Not too long ago we put together an article looking at our top 10 rules for a cleaner home. We then asked all of our fans to tell us their number one rule for a cleaner home. We received a ton of responses, so much so that we decided to create a follow-up article with 10 more rules, all of which have been provided by the Clean My Space community.
Always Expect Company
This one comes from Carmen Flores and she says:
My cleaning every day ‘Commandment’ is, Clean up as if expecting company today.
That one is a great motivator for you to get your mojo on when it comes to cleaning. It forces you to work quickly. You want to make everything look great when company is coming. However, you don’t have to focus on all the little details. It’s more about the general tidiness than it is about the microscopic cleanliness of the space.
Everything Has a Place
Here’s a smart one from Chantelle Roughton who says:
We have three kids and I’ve been teaching them how everything has a place. It’s nice that they’re finally understanding if something’s in its place, it’s easier to find it when needed.
This is a great general rule. It’s something that Chad and I hope to pass on to Riley when she’s ready and able because it’s true. If you know where everything goes, it’s much easier to find it. It’s much easier to put it back. And of course, if it doesn’t have a home, it doesn’t belong in your home.
Never Leave Dishes Overnight
A kitchen focused tip comes from Beth Simes who says:
Empty the kitchen sink every night. I’ve come to realize that soaking dishes overnight only makes you get up to a stinky kitchen in the morning. Yes, even the really baked on stuff. Just get out the baking soda and elbow grease and get it done.
I love her attitude. This is very true and very helpful. Procrastination will just lead to more work that needs to be done the next day. Just get to it and get it done. I promise you’ll feel great knowing you are going down to a clean kitchen in the morning.
Clean As You Go
Non Empty String says:
Number one for me is clean as you cook. If something needs to boil for 10 minutes, I will clean my knife and my cutting board in the meantime. That way when I’m finished, I can enjoy the meal after eating. I’ll clean the plate and I’m done. The kitchen doesn’t look like a bomb exploded in it.
Chad is really great when it comes to this tip. I can often smell the food he’s made but don’t see a trace of the mess.
WWMD
Ron Martinez is a long-time Canadian Clean My Space fan. He says his top tip is:
Easy. WWMD. What would Melissa do?
This one makes me laugh because I am a recovering slob but I do know a thing or two about cleaning. It’s nice to know you keep me in your thoughts while trying to keep clean.
Mess Begets Mess
Here’s one from Simple Full:
Mess begets mess. I love your saying
This is something I often say and it’s actually a great rule. If you keep this in mind, you’ll know that if you leave a mess out, it’s going to attract more of a mess. So if you never leave a mess out, you will never see a big mess.
Do It Now
This philosophy, which I love, comes from hannylovely5; she says
The most important cleaning rule in our house is if it takes less than a minute to do, do it now.
This is so empowering! It’s one rule that takes care of the majority of small messes and clutter because it puts the task in perspective. It’s one or two quick things that you can take care of right now. This way mess doesn’t build up and you’ll have less or no mess to tackle later on.
Be Laundry Ready
Mrs. Jones says:
Laundry cannot be taken out of the dryer until you are completely ready to fold it and put it away.
And clean clothes never go into a basket. Any time clean clothes get put into a basket, it just sits there and doesn’t get put away”. If you have seen the bad habits video, you’ll know this is a really bad habit of Chad’s. It drives me absolutely nuts. So, I think, this rule really is great. You take your stuff out of the dryer, fold it immediately and put it away. If you need a basket to get from your basement to your bedroom, fine. But the basket is not the final resting place for your clothing.
Don’t Lean, Clean
Imagine this next rule being vocalized by a very harsh army Drill Sergeant. This one comes from h20fowler2012:
If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.
This is pretty self-explanatory. If you have nothing better to do then get to cleaning. You’ll be happy you tackled that task rather than sitting around doing nothing.
Dishwashers Are For Dirty Dishes
Kim Schoeff says:
Dishwashers are for dirty dish storage, not clean dish storage.
In other words, when your dishwasher dings, unload it. Don’t fish in the dishwasher to get out a clean dish. If you have time to get one clean dish out, you probably have 3 minutes to just unloaded it. And by the way, unloading your dishwasher means that you can load it up with dirty dishes instead of letting them pile up in the sink and on the counter.
If the first 10 rules weren’t enough or didn’t resonate with you, I hope that these 10 rules have. And I’d love to know in the comments down below, what is your cleaning rule? Because if we haven’t mentioned it yet but it really works for you, we would love to know about it.
Looking for a BETTER & EASIER Way to Clean Your Home?
Cleaning Expert Melissa Maker is here to help with her game-changing 3 Wave Cleaning System that will help you clean your house faster and easier than you ever thought possible!
