Tips And Tricks For A Clean House That Stays That Way
I’ve never been one to avoid hard work or shy away from a difficult project, but that doesn’t mean I won’t find ways to “work smarter, not harder” whenever I can! (Working smarter in certain areas frees up more of my time to devote to the projects I’m always finding for myself.) ;-)
There are plenty of ways to adopt the mentality of working smarter, not harder when it comes to cleaning your home. With just a few seconds of extra effort, it’s fairly easy to keep your house clean longer than you’re used to!
To show you what I mean, today I’ll be sharing 11 simple preventative cleaning tips and tricks that will keep your house clean longer. (And if you know of any similar cleaning tips that aren’t listed here, please share them with us in a comment at the end of this post!)
Related: 11 Clever Cleaning Shortcuts That Will Save You So Much Time
11 Easy Ways To Keep Your House Clean Longer
1. Keep Cleaning Supplies Handy
Stock a couple of small caddies with microfiber cloths and store them in high-traffic areas like your kitchen and bathroom. You’ll be more likely to take a moment to wipe up a mess if you have a clean cloth within arm’s reach!
Related: The Most Useful Items To Have In Your Cleaning Caddy
2. Clean Glass Doors With Rain-X
Treat your glass shower enclosure with a water repelling spray like Rain-X to keep it clean longer. When treated with water repellants, the water will bead up on the glass and roll right off.
Related: The Shockingly Effective Shower Cleaner You Need To Try
3. No Shoes In The House
Instituting a simple “no shoes in the house” rule is one of the easiest ways to keep your house clean. Shoes track in dust, dirt, and debris, so keeping shoes at the doors can mean much less floor cleaning for you!
Keep shoe racks at the main doors in and out of your house as a helpful reminder.
Related: 13 Practical Shoe Hacks That Will Put You A Step Ahead
4. No Food In The Car
Alright, so technically your car isn’t part of your home… but if you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of time in the car too! And an easy way to keep your car cleaner is to have a “no food in the car” rule.
I’m not saying this rule is as easy to institute as the “no shoes in the house” rule, but the same principle applies here! If you don’t bring food into the car, you won’t have to deal with crumbs, spills, and other messes.
Related: 17 Brilliant Hacks That Will Make Cleaning Your Car A Breeze
More Ideas You'll Love
5. Use Tin Foil For Easy Cleanup
Post-meal cleanup is quick and easy when you line your baking sheets, casserole dishes, and other hard-to-wash items with tin foil before using them.
Just remove the tin foil, rinse the dish clean, and it’ll be ready to use again. That means no more 30-minute post-dinner pan scrubbing sessions!
Related: 5 Food Storage Wraps And When You Should Use Them
6. Use Pillow & Mattress Protectors
Bulky items like pillows and mattresses take time and effort to clean. You can make it easier on yourself by getting some washable pillow protectors and a washable mattress protector!
That way, you can just remove the protectors and wash them whenever you wash your sheets. Not only will you have pillows and mattresses that are always clean and hygienic, but they’ll last a lot longer too!
Related: How To Clean Your Mattress (And Why You Should Do It Regularly)
7. Rub Wax Paper On Stainless Steel
Many people with stainless steel fixtures in their kitchen swear by the power of wax paper! Rubbing wax paper over stainless steel leaves behind a thin, waxy barrier that helps repel water spots, fingerprints, and dust.
Related: 13 Surprising Problems You Can Solve With Wax Paper
8. Prevent Dust With A Dryer Sheet
No matter how often you dust your baseboards, the dust always returns sooner than you’d like it to. But you can extend that dust-free period by wiping your clean baseboards down with a dryer sheet.
The dryer sheet will leave behind a thin layer of residue that repels dust and dirt, which will keep them clean longer! This baseboards hack also works like a charm on furniture, decor, and more.
More Ideas You'll Love
Related: 11 Surprising Ways To Use (Or Reuse) A Dryer Sheet
9. Clean As You Go
No one enjoys those marathon post-dinner cleanup sessions! One way to make dinner cleanup easier is to do more cleaning while you’re actually cooking.
Even doing simple things like rinsing out dishes as you use them and wiping up spills as they happen can make a big difference!
Related: 13 Hacks You’ll Love If You Hate Washing Dishes
10. Always Check For Clutter
Every time you leave a room, do a quick check for clutter or anything that isn’t where it should go. If you see things you can replace on your way to the next room, take them along with you.
Clearing clutter a few items at a time will keep your house clean longer, and it only takes a few extra seconds to do it!
11. Close Your Shower Curtain
When you get out of the shower, make sure to pull the curtain closed to help the liner dry completely. Leaving the shower curtain open traps moisture in the folds of the liner, which could lead to mold and mildew growth (yuck!)
Do you use any tips and tricks to keep your house clean?
