Five simple steps to keep your apartment tidy and clean
Living on your own means you can walk around in your underwear, drink orange juice straight from the carton, and stay up as late as you want without annoying any roommates or family members. Unfortunately, it also means you have to do all of the cleaning too. Your mom’s not there to do your laundry, and you don’t have any roommates to wash the dishes that you used while cooking dinner. Fortunately, it’s easy to keep your apartment clean with these five tips.
1. Set a Date and Time Each Week for Cleaning
Image via Flickr by Travis S.
There are a few light chores that need to be done weekly or else your home will quickly become caked in dirt and dust. They include vacuuming and mopping, wiping down the kitchen and bathroom counters, picking up papers and clothes, and dusting.
Pick a date or time each week to clean, whether it’s Sunday evening to prepare for the week or Tuesday night after work, and spend a half hour or so running through these chores. Most of these tasks can be done with the TV on or music playing so your brain can focus on something other than the pain of cleaning.
2. Invite People Over and Clean for Them
While your friends might not think your clean apartment is cool, or appreciate the scented candle in the bathroom, they’ll definitely notice if your living area is smelly and disorganized. Guys, you don’t have to completely girl-proof your apartment before a date comes over, but most girls will judge a guy with a dirty bathroom. Take the time to pick up before she comes over.
Your friends will also appreciate the effort of a quick clean. The panic of their imminent arrival will make you stop procrastinating and finally do those dishes.
3. Do Laundry and Dishes in Small Loads
Many of us have worn swimsuits instead of underwear at some point in our lives, and some of us regularly Febreze clothing to re-wear it in a bind. Both of these situations can be avoided if you don’t procrastinate when it comes to laundry. Instead of waiting until there’s nothing left in your closet, do a small load every week to prevent back up. This way you won’t have to spend a whole day doing multiple loads.
The same can be said of washing dishes. Smart chefs start cleaning while their creation is in the oven to cut down on the amount of pots and pans left after dinner. Cleaning a little at a time, instead of waiting for a week’s worth of cereal bowls and spoons to build up, will take the dread out the dishwashing process. It’s easy to clean if there are only a couple of dishes in the sink, but the problem only gets worse if you procrastinate.
4. Treat Yourself After a Big Project
No one gets excited about scrubbing down the oven and facing burned-on food and dangerous chemicals. The cleaning of the refrigerator and freezer can be equally grueling, as you pull out food that you bought almost a year ago and scrub off stains and leftover sauce drippings.
When you complete a major project that left you queasy, treat yourself! Parents often bribe kids with ice cream or new video games if they do their chores, so why can’t adults do the same? This way you can justify that big carton of ice cream or double margarita that you get later.
5. Go With the Pros: Hire a Maid
Image via HomeAdvisor
If you find yourself too busy to keep your apartment clean, or just don’t want to deal with regular upkeep, consider trying an apartment-specializing maid service. The cost of a maid service varies by region, but it tends to be cheaper for apartments over houses. This is simply because many maid services charge by the number of rooms or by the hour, and apartments tend to have fewer rooms which take less time to clean. If you really hate cleaning, it might be worth it for you to hire the pros.
Pick which tips work best for you and create your own apartment cleaning strategy. You’ll be happier and so will your guests!
Don’t like #1. Instead of doing all your cleaning on one day, do something everyday. That way you never have a lot to do.