Cleaning expert and mum of five Shifrah Combiths has shared her game-changing routine which allows her to no longer spend her weekends tackling a week’s worth of dirty dishes
Are you sick of sacrificing your Sundays to a mountain of laundry and dirty dishes?
Staying on top of our cleaning duties can feel like an impossible feat, especially when you have little ones who destroy everything in sight. Obviously, nobody expects your home to be perfect (except the in-laws) – but it’s important to keep harmful bacteria at bay to prevent a whole host of health issues including allergies and infections.
A sparkling abode has also been linked to improved mental health (clean home, clean mind) – and can even save you money in the long run. If you ignore issues like mould and mildew in the bathroom and let it grow, you risk ending up with a hefty bill to get it professionally removed. So, here’s how to stay on top of the chaos without turning into a 24/7 maid.
Cleaning expert Shifrah Combiths commits to cleaning for ’15-20 minutes, five days a week’ and says the routine has completely freed up her weekends. As a mum of five, she’s used to dealing with a constant string of mess, but says the ‘genius’ hack works wonders and provides a sense of ‘freedom’ when it gets to Friday.
“A successful weekday-only cleaning regime relies on two categories of cleaning tasks: ones that you repeat every day as a matter of habit and ones that you do once a week,” Shifrah said. Her daily habits include quick tasks such as wiping down the kitchen counters, taking the bins out, putting things back where they belong after you’ve done with them, and squeegeeing the shower doors.
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It sounds simple but getting into a routine with these easy tasks, or even getting the kids involved, massively reduces your workload. Shifrah recommends spending around 20 minutes a day focussing on a bigger task. You can tackle either one or a combination of the following:
- Wiping glass and mirrors in the bathrooms and elsewhere.
- Dusting.
- Vacuuming carpets
- Wet mopping hard floors.
- Cleaning bathroom counters and toilets.
- Cleaning out the fridge.
- Tackling clutter hot spots.
- Deeper cleaning of kitchen appliances.
- Deeper cleaning of the bathrooms (showers, sinks, tubs, fixtures).
- Add laundry as needed, keeping loads small as much as possible and completing the cycle, i.e., wash, dry, fold, and put away.
The cleaning ace suggests creating a timetable to help organise the bigger tasks and make them seem less daunting. For example, you can call Mondays dusting and vacuuming day, which will help you quickly establish a routine. You can also introduce parts of these tasks to your little ones, asking them to fold and put away the laundry every Thursday if they want a free weekend.
What do you think of the hack? Let us know in the comments section below
