe and tidy home.

When it comes to cleaning cloths, microfiber cloths are some of the best you can get, making cleaning a breeze by trapping dirt, absorbing moisture, and being quick-drying, while still gentle on surfaces. A microfiber mop with a detachable fabric base is the perfect tool for cleaning of tiled surfaces, such as in the kitchen and the bathroom. After using the fabric attachments, it’s so simple to just throw them in the washing machine on hot and rid them of any nasty germs that might be lurking around.

Things don’t have to be spotless – clean enough is good enough

It’s so easy for us to put too much pressure on ourselves trying to keep our home spotlessly clean. But as a busy working mom with a family, such a feat is almost impossible! As soon as something is clean, it won’t be long until it’s messy again.

Taking a more relaxed view towards cleaning can be better for you and your family. In fact, studies have shown that overzealous cleaning may actually be detrimental to your family’s health. Bleach has recently been shown to be bad for children’s immune systems, and using antibacterial cleaning products has been shown firstly, not to be any more effective at preventing disease than other products, and secondly, to potentially lead to the development of resistant strains of bacteria.

In terms of cleaning products, it’s better to choose natural and biodegradable products that clean effectively while being gentle on your family and harmless to the environment.

Consider hiring someone to help – it might not be as costly as you think

Sometimes we are just too busy to work a job, look after kids and hubby, and cook and clean for a family – we’re only human after all. If it feels a bit too much to handle, you’re not alone, with a million more people hiring a home cleaner in the U.K. now than just 10 years ago. In fact, these days with many families being dual income and both parents working during the week, having some domestic help is more often seen as a necessity rather than a luxury.

Many people choose a professional cleaning company for peace of mind and quality assurance, but freelance home cleaners advertise in local papers or online classifieds, where you can find a variety of options to suit many budgets. If you have friends who use a home cleaner, you could ask how much they pay so you can anticipate the going rate in your area. Don’t be afraid to ask for references from prospective cleaners, after all, this person will be coming into your home and you need to feel comfortable. Having someone come in and do a big clean once a week can be cost-effective and time-saving, allowing you to have more time to take care of business, or enjoy with your family.

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