I don’t think no 8 can be in Jillee’s hime because she must have a way to avoid or remove stray baseboard paint from wooden/laminate flooring!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.About shoes:
After taking off my “outdoor shoes” at the door, I slip on a pair of “indoor shoes “ for safety. As an 84 year oldster, it is good to avoid slips and falls by doing this.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi! I appreciate all your posts. They are so fun to read. I do have one that could be added. I haven’t started doing this, but one time I lived with a family who always put newspaper on their counter before preparing food. When they were ready for clean up, they just threw away the newspaper. No wiping down the counters.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t know if I would use newspaper, maybe you could suggest something better, but it sure made for easy and quick cleanup!
Arlene, I am so happy that you enjoy reading my posts! I wouldn’t use newspaper because the newsprint could come off on the food you are preparing. I would suggest either parchment paper or cutting brown paper bags instead.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.For the bathroom faucets we have a foaming bathroom cleaner that is also great for taking the gunk off. I just spray it on and wipe it off with a dry rag. It takes it right off.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found some 13.3 gallon rectangular garbage cans with lids. They fit nicely into corners or next to desks/counters. I purchased one for every room in the house except the bathrooms, and it’s made a huge difference. May sound weird to most, but when you have severe depression, cleaning isn’t a top priority. We keep extra garbage bags in the bottom of the cans, so they are easier to change out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi everyone,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.instead of wax paper on your facets
Use Rain-X It will repel the water that gets on the facets.And I really like the dryer sheet on the areas that get dusty and are hard to reach!
and I really like the Rain-X on the shower doors. I never thought of that. lol (that would save a whole lot of cleaning!
Many thanks for all your wonderful tips! I love them!
The foil is not a good idea. I read recently that using foil at high temperatures causes leeching of the metal into the food. Use only for storing cool or cooled foods. Do not use for cooking.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I disagree with the ‘no shoes’ rule. I recently was told to never not wear shoes in the house because of two separate serious injuries. I’ve spent most of my life avoiding shoes, but safety comes first.
Additional to that, we have five dogs and they track in filth everyday, so we clean up.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Would comfortable slippers work for you? You can buy well fitting ones with non slip soles, safer than floppy fluffy ones for those of us less steady on our feet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tips. Here’s mine for the shower. I clean my shower with a 50/50 mix Dawn & Vinegar about once every 4-6 weeks. In between, after every shower I spray my shower curtain liner & shower walls down with a homemade shower spray. How much one makes depends on the size bottle used. I use a 32 oz. repurposed peroxide bottle with a sprayer off a cheap Dollar Tree spray bottle. For ever cup of water used add ⅛ cup hydrogen peroxide, ⅛ cup rubbing alcohol, ½ teaspoon Dawn or Sal Suds (I use Dawn), 1 teaspoon white vinegar & 20 drops tea tree essential oil. Then I leave my shower curtain mostly closed for an hour or two for the liner to dry. I leave a few inches open on each end of the shower for air flow, but make sure the liner is not folded in on itself. No mold. No mildew & everything dries streak free. The tea tree oil smell is gone when everything dries. There’s absolutely no soap scum build up either. This also works great on glass shower doors.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tip, Landon! Thanks for sharing it with us. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have three dogs, two have terrible seasonal shedding. My husband and I do a couple of things in tandem to keep our floors clean. He makes it a habit of brushing them every one to two days. He set up a brushing station in the garage. It’s comical how they’ve been trained to understand that it’s time for a brushing. They sit by the garage door and wait.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I invested in a lightweight but more powerful cordless vac built for pet hair. It has a 40 minute charge which is perfect for my size house. I do a quick vacuuming almost every day. The light on the vacuum head helps me focus where the pet hair is. It also lets me know easily when shedding season has kicked in, and my husband ups the brushing routine. We’re seniors with a sprawling ranch who have found this routine to work easily and with no strain. I’m pleased to say our home is always neat and ready for grandkid visits.
Best way I’ve found to dry my fabric shower curtain liner is to hang it up by one corner. I put a hook high up on the wall opposite the showerhead, in the corner. I clipped a cafe curtain ring to the bottom corner of the liner on that end. After shower, I spread the liner out along the rod then grab the ring and hang that corner from the hook. It sounds (and looks) odd, but it provides superior air flow to the shower and everything (not just the liner) dries a lot faster.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep chickens and raise organic vegetables, so I’ve got MAJORLY filthy boots but I still need to run in and out of the house all day. I have a coarse boot mat at the bottom of the stairs and a weird dirt magnetizing moisture trapping rug at the top going into the kitchen. I quickly scrub my boots on the bottom rug, wipe them on the top one and can get into the house without leaving a mess. I also keep a pair of rubber boots right outside the door for quick trips to the yard.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Funny switch around rule I have – no indoor/good shoes outside!!
I found using grill mats works well instead of foil and is reusable and dishwasher able. Trying to reuse as much as I can. Parchment paper is a great alternative.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes I always use parchment paper to line pans I use in the oven.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas are usually the easiest and I have one for you as well. When dusting the china hutch and contents, I use a Tablespoon or two of fabric softener, in clean water and a microfiber cloth.. The softener keeps dust from landing on all my antiques and actually keep them cleaner, longer. I live in Arizona, and dust is a major part of living here. But with this, I have found I can go a month or so before having to dust my antiques. I also use it on my dining table and chairs plus the furniture in our guest bedroom. Keeping my house clean makes me feel better and not having to work hard at it puts a BIG Smile on my face.