Nice share. This winter i want to finally organize the closet in my bedroom. it’s small and inefficient…it needs a LOT of purging and organizing. i just haven’t had the strength to take it on. lol Anyway, thank for your great tips! Chiqui ~
Uh, I have no idea if you meant to, but you left an identical post 6 days before this one 😛
Hey. Nice share. This winter i want to finally organize the closet in my bedroom. it’s small and inefficient…it needs a LOT of purging and organizing. i just haven’t had the strength to take it on. lol Anyway, thank for your great tips! Chiqui!
It is very effective and useful describes in the post. Thank you for the post.
My wife has always left clean dishes in the dish washer. Thanks for sharing now I can convince her that it should not be like that with this rules
Grear article – and with the times we live in now important to keep our homes clean. I also use tin foil to avoid cleanup.
I line my oven pans and cookie sheets with parchment paper to save on scrubbing baked on grime. I bake the bacon in the oven too which prevents splatters everywhere. We burn the old sheets in the wood stove which with grease, makes great fire starter.
Very useful tips. A home always should be neat and clean. I always try to keep clean my house. This article helps me to maintain my house easily.
Thanks!
The tips you have shared to clean home are really so useful. I really like your blog. Thank you for sharing such a good blog.
Everyone should follow these rules
Thank you for sharing experience and ideas!
Are there going to be any sale soon on the towels? Noticed that some are sold out, when will you get more?
Love these videos, keep them coming as they are hard to stop watching.
Hi Fran,
Thanks for your kind word, we’re happy to hear you like the videos! Our out of stock products will be back in store in April.
Yay! Good to know. Melissa, can you please tell me the difference in your microfiber cloths and Norwex? I need to research befor investing in new cloths and a mop. I value your opinion.
Cleaning the home is daily task that every person should do maintain its living and clean standards. Hiring a maid makes it easy for every person. Nowadays every maid has basic equipment and cleaning supplies to make cleaning easy. There are rules which you need to follow while cleaning the home as these rules are basic and easy which needs to follow while cleaning the home as you may keep dishwashers for the dirty dishes as it is very necessary to keep it.
I am a firm believer of clean as you go, and when it comes to the office cleaning also. Ok it is necessary to do a couple of annual cleans using a cleaning company, but if everyone cleans as they go it helps keep the place looking tidy and clean.
Hi Melissa & Chad, love your videos
I have moved into a very small home and I am in the midst of unpacking and organizing and doing more downsizing/purging. I also have health issues so I need to make chores easier and more efficient and so now as I am setting up my new home, I am making rules to accomplish this and also to prevent clutter in my small space.
One rule I am putting into place is No Dirty Dishes on the Counters or in the Sink Ever! My kitchen & dining area serves as the chief, living space on the main floor and also is the front/main entrance to my house which is viewable from the front deck through glass doors on a wall of windows and there is very limited countertop space. So I do not want dirty dishes or a cluttered counter top to be seen from outside my front door. I have an apartment size dishwasher but when it is in use I am going to treat dirty dishes as follows: 1. Scrape food off the surface of the dishes/utensils 2. Spray them with a home-made vinegar, soap and water spray to prevent food from hardening on 3. Put them in a plastic dishpan and store them in the cupboard under the sink. The companion rule is that the dishwasher is emptied ASAP following the completion of a washing cycle. As soon as the dishwasher is available to use, the dirty dishes are transferred from the dishpan to the dishwasher. This will also keep my small sink available for food prep. I will update this post with the results of putting my rule into practice for a while.
Way to go! Sounds like a great plan!
I read your blog and i get the useful tips for house cleaning. I agree with this tips. Thanks you share the useful tips.
Great post. I’m agree with you. It contains many useful information for cleaning. I love this. Thanks for sharing.
One more tip that I would suggest is “Use Pine-Sol In The Bottom Of Your Toilet Brush Container”
Keep your bathroom and toilet brush smelling lemony fresh by using a few splashes of Pine-Sol in the bottom of the brush container. Not only will it help to deodorize your bathroom, it will also help as a convenient disinfecting cleaner for your toilet brush.
Everytime I make boiling water to make coffee for me, I grab a sponge or a microfiber cloth to shine one spot in my kitchen. The routine makes me go around the living room to dust and shine furniture and counters. It’s a big help for me to keep the room without a big mess. Then my coffee is perfectly ready to relax!
I totally agree. If you teach your kids that there’s a place for everything, you won’t have problems finding things when you really need them. I also agree with the tips from Beth about emptying the kitchen sink every night. But I’m not so worried about that kitchen will stink in the morning cause I really never had that issue just because dishes were soaking. But it’s a good tip cause for lazy people.. Just wash your dishes right away and you won’t need to deal with it later..
One more suggestion: Don’t wear shoes in the house. We wear socks and leave shoes by the door. Now, our family even leaves their shoes by the door when they come to visit. It’s amazing how much cleaning it saves.