How to Clean a Room

Even though you may clean every single week, do you really know how to clean a room from top to bottom in the least amount of time? There are some tips that professional cleaning people use that can come in handy when cleaning your own house.

Feeling overwhelmed with cleaning responsibilities?

People are extremely busy these days. Between work, chauffeuring kids to and from events and social activities, there just isn't a lot of time for house cleaning. Unfortunately, most people can't afford a cleaning service to come in and do this work for them and it is a necessary evil that is vital to your family's health and to keep from being embarrassed when company comes over. Many people focus on the rooms that others will see upon entering their house and clean those regularly, but any room can benefit from a quick going over. Here are some ideas for making the most of the cleaning minutes you have available. Set a timer for fifteen or twenty minutes and get the whole family involved in this process by having each member take a different room to clean. One of the most important aspects in how to clean a room is having the right equipment. You'll need:

• Feather dusters
• Laundry baskets (more on this in a moment)
• Windex or window cleaner of your choice
• Furniture polish
• Clean rags
• Vacuum cleaner or broom and floor cleaner

It's impossible to even talk about how to clean a room quickly until you focus on the clutter that accumulates. There are spots in every home where this happens. Often, mail is thrown unsorted on the kitchen counter or shoes are kicked off by the front door. Many people will walk into a room prepared to clean, only to see the clutter and lose their focus because they are uncertain of where to start with their cleaning chores.

Laundry baskets are a life saver in this case, especially if there is company on the way over and you really must clean a room or two. Choose several large laundry baskets, one for each main room of your house or one for each family member if the clutter belongs to others in the house. Quickly place all the clutter in the room into these baskets and remove the baskets to their respective rooms or an out of the way closet until later. Now you have a clean slate without clutter and it will be much easier to clean.

If your home has gotten to the point of being so cluttered that the items will never fit in a few baskets, then forget cleaning the room for now and try a site such as FlyLady to begin decluttering your home and simplifying things.

Any professional house cleaner will tell you to start at the top when dusting. The dust will fall down, so you don't want to start at the bottom and work your way up. Take a large feather duster and swipe it over everything in the room working from one corner of the room and around to the other. If you are in a hurry, do this as quickly as possible.

This is a quick clean, so you don't really have time to clean windows. However, glass cleaner can come in handy for panels in your front door, which everyone sees when they prepare to enter your home, and for picture frames. Use the same process of starting in one corner of the room and working all the way around the room in a circle.

Use the furniture polish and dust off any wood furniture in the room. If you have a lot of wood with many little crevices and crannies, you may need to limit this to the tops if you are in a hurry. When you have more time, thoroughly dust every nook. Old cloth diapers are perfect for this job.

The last thing you'll want to do is run the vacuum cleaner or sweep and mop the floors. All of the dust will hopefully be on the floor now, so you will pick it up during your final sweep.

Many home owners like to finish up with a spritz of air freshener, such as Febreze or a homemade version. Scented candles add a nice touch for company. Happy cleaning!

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