Your nightly clean up around the house should be simple and stress free. If you’re overwhelming yourself, stop. The floors don’t need to be cleaned as much as you think they do. Now, if you maintain a healthy morning routine then this edition should be rather breezy. And relaxing!
Nightly Cleaning Routine
Assuming we keep a well maintained home throughout the week doing these everyday tasks, our nightly cleaning routine should be about the same each night and go pretty smoothly. If not, no worries. Hop on the daily train and you’ll get there, we promise! First let me state that going minimal when trying to establish a stress free house cleaning lifestyle is key! You cannot possibly hold it all together with too much stuff. Join #theunclutteredproject to start your monthly decluttering challenges now.
How To Speed Clean Before Bed
The first thing I always do in our home before we go to bed is place a throw blanket over our sofa. We have cats so some of our furniture needs to be covered. I also don’t have pet toys out during the day. Our cats play with their mice at night, so after I’ve picked up the floors and swept, I throw their mice and toys on the floor for them to enjoy.
- Empty and clean out the kitchen sink– this is really important if you’re interested in living even an ounce healthier because the kitchen sink is the DIRTIEST part of the home. I load the dishwasher, start running the faucet and squirting soap and baking soda in. Scrub it, rinse and dry! DRY the sinks: this is crucial because water creates bacteria.
- Load and run the dishwasher or do the dishes by hand– I do several handwashing of dishes like, glasses and pans that I don’t like placing in the dishwasher, so the key to keeping up is just a system of doing them when you see that they need to be done. Whether that’s putting in the dishwasher or a pitcher (silverware) or in a bin near the sink (I try not to keep dishes in the sink because the sight of it alone gives myself anxiety).
- Straighten up– tidying up whenever possible is really key to sanity! I do this often depending on what my days look like but get into the habit of making sure things are not on the floors, clothes are put away and clutter has disappeared. Folding throw blankets, puffing pillows, putting shoes where they belong, vacuum one bedroom at a time (not in the same day if it’s too much for you), going through mail, shred whatever you don’t need (don’t save papers if you don’t need them), etc.
Nightly House Cleaning Routines That Eliminate The Overload
- Empty garbage bins– getting into the habit of emptying garbage bins throughout the house establishes structure in the home and helps you develop an automatic balance of cleanliness. I try to make sure the bathroom trash bins are usually empty by the end of the night and take the kitchen trash down to the dumpster. If you are afraid of wasting garbage bags, opt for smaller ones because I’d rather toss the garbage in our home daily than allow funky odors to build up!
Everyday Nightly Cleaning Routine
Here’s some rad checklists if you need. I don’t use a ‘schedule’ because I’ve been cleaning ever since I was 12 and I just naturally do what needs to be done. For those of you who have never learned how to clean, you may want to print things out to remind you until you become accustom to this lifestyle.
Your nightly cleaning routine should be simple and yes, relaxing. When you speed clean it’s totally meant for a rather lazy style of cleaning because we don’t have a lot of time. Let’s face it, we don’t want to spend hours of cleaning because it’s not meant to be that way. Instead we’d rather snuggle cozy on the sofa with our loved ones watching holiday movies and eating popcorn.
- picking up- 2 min
- wiping down surfaces- 2 min
- taking trash out- 1 min
- sweep/vacuum- 3 min
- cleaning sink and dishes- 3 min
- fold + put away clothing- 3 min
- making sure home is safe- 1 min
- spending time with family- timeless
Doing little things each day is what creates balance in the home. You don’t have to do it all. If all you have time for is a quick hot rag wipe down of the stove after dinner then so be it. Relax and have a plan. It’ll all come together.
Best Cleaning Tips For The Everyday Busy Mama
This is how I save time and money on laundry. Another tip of mine is if you don’t have time to put your clothes away, just place them nicely folded in a basket until you do have time. And don’t let clothes sit in the washer or dryer long because that just ruins the clothing and creates mildew in the wash. Try to at least remove them from those appliances immediately by transferring them into a basket.
Stress Free House Cleaning
If you’re not a minimalist then some tasks may seem daunting and we don’t want that. In order to enjoy cleaning we must make it as easy as possible. And to be honest, the only way to easily clean is to eliminate what we don’t need. I encourage everyone to declutter at least once a month, do a closet purge often and I challenge you to adapt to this lifestyle if you haven’t already || It’s truly a gift!
What are some MUSTS that you do each night before going to bed? I gather every family is not the same and each of us has our own routines and styles of cleaning, so share them in the comments Mama’s. Until next time, more coffee please. XO- V
