How To Spend Less Time Cleaning & Still Have A Clean Home

Cleaning your house can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of ways to reduce your cleaning frequency and how long it takes. Discover how to spend less time cleaning your house so you can focus on the things that matter most.

Want to reduce cleaning time at home? YES!! Don’t we all! Well, you’re about to learn some awesome cleaning hacks to help you save time cleaning your house.

Cleaning your house is a necessary chore, but it doesn’t have to take up so much of your time. These 7 easy ways will help you get the job done in less time without sacrificing quality!

How To Spend Less Time Cleaning Your House

I hate cleaning. I really, really hate it. Chances are you do too since it’s time we could instead be spending doing something we actually love.

Thankfully there are plenty of ways to reduce cleaning time, and simplify your life, so you can get your house cleaned faster, leaving you more time for the things you would rather be doing.

And requiring less last minute speed cleans if unexpected guests are on their way.

I have put together some of my favourite home cleaning tips that form part of my cleaning routine that help me save time and keep my house clean longer.

7 Ways to Reduce Cleaning Time at Home

I hate cleaning so much that I invested in a robot vacuum cleaner a few years ago. It seemed like a great investment at the time, especially if it meant no more vacuuming. HA!

That was too good to be true. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still awesome, but it doesn’t replace the need to vacuum completely. It only reduces the frequency.

Still, it was a step in the right direction for a lazy girl cleaner like me, who would rather have fun with the kids than clean. Or work. Or anything other than cleaning. So it was essential to find some ways to cut cleaning time and create a cleaning routine that works.

Here are a few of my favourite tips to save time cleaning your home:

1. Create a Cleaning Schedule

If you have a cleaning schedule in place, you will stay on top of the regular cleaning chores. This way you won’t end up playing catch-up with a mega clean-up once it all builds up, as it so often does once the weekend rolls around.

Cleaning schedules can also help you make the most of your time by doing similar cleaning tasks on the same day each week or at the same time each day.

Here are some examples of tasks to include in your cleaning schedule at set times each day or week:

• Laundry
• Vacuuming
• Mopping
• Clean the kitchen / dishes
• Change bedding

Creating a schedule for less frequent tasks is also helpful since regular maintenance will save you time and money in the long run.

Tasks such as descaling your showerheads, cleaning your washing machine, microwave and cleaning drains will help avoid blockages and reduce the frequency of unexpected repairs.

Create your own cleaning binder with this cleaning schedule bundle in my store:

2. Create A Cleaning Toolkit

Spend less time cleaning by creating a toolkit with your essential cleaning supplies. Use a small caddy or tub that you can easily take from room to room. This means fewer trips to get your cleaning supplies.

Also using multipurpose cleaning products can be a great way to spend less time cleaning since you don’t need to sweet between products as often.

3. Consider Time Saving Gadgets

Like my robot vacuum, there are certain gadgets that can reduce cleaning time in your home, by doing part of the job for you.

This may be a matter of investing in modern appliances such as self-cleaning ovens (they don’t entirely clean but they do bake off the bulk of the oven build-up), or a steam iron to get through your ironing pile quicker.

One that has made a big difference recently to my cleaning time is having a cordless vacuum cleaner.

A cordless vacuum cleaner means no plugging in and unplugging, then plugging in somewhere else to vacuum the whole house. Or finding the longest extension cord that gets tangled on something.

A cordless vacuum cleaner also makes it easier to do small top-up vacuums or areas of your home without feeling obliged to do the whole house, since it’s so quick and easy. This means my overall vacuuming time is significantly reduced. Winner!

Spray mops are another favourite in our household to help reduce time cleaning floors.

4. Simplify Your Home With Less Stuff

Yes, I know… reforming your hoarding ways can be tough. Trust me, I know. But less stuff means less cleaning.

Imagine having less to pick up and less to dust, scrub and tidy. Less stuff saves time. You can grab my awesome room by room declutter tips and 30-day declutter checklist to help you part ways with your clutter.

I have enjoyed the process of simplifying my home over the past few years.

While we still have a way to go, especially when it comes to minimising toys and kid-related items, it has been really refreshing to downsize. It’s crazy how many things most of us keep ‘just in case’ and those are the things that need to go.

