Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Cleaning 101

I posted several weeks ago about how I hired a housekeeper to help me maintain the inside of our house. We decided that she should come every three weeks and so she's scheduled to come clean our house next Monday. Obviously, I have been maintaining things and the time line of every three weeks works perfectly for us. I cannot live in a dirty house, but I've learned to let go and let the housekeeper do the deep cleaning. It's just nice to not have to polish the furniture or scrub the tile floors. Is it Monday yet?

Part of my daily routine includes washing all the dishes, wiping down the kitchen counters and picking up the house. I cannot stand dirty dishes in the sink, especially when the dish washer is located right next to the sink. I mean, is it really that difficult to load dirty dishes into the dish washer? I also try to go through and organize the mail. The amount of mail we receive is ridiculous! By organizing the mail (shred, recycle and keep) it makes our mail pile less daunting. These little tasks only take a few minutes each day but help in the overall cleaning process. I think this makes keeping a clean and tidy house much easier. I'm fairly organized and so everything has a place in our house. When things are neat and organized, it makes other chores so much easier. Now if only I could stay on top of putting laundry away...

In preparation for the housekeeper's arrival, I've done a few things to help make the entire process easier. I've composed a checklist of what to clean and what cleaning products to use. I know it sounds a little OCD, but I prefer to use certain cleaning products in certain areas (i.e. no chemicals in Bella's room). I hope the housekeeper appreciates my checklist and this will assure that everything is cleaned to my liking. I've used the checklist myself and it helps me keep track of what I've done and what still needs to be done.

I recently purchased a new stick vacuum cleaner and a new steam mop. I listed our old steam mop on Craigslist and it actually sold! I was quite excited because it's my first sale on Craigslist and it was pretty much effortless. The new stick vacuum is awesome! It is cordless and it is powerful! The battery last 15-20 minutes which gives me more than enough time to quickly vacuum several times a week. It only takes 3 hours to recharge the battery, so I can get all my quick vacuuming completed within the same day. It's lightweight and is perfect for my every day vacuuming. It sure beats lugging out the Dyson vacuum cleaner! The new steam mop is pretty sweet, too! It came with several cleaning heads and can be used as a handheld steamer. I've used it on the sliding glass door and it easily melted off the toddler fingerprints and dog nose prints. New cleaning products always make cleaning more fun... in my opinion.

Anyway... that's how I keep our house clean and organized! It may not work for everybody but it works for our household. Now if I could only convince Ian to hire a live-in housekeeper... I'll keep dreaming about that one!

Love always,
Ian, Kim & Bella

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