So you want to know how to clean your house in 2-hours? And that’s really a great question. Maybe you have guests coming over shortly. (Super anxiety inducing by the way!) Or maybe, you feel like you take wayyy to long to clean and have no idea why. If only someone that cleans really fast could tell you what you’re doing wrong, give you a few quick pointers or maybe some stealthy shortcuts to save you time. Well ask and you shall receive.

I happen to clean pretty fast, have taught at least 100 people how to clean fast – and good – and I’m more than happy to share some of my favorite tips to help you clean how to clean your house in 2-hours!  In this post, I’ll go over ways to help you trim the fat off your current routine so you can get in, and get out, as if you clean for a living lol.

For starters, you don’t need to be able to *move fast* or rush in order to clean your house fast. Like a long distance runner, you need a good pace. Don’t start off strong and then flatline before you’re even halfway done. That’s embarrasing. And totally avoidable lol. And then you need comfy running shoes. Last thing you need is your feet to start hurting right? lol

Treat cleaning the same you’d treat most things in life. Always look for ways to get the job done better and faster with less energy. Get it in you mind that you need a system/process/routine that you can tweak and tweak until you get it just right. Then ride with it. Still tweaking as needed.

The elephant-in-the-room. If you are in a 4,000 square foot house with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms or a large home that’s been neglected for a while, fuhget about it!  Like my accent? You can clean it faster, but you will not be able to clean your entire house in two-hours.  I never see anyone talk about size. But yes, it does matter .

And now that expectations have been managed, let’s get into this 2-part post: How To Clean Your House in 2-Hours

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ // How To Clean Your Dirty Bathroom Super Fast – And Keep It Clean for my advice on cleaning thoroughly in the fastest, smartest way possible.  It also comes with an ultra-deep cleaning checklist that will transform your bathroom!

PART 1 | Three Things To Do BEFORE You Start Cleaning

1 | think about what you want to clean

The very first thing you need to do is think about what needs to be cleaned and more importantly, what doesn’t need to be cleaned.  Having a clear plan will help you get whatever you want done. You only have 2 hours so you have to be smart about how you use them!  

Here are a few things to consider

• If guests are coming over, any areas of the house that they will visit automatically become your priority!

• Large house?  We won’t be able to get everything clean in 2 hours so which bathrooms and rooms can we skip?  

• Are any areas in really poor condition and need to be saved for another day?  Or should you commit all of your time to those areas?  

• Is your focus on decluttering or cleaning your home?  Keep a clear vision of what the true task is that needs to be accomplished.    

2 | grab your best cleaning supplies

Notice I said your best — you need to bring out the big guns because we don’t have time for poor-performing cleaning products or vacuum cleaners that clunk out.  You are on a short timeline so we need cleaning products & tools that we know can get the job done quickly and effectively.  

Must-have items you need you’ll want to use when it’s time to clean quickly

• Grab a caddy to transport all of your cleaning items around the house.  If you don’t have one, just use a basket. 

• An apron is my ultimate secret weapon for cleaning quickly!  Everything you need is right there — it’s the ultimate time-saver!

• Use an extension cord when you vacuum & you will fly through the entire house at lightning speed!  Cordless vacuums are great too but for small spaces. 

• A basket or a box will allow you to quickly declutter your whole house.  After you’ve gathered all of the clutter, save it to sort through later when you have more time.  

• A high duster is the easiest and best way to get those cobwebs and dust from ceiling fans as well as along high ceilings and walls.  A broom will also work.

MY FAIL-PROOF CLEANING CADDY // all-purpose cleaner + apron + bucket + caddy + disposable gloves + extension cord + floor cleaner +  furniture polish + glass towel + high duster + microfiber towels + mold & mildew remover + mop + pumice stone + scour sponges + small trash bags + soft scrub + stainless steel polish + stone cleaner + tile & grout brush + vacuum

3 | it’s time for a timer

Let’s put the pressure on by actually using a timer!  But guess what? You’re not actually going to set the timer for 2 solid hours.   Instead, you are going to set a timer for each of the tasks you need to complete within the 2-hour block.  

Guys, this is HUGE because tracking your cleaning time AND cleaning task by task will keep you from staying in one place for too long. 

Plus you have the added benefits of adrenaline (superpowers like hyperfocus & lightning speed) that come from trying to beat the clock!  