One more thing I recommend when driving long distances… After washing your vehicle, take a quarter cup of softener and add it to a bucket of water and wipe down your car. The softener will demagnetize your vehicle and you will get better gas mileage. It also helps with keeping your car cleaner between washes.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tips, Alicia! Thanks for sharing! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just a funny, but when I read the headline, my first thought was to get rid of the pets, children, and husband!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Very funny, Michelle… I think we all think that once in a while! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hear ya, Michelle! And I’ve been trying for 36 yrs to get my husband to take off his shoes when he comes in the house, but so far no such luck! He works construction, so mud, dusty clothes, and plain old dirt are always a problem! Buy I am gonna try the wax paper trick, to keep the faucets ahiny, I’d never heard that one, buy it makes sense. Now back to the shoes……
Please log in or create a free account to comment.After showering, use a squeegee to run down the water off the glass or curtain.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use the squeegee on the tiled walls.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We try not to wear shoes in our house to help keep our carpet looking clean longer., We do bend it occasionally when people are visiting our home who have joint problems or my work shoes which are easier to get on if I sit on a couch before leaving. I also agree about the parchment paper. Certain foods are easier – cookies, etc are easier to bake using parchment paper.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I also have for years been wiping down the shower in our main bathroom for years after showering. I use an old towel for this. Where I live it makes a big difference, when you live in an area with high humidity. It helps to keep mold from forming.,Also, most people where we live have dehumidifiers to prevent mold from forming in their basements and on walls.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh oh oh!!!! I had a light bulb moment reading the Rain-x shower tip! My kitchen window is (no surprises) over the sink. Our water is Very Hard. I can not STAND how fast the water spray spots up the window- it looks disgusting! I’m going to dig out the Rain-x RIGHT NOW and see what it can do for my nasty window! Thanks!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I wish I could enforce the no shoes rule. My husband puts his shoes on first thing and wears them all day. He refuses to listen to reason. Drives me insane.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Me too and I don’t know if he is just being stubborn or he really doesn’t believe me when I say it keeps the floors cleaner because shoes bring in dirt and debris from outside. I always thought it was common sense until I moved in with him!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.What about using a Welcome mat inside the door to rub the dirt of?
How about cleaning the shoes before they make it into the bedroom or wherever they spend the night? I think Marie Kondo does this.
I do this as well,it makes sense,
It isn’t just dirt that gets tracked in but pesticides and other nasty things that are not good for you. It helps with allergies when you don’t wear your shoes all over your house too. Maybe telling the resistant husbands that might help!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The easiest way (if you can’t get him to remove his shoes) is to have a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and have him spray his shoes and rub them on a doormat !!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Is it a regular plastic shower liner that you cut to size or a liner made specifically for this reason? Thanks
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you have doors on your tub you can use a regular shower curtain. A large on can be used if you have if you have a large stand alone shower. If you need a smaller on I don’t see any why you couldn’t cut one down. Amazon has an amazing curtain that stays clean for a very long time. Didn’t think I’d like it in my tub when I 1st put it up, but you can kind of mold it the tub & the magnets keep it in place so it doesn’t end up sticking to your skin like all the others do. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LS9UD2M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sorry, but how do you get the liner to stick to the glass doors? Thanks again.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just guessing but I would assume made especially for that reason. I have bought regular sized for my regular shower and found one for my box size shower a number of years ago. I have a glass door now, don’t know if they still make them or not. Hope this helps you.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thumbs up on the no shoe rule. We haven’t allowed shoes in 40 years. The flooring not only stays cleaner, it lasts longer because it is not getting abused. Those with small kids….think about this…..do you want your little ones crawling or playing on a floor that is contaminated with the junk that comes off of shoes that have walked who knows where!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.So glad you brought this up: Think about the public toilets folks use. Think about all those toxic chemicals people use on their sidewalks. Now imagine those germs and chemicals being tracked into your home.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love your news letters. I use many of your suggestions from this areticle. I used to use aluminum foil to avoid messes. I have reacently switched to using parchment paper, after reading several atricles about the adverse effect of aluminum leaching into our bodies. Works well and still avoids extra cleanup time.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you for the info on parchment paper. I didn’t know that about aluminum foil. My latest toaster/convection oven says not to use foil, because it can damage the unit. I haven’t been able to make certain things in it that I used to make in my other ones. However, now I know I can use parchment paper instead. I thought it was only for baking…adding it my grocery list now. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like the precut parchment sheets I find on amazon. They are perfect size for a cookie sheet and easily cut for smaller uses. They are folded, so no rolling of the edges like with parchment rolls.
Jillee,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You are a gift from Heaven. Your tips have made my life easier on the things I use that you post. Thank you for your wonderful ideas. God Bless you and your family.
Lori
Lori, thank you for your kind words. I am so happy that you love my website and tips! We are here to make people’s lives easier with solutions to everyday homekeeping, beauty routines, recipes, natural products and more.
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