Even if you do get a charge out of dusting and scrubbing, I’ll wager that you wouldn’t mind learning some household hacks to get you through the work faster. After all, the point of having a clean home is to enjoy it — and maybe invite some friends and family to ooh and ahh at your newly organized pantry while you’re at it.
Below is a list of the best quick tidying tips that were featured on Apartment Therapy this year that you might want to take with you into 2024:
Wipe down the bathroom counter with your bath towel
We love it when a regular habit helps us save time down the road. If you’re about to throw a bath or hand towel into the hamper, wipe down the wet vanity with it first. Bathroom counters get splashed and spotted easily when you’re washing your hands and face or brushing your teeth. It only takes a minute — really! — and you’ll thank yourself when you do a deeper clean of your bathroom later. Tip: If you’re not washing that towel right away, let it air dry before adding to the hamper to avoid mildew growth.
Do the “tidy toss” trick
The “Tidy Toss” technique is credited to professional organizer Holly Blakely. It involves putting baskets, containers, and other storage bins to good use as holders for smaller items, rather than trying to arrange each one neatly on a shelf. It’s especially good for holding similar items like shoes, hair ties, or hats. What’s great about this trick is that it allows you to be sort of messy in that you can just toss stuff in, but the baskets keep the mess from spilling all over.
Clean countertops crumb with a lint roller
It’s downright clever to use a lint roller to clean countertops — and it’s certainly more enjoyable than using a sponge or cloth. The sticky surface avoids knocking any crumbs to the kitchen floor. Plus, it reminds me of being at a high-end restaurant when the waiter comes over to brush off the bread crumbs from the table — yes, I know I’m the waiter in this scenario, but it still makes cleaning the kitchen more fun.
Hear me out: It’s not that cleaning more is the goal here. It’s about doing the prep work so that your weekend (or whenever you’ve got the time) cleaning session isn’t such a chore. Here’s the gist: Spend 20 minutes each day doing a combination of cleaning tasks. This might mean vacuuming and cleaning out the fridge or dusting surfaces and cleaning toilets. Organize your tasks so that little by little, you’ve cleaned your home during the week. Enjoy your free weekend!
Finish cleaning before your laundry is done
Setting a timer is key when it comes to getting through any laborious task. Sure, you could set a timer on your phone or watch, but you know what’s really motivating? Getting through house cleaning in time to beat out the laundry buzzer. Your time starts when you throw in a load of wash and it ends when it comes out of the dryer. Make it simple by washing towels or sheets so you don’t have to worry about sorting and put all your efforts into cleaning your home as fast as possible. The goal here is to finish cleaning everything by the time the load is dry but give yourself some grace. Even if you don’t finish, you will be soon enough because you put yourself into turbo charge mode.
Get rolling with a cleaning cart
It’s so easy to get your daily steps in when you’re running back and forth to get cleaning supplies. It’s also easy to waste time. By organizing all your cloths, sponges, spray bottles, and more in a rolling cart, you can keep on rolling with your cleaning from room to room. Go ahead and choose a basket or other storage container if you prefer, but know that portability is key here.
Complete a “closing shift”
If you’ve never worked retail, food service, or other shift work, we’ll catch you up: A closing shift procedure preps the work area for the next day’s work. Apply this organized philosophy to your home before you go to bed at night or leave for work in the morning. This will mean different things to different people because it all depends on your space and what you have in it. So when you’re deciding what should happen in your home’s closing shift, consider what you want to see — or don’t want to see — when returning to the space. For starters, this could mean making sure all the dirty dishes at least are in the sink or the dishwasher, or that your bed is made.
Whether you try all or one of these quick tidying tasks, there will be a noticeable difference in both your home and your mood. Cleaning might still be a chore, but it doesn’t have to be a hassle.
