Cleaning Tips from the Pros – Seven Must Haves

When the school holiday madness ends and the mornings become your own again, it’s not easy to get the house back to its former glorious state. And when you’ve got kids, you quickly learn that 'tidy' is not the same as 'clean'. Once you’ve packed the toys away, you uncover the disaster that is your living room.

According to this article most of us should be giving the house a once over more often than we think if we really want to eliminate the harmful germs that hide in the corners of our homes. Maybe it’s time we rolled up our sleeves? Or perhaps we just need some inspiration – anything that makes cleaning easier and more enjoyable. The problem is every household is different, making cleaning needs unique, but there are some tips out there that can be useful for everyone...

Time it

According to home experts, the best thing to do when cleaning your home is to time it. Most chores only take ten minutes, so if you time yourself you're less likely to hoover that same spot over and over again! A recent study revealed that 1 in 3 people spend two years of their life cleaning. Using a timer could give you back hours!

Handle with care

Marigolds have been a firm favourite for quite some time when it comes to household cleaning but using latex gloves - stocked here from www.broschdirect.com - is far more hygienic and protects your hands from harmful chemicals that can be found in many everyday cleaning products. If they are good enough for industrial cleaning and protecting against bacteria in hospitals, then they're a good addition to any home.

Get organised

A schedule for household chores can really come in handy and make them seem less daunting. Do you and your partner ever swap roles? This article in the Guardian suggests that you could actually save time by swapping roles with your partner and creating a schedule. Having a variety of different chores to do each week makes things a bit more interesting.

Invest in an all-purpose cleaner

All-purpose cleaners work on multiple surfaces and carry the load of your housework. While they may not be suitable for every area of the home, they should certainly be an essential part of your cleaning routine.

Get creative

When life hands you lemons… use them! They can be used to get stains out of chopping boards, polish copper and even clean your oven and microwave. There are all kinds of cleaning hacks that make household tasks easier. 

Don’t hire help

'I don’t do windows', isn’t an option when you're trying to run your own household. But that isn’t to say you couldn’t use a little help from products such as Windex to leave them as streak-free and shiny as the professionals do. There isn’t much you can’t do properly if you're armed with the right products. 

Recycle

Time and time again we’re told to reuse items such as toothbrushes for jobs around the house. But how many of us have actually tried it? Neglected toothbrushes have many uses such as getting markings off the walls, cleaning grout and cleaning appliances.