How to maintain a clean Home

The oldest house in the world can be traced back to the prehistoric period, even before 9000 B.C. The significance of a house and the prominence of cleaning it has been mentioned for many centuries now. Citations and statements on clean homes have been in many religious books as well. The bible states that “For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” Time and again there has been stressed emphasis laid upon the necessity and benefits of a clean home. Famous author Agatha Christie once said, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” A smart quote from an unknown author reads, “House work is something you do that nobody notices until you don’t do it.”

Cleaning the home is a mission in itself that is seldom achievable by few and to add to it the horror of maintaining it, is like asking one to climb Mount Everest and then settle there forever. A clichéd task, maintaining a clean home is a dreaded topic for many. Though not as complex as rocket engineering, the job to sustain a clean and tidy home can give jitters to many a working women. With the crazy work schedules and untimely lifestyle of today, finding time to clean and then maintain the tidiness of your adobe can be a stressful and tearful subject to tread upon. As a working woman and a mother of a toddler, I am often face to face with the dilemma of maintaining the cleanliness of my house. Listed below are some of my best practices that I acquired over a period of time to help me clean and maintain my little heaven, my home. How I tackle this issue is by following a few must follow thumb rules of cleaning. I have broadly classified my cleaning activities into 3 steps:

• Rule Number One:

Make up your mind to stay on the clean-a-thon from start to finish, let it not be a splash in the pan. Know your home, know the areas of concern in your house and plan your course of action. As exciting and thrilling the idea of a clean home may sound, the path to it is equally challenging. It has often happened to me that I would start the cleaning with great vigor, but let it die in a short span of time.

• Rule Number Two:

Divide the chores. Plan the activity through. It has always helped me to plan and divide the different tasks of cleaning required. I generally split my work into two categories, the lesser challenging and the difficult time consuming ones. I tag them as the quickies and the grimes. This strategy helps me in finishing the relatively easier and less time consuming tasks quickly like put back the out of place articles, be it books, clothes, accessories, utensils, footwear and even the upholstery, where they belong. I then tackle the problematic chores like dusting, scrubbing, washing, mopping and polishing. This is a floor to roof exercise, from the bathrooms to the window sills to the air conditioners to the ceiling attachments. This process is imperative and very pleasurable once completed.

• Rule Number Three:

Change the covers of your upholstery as often as you can, to keep it from staining beyond repair and also to give your house the clean and different look. I always end my cleaning activity by revisiting my labor and checking for loop holes if any. It’s a great tip and best practice to revisit a completed task. It so happens that sometimes in the urgency to clean, one tends to overlook some areas of concern that need attending to. Once I have completed the three rule process, voila! My dwelling is all sparkling and shiny.

To achieve this goal of a clean and healthy home always, one needs to instill a few elementary and simple steps. It takes a lot to spend a whole day with brooms and mops but what’s great is it takes less than 10% of your time to maintain to the hard work. Must do’s on a daily basis to maintain a clean home:

• Address any cleanliness issues as soon as it arises.
• Make your beds, organize your books, accessories and clothes.
• Wash up utensils after use. Never sleep over a dirty kitchen.
• Do your laundry regularly to avoid a huge pile up.
• Regular dusting is a must.