Here are some of my favourite decluttering tips to help you achieve a less cluttered home:

• 5 minute daily declutter habit
• 35 quick declutter tips
• One box declutter method
• How to avoid feeling overwhelmed by decluttering
• Simple method to downsize your wardrobe
• 150+ things you can declutter or throw away right now

5. Eliminate Clutter Hot Spots

If there are certain places in your house, like your kitchen bench, your desk or your bedside table for example, where you seem to always dump stuff instead of putting it in its proper place, it’s time to eliminate them now on the path to a clean home.

Resist the temptation of dumping clutter in certain spots, or if you can’t resist the habit, create a place for that purpose such as a basket or drawer.

Make it part of your weekly routine and cleaning schedule to return each of these items to their proper home.

6. Build Family Routines

Cleaning isn’t just your responsibility (unless you live alone). Chances are there are other members of your household you can get involved to reduce cleaning time.

Give your kids weekly age-appropriate chores, and maybe a dollar or two for their efforts so you can start teaching them about money too. Double bonus!

We use the Barefoot Investor for Families method in our household and our kids each have a special money box to keep them motivated with pocket money tasks.

Make sure the other adults in the household keep up with their fair share too. This may mean you need to have a conversation with your partner or whoever it is you share a home with.

Even if one of you works full time and the other is at home, there still needs to be supported with the household duties.

At the very least, making sure each member of the family puts their own dishes in the dishwasher instead of dumping them in the sink is one of many simple habits everyone can do.

Try a cleaning game to get them involved if you are finding them resistant initially!

RELATED READING: HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR BEFORE SCHOOL ROUTINE

7. Create New Habits

New habits can drastically reduce your cleaning time if they are the right kind of habits! A great tip my mum gave me was to keep a glass squeegee, along with some shower cleaning spray and a cloth. After every shower, use the cleaning spray to remove excess water.

Once a week give the shower a spray and wipe with the cleaner and cloth. This will help reduce cleaning time by avoiding shower scum build-up or the need for serious elbow grease. That cuts down on time spent cleaning the bathroom each week.

This also means your home will need deep cleaning less often.

Try this method in other areas of the home too when 30 seconds spent cleaning every day may reduce the hour needed once a month.

Wiping down the oven after each use or adding toilet cleaner before you brush your teeth, then giving it a scrub with the toilet brush once you’re finished.

Having a daily tidy habit that takes as little as 5 minutes a day will also make a huge impact over a short amount of time if you stick to it!

A great read if you want more tips on building new habits is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s a very practical, no-nonsense approach to creating good habits and breaking negative ones. 

8. Clean As You Go

When you are busy making culinary delights in the kitchen, have your sink filled up with hot soapy water so you can wash as you go in between cooking steps.

This can save loads of time. Not only do baking dishes come clean easier if they haven’t been sitting around, but it will also minimise cleaning time at the end of the meal when half the mess is already taken care of. The rest you can pop into the dishwasher or finish washing by hand.

This is something I have always done when I have the time.

Meanwhile, my husband is a “use it and deal with it later” type of cook, so it’s pretty obvious who’s been in the kitchen. I can’t complain too much. It’s always nice to have someone cook for you!

Want more ideas on how you can spend less time cleaning up? Check out these genius cleaning hacks 

House cleaning can be an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to take up all your time. These are easy tips on how you can spend less time cleaning your house without sacrificing hygiene or peace of mind. We hope these tips help you get organised and make your housecleaning routine more efficient.

What strategies do you use to clean your house quickly? Let us know in the comments!

Keep up the momentum with these decluttering & cleaning tips:

• How to create a cleaning schedule that works
• How to deep clean your entire home
• 10 transformational books about decluttering
• 150 things you can throw away today
• Things you’re forgetting to replace at home
• Things you’re forgetting to clean at home
• Age-appropriate chores for kids
• Cleaning games for kids
• Ways to make cleaning fun
• Cleaning hacks everyone should know
• 10 minute declutter tasks you can do when short on time
• How to declutter toys
• How to start decluttering when overwhelmed
• Create your own DIY Home management binder
• How to make your own stain remover
• Natural cleaning products in your home

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