Below is an example of how you can break-down & track your 2-hour cleaning.   

Don’t worry if you don’t finish before the timer goes off.  Simply make a mental note that you either need more time, an improved process for cleaning that area or a combination of the two.  

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ // The Smart Girl’s Guide To A Clean & Organized House – 5 Drool-Worthy, Must-Have Things You Need To Get Now!  Who should read this?  Anyone that wants to learn smart ways to set up their home so that it stays clean. 

PART 2 | Three Hacks to Clean Your House in 2-hours

1 | clean task by task  

Do not do this — dust a bedroom, then start cleaning the kitchen and before you finish that, start dusting in the living room since it’s right there.  If you bounce around like that, you’re just going to get confused, unmotivated at how long it’s taking to clean and perhaps just call it quits.  

Why you should clean task by task

This is powerful because by doing one task, you won’t get distracted, you’ll be able to see your progress and you’ll build speed which will allow you to clean your house insanely fast!. 

How to clean task by task

It’s easy!  Simply choose one task — decluttering, dusting, bathrooms, the kitchen or floors — and that’s what you stick with until you complete it. Once one task is done, you can move on to the next.  

2 | clean your way out 

Do not do this — you’ve decluttered a bedroom, you still need to dust, but you start vacuuming instead.  Then you walk on your freshly vacuumed carpets to dust the room which is only going to put dust on the floor you just vacuumed.  You might vacuum the floor again — or you might leave the dust on the floor. Either way, you’re working against yourself at this point.    

Why you should clean your way out

Cleaning your way out of a room ensures you do not have to go back to redo anything.  Double work only slows you down — and it sucks. Following this method is simply smart cleaning.   

How to clean your way out

You’ve heard this before, always clean top to bottom, left to right and inside out — yeh, the last part is my contribution to this classic piece of advice. 

To put this into practice, do this — when it’s time to vacuum, plug your vacuum in an outlet outside of the room.  Then start vacuuming in the room at the furthest point from the door and work your way out of the room.  By plugging it up outside the room, you never have to walk back in & those fresh carpet lines will stay flawless!

3 | follow a cleaning routine 

Do not do this — you walk into a room, look around, scratch your head and think for a minute about where you should start.  A few minutes go by and you finally make a decision and dive in. Why this is wrong is not obvious but it’s simple.  

Why you should follow a cleaning routine

It is very easy to become overwhelmed by a messy house.  Having a plan or routine ahead of time takes the guesswork out of cleaning.  You don’t waste time thinking about what you need to — instead, with a cleaning routine, you simply do what needs to be done. 

How to follow a cleaning routine

Find or make one you like, preferably a short one.  Please do not try to memorize it. Instead, look it over so that you can be familiar with each step. 

The one, most important thing you must know about a cleaning routine is that you will probably clean slower at first when following a routine. This is normal so stick with it and prepare to be blown away by how much faster you clean!

READ // The Ultimate Fail-Proof Cleaning Schedule For Working Moms.  Why?  Because if you follow it right, your house will stay clean most of the time –  even if you don’t have time to clean!

let’s wrap up

I truly believe that if you commit to using these core essentials, you will be able to realize your goal of cleaning your home faster by simply cleaning it smarter. No gimmicks, no tricks, just brains…wow that’s hot!

Here’s a recap of the things you need to do to clean your house fast:

1. Think about what you want to clean & how long it should take. Write it down.
2. Make sure you have the right cleaning products for the job.
3. Grab a timer to stay on task & be accountable.
4. Clean task by task instead of room by room.
5. Always clean your way out of rooms.
6. Consistently follow a cleaning routine to drastically reduce your cleaning time in a short amount of time.

Good things are meant to be shared! Save this to your Pinterest account so you can actually find it later and so others can see you’ve got all the good stuff!

The post Short on time? What it takes to clean your house in 2 hours! appeared first on 🙌 House Cleaning Service In Columbia, SC | The Cleaning Club.

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR DIRTY BATHROOM FAST & KEEP IT CLEAN

Take care of her and she will take care of you. But if you don’t clean her from top to bottom on a regular basis, she will make you pay for it ten times over! Yep, I’m talking about your vindictive, dirty bathroom!

