For some, this season of life is retirement, for others it’s more empty nesting. I know many of you are caretakers of elderly family members or are still really involved with children or grandchildren, so you are part of the sandwich generation. I guess for me it’s really pre-retirement. I got a small taste of what retirement looks like and decided I am not ready. However, I love the freedom I feel right now. I have enough to do during the day with my work and then my non-works hours are free to do exactly what I want.
But no matter how much free time you have, I’m sure you don’t want to spend too much with household chores, and I want to share my tricks for a quick cleaning day so you have more time to do the things you want.
I have mentioned before that I do daily cleaning chores, but weekly (ok, to be honest, I have cleaners who come in every other week, so I bi-weekly clean myself), so we’ll rename this bi-weekly cleaning. I like my house to get a pretty thorough cleaning. Not spring cleaning, by any means, but bathrooms, kitchen, dusting and vacuuming. I try to use products that I feel get the job done, smell nice and aren’t too caustic. We also have a couple of gadgets that have made the job much easier. This is how I go about getting the job done quickly on a Saturday morning and what I use.
AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES. THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS WHICH WILL REWARD ME MONETARILY OR OTHERWISE WHEN YOU USE THEM TO MAKE QUALIFYING PURCHASES.
Tip #1 Start with the toilets. I start by squirting toilet bowl cleaner in the toilets and brushing the bowls so the cleaner can work while the other rooms get tackled. I do go back and finish the bathrooms by wiping down with Clorox wipes and using the steam mop on the floors. Moving on.
Tip #2 Hit the kitchen. I use liquid cleanser containing bleach in the sink and usually lightly go over the countertops with it. I have one naughty cat who will not stay off the counter so I feel like I need to give it a little disinfection while I’m at it. After I clean the surfaces and give them a double rinse, I like to go over the counters with Perfect Granite. I don’t know how much it improves the look of our stone surfaces, but they look nice and smell good. If the stainless fridge needs to be polished I’ll break down and use Zep Stainless Polish. It’s pretty strong stuff, so I use a paper towel and rubber gloves. Everything else, I just give a swipe with the dish cloth and dry with a dish towel. Good enough. Moving on.
Tip #3 Dust using a microfiber cloth and either plain water or a bit of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day in honeysuckle scent sprayed onto the cloth. It doesn’t leave any sort of residue and it smells super nice. All their scents are really nice and not strong and fakey. I dust all the horizontal surfaces, picture frames, knickknacks, and every so often, I will get out the ladder and do a good job on the tops of our shelving units. I’m sure those in more humid climates would be horrified at the amount of dust we have, but I don’t think it’s really too bad for a once-a-week job. John is the glass cleaner. When I clean the glass it looks worse than it did before. He swears by the Sprayway aerosol. He cleans the glass while I dust. Moving on.
Tip #4 Remove pet fur easily, quickly and completely with rubber gloves. As anyone with pets knows, vacuuming doesn’t really do the trick. Put a small amount of water on your gloves and rub them back and forth on the furniture and the hair balls right up and comes off. You can run the vacuum over afterwards and it’s good as new. Here are pictures of each of the steps and then moving on.
Not too long ago we bought the Dyson V6 and it is really a game changer. It gets a lot of hype on social media, but it is worth it. It’s like a dang transformer. Everything comes apart and reattaches just how you need it. It’s lightweight, powerful, easy to store and, drumroll, please, MEN LOVE IT. I call it the man-pacifier. It’s just enough of a gadget that it captures their attention enough to use it. A lot. And it’s not just my hub either. I’ve heard this from others. There are later and greater models now, but so far this one works just fine for us.
Having said all that, I (or my hub) will go over all the hard floors with the Dyson and then we have another lovely gadget, our Shark Genius steam mop. I think using the steam feels like it’s really getting the kitchen and bathrooms clean. I bought extra mop cloths so I can use a clean one for the kitchen. That whole cross-contamination thing, you know. It’s probably all in my head, but, it makes me feel better.
Tip#5 is to let your hub use the gadgets and do those chores. Moving on.
Tip #6 is to vacuum and mop last. Let all the dust fall first.
Tip #7 My best-in- the-world tip is my iPod. I load up my audio book, put my wireless earbuds in and soon I’m lost in my story and don’t mind at all that I’m cleaning house. I have my cup of tea all brewed up and it follows me around the house until I’m ready for a cup of coffee.
What I’m Reading
Oh, happy day. Jeff Lindsay, creator of the most-wonderful Dexter books, has a new series out with a lovable, smart and sexy criminal, Riley Wolfe. Just Watch Me is so inventive, fast-paced, captivating. Really I can’t say how much fun it was and no wonder I read it in a day and a half.
I just started 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall. I know it sounds like a boring business book, but really there are good tips that are applicable to many aspects of life and how to spend money rather than just making money. I may not read every page of this book, but I can see why those in sales and marketing would find it useful.
On audio I finished The Last Day of Emily Lindsey by Nic Joseph. It was a different kind of detective story. Reading the book, I would have not guessed Nic is a woman, but I really like her and I’m going to read more of her.
What I’m Eating
Honestly, I’m kind of embarrassed to share what I’ve been eating because most of the recipes are edible and not really enjoyable. However, my sister Susie made a New Year’s fondue from The Key Ingredient – The Melting Pot. They liked it and it looked beautiful.
What I’m Doing
Ok, getting my cleaning done efficiently on a Saturday morning is to free up the rest of the weekend for fun. Of course, I read, we played pickleball twice with Evon, Barb and Stu. My friend Deb and I met for a wonderful walk and ended up at an animal adoption event at our community park – the PACC911. I loved meeting all the dogs and cats and felt my heart expand into my whole body whenever a bell would ring and an announcement was made that an animal had been adopted.
If you’ve ever adopted, fostered or helped an animal God bless you and you have a special place in my heart. On that note, have a wonderful week.
