Your Guide to Speed-Cleaning Your Home in Under 40 minutes

Imagine coming home from a hard day’s work – all you want to do is slip into your pyjamas and snuggle with your favourite book. Your phone rings. though, and you are suddenly caught short. That’s it with your pyjama party! Your friends and family had other plans for you. How do you clean the home before they arrive? Preparing these tips, I remember the first time my parents and my in-laws paid a visit. It wasn’t just an ordinary visit. It never is, even if they say they are just dropping by. Your parents will always want to take a glimpse of your marriage and your home suddenly becomes a reflection of everything that is going on. Could greasy, dirty counters become symbols of a neglected relationship and lack of harmony. Well, maybe not according to you, but your mother-in-law will certainly think you are not taking good care of her son and grandchildren. Let’s avoid leaving bad impression!

Practical Cleaning Tips When You Are In a Hurry:

#1 Calculate Your Time

When you hang up the phone, make a quick calculation. How much time do you have on your hands? Think about what is the one thing that would embarrass you the most during a surprise visit? Is it the full sink of dishes, or the condition of the bathroom? Tackle this mess first and that will take the pressure off.

#2 Identify the Rooms you Need to Clean

Entrance – sort out shoes and jackets, de-clutter a bit (should take no more than 2-3 mins);

Living room – obviously the most important room to clean.

Kitchen – most living rooms nowadays are adjacent with the kitchen. That’s bad news for you as you can’t hide dirty dishes anymore. Even if your kitchen is not adjacent, your friend, mum, or your “other” mum might want to come in the kitchen and help you with the drinks and snacks (God bless them!).

Bathroom – at some point your guests may need to use the bathroom and there is no denying access there. If you have some dirty laundry, or ugly smudges on the mirror, now would be a good time to clean those.

#3 Task vs. Time

Paul’s Carpet Cleaning Sydney had an initiative to encourage people to do a little cleaning more often. As a part of it they divided cleaning chores into tasks you can complete in 5, 10 and 30 minutes. Here are the tasks you should focus on when guests are on their way. The full “map” you can find here.

Living Room:

Open windows to allow fresh air at home: 2-3 mins;
Dust living room: 5 mins;

Vacuum the living room and hall: 10 mins;

Put away children toys: 5 mins

Kitchen:

Load dishwasher: 5 mins / wash by hand: 15 mins;

Wipe Kitchen surfaces: 5 mins;

Bathroom:

Wipe toilet and sink: 5 mins;

Wipe Mirror and de-clutter a bit: 5 mins;

In the best case scenario that makes a total of 40 mins. If you skip one or two chores you might also have time to arrange some snacks put on a nice dress, fix your hair and make up.

#4 Prevention

Obviously your best way to feel good about your home is to maintain it in desirable condition at all times. This isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible either. Prepare a schedule and spend 30 mins a day to follow it. Here is another example of the “clean a little and often” campaign.

Lana Jane Fox is a young, aspiring aussie who’s primary job is to be a good wife and helpmeet to her husband and only after that she describes herself as a marketing executive for a lovely cleaning and removals company. In her free time Lana runs a blog, inspired by her own experiences as a young housewife. When she is not knitting, cleaning, cooking, or experimenting with DIY projects, Lana is planning her next road trip, or day dreams of having a baby boy, a Welsh Corgi dog and a house with a fireplace.

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