But I know how it is. You want to keep your bathroom clean but you’re already busy enough & it’s going to take you forever to do it. You simply don’t have that kind of time. Lucky for you, you’re in the right spot!

I’m going to show you how to clean your bathroom quickly (even if it’s disgusting) and prevent it from ever becoming a nightmare again!  It’s how I clean my bathroom at home & how I train my staff to clean.

And believe me, what I’m about to show you works in even the most disgusting bathrooms so you should be good to go after this!

STEP 1 | GET THE RIGHT BATHROOM CLEANING SUPPLIES

Before we do anything, we need to have the right tools so that we can clean the bathroom easily and quickly!  Not having the right cleaning products and materials is what turns a one-hour job into a three-hour job – and we ain’t got time for that!

I’m sure you’ve got most of the items below at home so feel so it should be fairly easy for you to buy or make whatever may be missing. But I seriously encourage you to make substitutions as you see fit!

Let’s use this list to make the perfect bathroom cleaning caddy!

MUST-HAVE CLEANING TOOLS, PRODUCTS & MATERIALS : 

• Cleaning Towels | Paper towel & microfiber towels clean & dry surfaces

• Scour Sponges | Use these to effortlessly scrub the shower, tub, counters & sink

• All-Purpose Cleaner | Try the Meyers & Method brand if you don’t have one you love

• Glass Cleaner | Glass towels are actually my secret to streak-free mirrors – just use water

• Soft Cleanser Or Pumice Stone | Use these for a quick & non-toxic way to remove toilet bowl rings & stains

• Mold & Milder Stain Remover | Try this brand for a low-odor, no scrub option but be sure to follow the instructions

• Small Trash Can Liners | Buy these babies online & in bulk instead of in the grocery store to save serious cash

• One Large Cup | For rinsing shower walls and surfaces

• Toilet Bowl Brush

• Vacuum Cleaner Or Broom  | I always recommend Shark vacuums for the entire house

• Mop & Bucket

• Caddy | Use one like this or temporarily substitute with a mop bucket or basket if you don’t have one

• Gloves | I’ve never found lasting glove so I use these disposable ones.

This next list of products has cleaning products & tools that are fantastic because using them will save you even more time when cleaning than if you just used the items above. If I could only recommend one item from this list, it would be the apron. Seriously.

OPTIONAL CLEANING PRODUCTS & TOOLS THAT REALLY CUT DOWN YOUR BATHROOM CLEANING TIME

• Apron | I seriously can’t clean without one – everything you need is right there which means no more wasted time going back and forth for products. Check out the one my staff uses here.

• Dawn & Vinegar Mix: 50:50 | It’s super effective for soap scum and cleaning dirty bathroom surfaces without scrubbing. Yeh, it stinks but the smells goes away pretty quickly. It’s a personal favorite of mine!

• Mold & Mildew Inhibitor | It will cut down on mold & mildew growth which will save you mega time on future cleanings.

• Have Tile & Grout? | Get an actual grout brush or use a medium or hard toothbrush for cleaning grout. A grout sealer is also a good idea.

• Heavy Soap Scum On Your Glass Shower Door? | Use a window scraper or razor blade to quickly scrape all the scum away instead of having to use lots of elbow grease.

You may want to check out my very popular Daily, Weekly & Monthly Cleaning Schedule With A Simple Morning Routine (built into the schedule).

STEP TWO | USE A BATHROOM CLEANING ROUTINE

FOLLOW A BATHROOM CLEANING ROUTINE AND STICK TO IT

Why you should follow a cleaning routine

The more you do something, the better (and faster) you’ll get.  It’s like a law of the universe – kinda – that works in your favor even when it comes to cleaning!

Personally, I can clean a bathroom (clean or crazy dirty) super-fast!  Like mind-blowingly fast and I’m not exaggerating. And “no” I’m not using fairy dust!

What’s my secret?  I have a routine that I use no matter what.  That’s what gets me in and out so fast!   I always know exactly where to start and there is mega power in that. 

How to make your cleaning routine work for you

Just keep the routine short & simple in the beginning so that you have room to build on it over time. And then follow the routine over & over again for a few months so that eventually it becomes a habit and not feel so much like a chore!

