By People always ask me how I keep my home clean and fresh all the time. When friends come over, I always here “Wow it smells so good here, what did you do? I would just laugh it off, not realizing that they really did want to know my secrets. I didn’t know that people struggled to keep their homes clean as it comes natural to me. Our home is our sanctuary, and who wants a stinky sanctuary? Haha Well the good news is that I am going to share my cleaning secrets with you. It doesn’t matter if you have kids or pets, you can do it too. I have had dogs and cats, and no one could ever tell upon entering my home.
I love the smell of candles, fresh clean laundry and Clorox, yes Clorox. I mean who doesn’t love the smell of fresh clean laundry?I don’t spend a lot of money on cleaning products either. The secret is that I make my own, floor cleaner, carpet fresh, kitchen and bathroom cleaner. (All from the same 3 products.) Friends and family think I have spent hours cleaning my home to keep it smelling fresh but I don’t. Here are my secrets to keep your home neat, tidy and fresh smelling.
Create A De-cluttering System.
The first thing you should do is get rid of clutter. A messy house always looks dirty. Did you know that clutter can make your home feel chaotic and affect your sleep? Get organized and find a place for everything. If there is no room in your closets to put anything away, then guess what? It’s time to donate the things you are no longer using or need. Having too much stuff can stress us out and be exhausting. Clutter can stress us out because our lives are already overwhelming enough. It can have a negative impact on both adults and children.
Start small by picking one room or closet at a time.My goal is to help you be able to put a system into place where you can easily find everything. Here is an easy organization tip. Buy the large, $5 clear storage bins and line them up with the lids off. Label them near the area that you wish to organize. Now divide and conquer. Pick one item at a time, examine it, then simply drop it into the bin. No need for messy piles on the floor. That way, however you decide to dispose of the items, it’s all packed into the bins and ready to go. Simply place the lid on and tote them away. After sorting and purging, go ahead reload those kept items back into your nice clean space.
Now label the bins:
- KEEP- These are the items that you can’t part with, so find a home for them. Place them in some decorative storage baskets for your closet.
- DONATE- These are items such as clothing and shoes that are still in good condition. You can donate them to your local church, charity, or goodwill. Trust me, you will feel so much better about giving these items away to someone in need.
- TRASH- Any items that are broken, worn, has holes in them, or stained should be discarded.
Time to Deep Clean
Now that everything is in its proper place, it’s time to clean. When you first walk into your home, stop and take a deep breath. How does it smell? If you are nose-blind (like in the Febreze commercials) step outside again. Do you like the smell? If not get rid of any nasty smells in your house immediately! Now open up some windows for fresh air and get to deep cleaning. You don’t have to spend lots of money on cleaning products. Here are my 4 secret products to a great smelling house.
- Clorox bleach
- Tide pods
- Baking Soda
- Dryer sheets
Okay so at first you may not be impressed, but as I said previously, “Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh clean laundry? Just about everyone has these products on hand in their house already. No need to run out and buy anything. Now here is how to use them around the house instead of in the laundry.
- Make your own cleaner- Grab an empty spray bottle and dissolve half a laundry pod with two capfuls of clorox bleach. This can be used all around the kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and especially dirty countertops.
- Floors– Melt one pod in super hot water with ¼ cup of Clorox. You can use whatever your favorite laundry pod is, but I personally love “Tide with Downy”. The fabric softener and super hot water easily dissolve dirty, sticky, stained floors and the Clorox automatically disinfects.
- Carpets- Baking soda naturally gets rid of nasty smells in the carpets. I use baking soda on my rugs before vacuuming and that’s about it. It’s kid safe and pet friendly. Sprinkle baking soda on carpets and let sit for about 1 hour before vacuuming. I usually do this first before I start my cleaning routine, then all that’s left to do is vacuum.
- Bathroom toilet- Open the lid and pop one laundry pod in the tank. Let dissolve. Pour ¼ cup of bleach in the toilet bowl and let sit. 10 min.Then flush. As you flush, swish with a brush, the cleaner will come down into the toilet bowl surface. The softeners in the laundry pod will soften the grime and make removal much easier. Now cleaning the toilet will be a breeze and your bathroom will smell great.
- Bathtub- Fill up your tub with super hot water, pop in a laundry pod and ½ cup of bleach. Make sure to keep windows open when using bleach. Let sit for one hour for tough tub ring stains. Any dirt should dissolve easily, if not get out a brush, scrub, rinse and then drain. Your bathroom will smell amazing as the steam releases the fresh laundry pod smell into the air. I did not address bathroom mold because I simply (never let mold grow) in my home. It horrifies me and it’s a health hazard.
- Dryer Sheets- I take a dryer sheet during the summertime and place it in my air conditioner with the filter. It makes my whole house smell amazingly clean. Remember to clean the filter often and change the dryer sheet daily.
Once your house is all clean, remember to put things back in their place right away, and clean as you go (meaning if there is any mess, clean it up immediately.) Don’t give it a chance to turn into a smelly mess. Your house will stay cleaner and be easier to maintain.I hope you find these simple cleaning hacks to be helpful, if you do share it! Now enjoy your newly clean and fresh smelling home, without spending a ton of money!