Remember the following when cleaning the bathroom or any room

I’m also sure you’ve already heard the general rules to cleaning but here they are again as a friendly reminder:

• Work from top to bottom
• Work from left to right (or in a circle)

But I’m going to add one important rule that will supercharge your cleaning routine by saving you lots of time and unnecessary scrubbing…

Always pretreat tough areas before you clean anything!

Most products actually need a few minutes to sit and work on build-up which translates into less elbow grease & effort from you.  And trust me when I say this is the ultimate time-saving hack!  

How to pretreat your bathroom

From now on, step one of your cleaning routine is to search for soap scum build-up or stains in the bathroom.  When you find them, spray them with the appropriate cleaner – then go clean something else. 

Let the product dwell. When you do this, you’re letting it do the heavy lifting for you.  Most products actually need 5-15 minutes of dwell time per the instructions.  Once the time is up, you can begin scrubbing or wiping as usual. That’s it! Easy right? 

And to clean your bathroom really fast, use a timer!

You want to clean the bathroom fast, but how long should it take you? The quick answer is, it’s up to you. If you currently take 2-hours to clean it but want to reduce your time to 1-hour, you need to track your cleaning time.

Set a timer for the amount of time you think it should take you to clean the bathroom. Then clean as usual (or start with your new routine), but be sure to check the timer from time to time to see how you’re doing.

And this is where the magic starts! Using a timer is a powerful hack because it puts pressure on you to move and keeps you laser-focused. Those two powers combined put you into pure Wonder Woman mode!

If you want to learn the secrets to cleaning your entire house fast, you should check out my post: how to clean your entire house in 2 hours! It’s a game changer!

STEP THREE | CLEAN AT LEAST ONE THING IN YOUR BATHROOM EVERY DAY

MINI-CLEAN THE BATHROOM EVERYDAY

What is mini-cleaning? 

It’s any cleaning you can accomplish in a few minutes – wiping out the sink, cleaning the mirror or even cleaning the toilet can be considered mini-cleaning.  

Why should you clean at least one thing in the bathroom everyday? 

Because cleaning a little each day will keep your bathroom from becoming a freak show! It’ll stay in a constant state of fresh and clean!  Doing this will save you from having to spend hours cleaning a dirty bathroom. 

Some ideas of what to clean in your bathroom when you’re just mini-cleaning…

When you have a little time, just choose one or two things off the list below to clean! Remember you only need 5-30 minutes a day to make a big difference in your bathroom.

• No more towels left on the floors or on the sinks.  If it needs to be washed, place it in a hamper, otherwise hang it up.

• Clean the toilet. A lot goes on in this spot – it only takes 10 seconds to scrub away any evidence you were ever there. 

• Keep cleaning products in the shower. That way you can easily spray and wipe down surfaces when you hop in or on your way out!

• Keep a small vacuum cleaner close by to remove hair off the floor but here’s a mega tip – vacuum the hair before you get into the shower or get the floor wet.  Wet hair is almost impossible to clean up! 

• Pay your bath mats some attention. Shake them out regularly, vacuum them if possible and wash them when needed.

• Declutter the bathroom by getting rid of old, expired make-up and other products. Plus, you get a chance to take inventory of what you have and I’ll bet you have some great anti-wrinkle creams that have been hidden in the back of your drawer!

• Take out the trash. Try to remember to keep extra liners in the trash so that you don’t have to waste time looking for a liner the next time it gets emptied.
  

• Prevent mold and mildew from growing in your shower. Clean as you go & wipe surfaces like glass doors dry before you step out of the shower.  Or spray a mold inhibitor in the shower as needed.

• Grab a paper towel and wipe excess toothpaste out of the sink.  Doing this on a daily basis will help keep your sink from turning into a bowl of grossness.

Let’s Wrap Up

To clean your dirty bathroom really fast and keep it clean you simply need to do the following:

• Make sure you have the right cleaning products and tools for the job. Not having the right products will definitely slow you down.
• Use a bathroom cleaning routine – and don’t forget to use a timer – to drastically slash your cleaning time.
• Microclean daily – spend a few minutes cleaning different areas in the bathroom to keep it surprisingly clean almost all the time!

Good things are meant to be shared! Save this to your Pinterest account so you can actually find it later and so others can see you’ve got all the good stuff!

The post How To Deep Clean Your Dirty Bathroom Fast (And Keep It Clean) appeared first on 🙌 House Cleaning Service In Columbia, SC | The Cleaning Club.