If you’ve ever despaired at the gulf between your home and the immaculate, spotless and minimal interiors you see on Instagram, then help is at hand from former primary teacher and current cleaning influencer – aka ‘cleanfluencer’ – Anna Louisa.
Anna Louisa, 35, from Norfolk, started sharing interiors content on Instagram, but after becoming a mum to Oliver, now three, and finding herself tight on time, she began to post cleaning shortcuts and advice.
“I get very easily overwhelmed, I’ve always been like that,” she says. “When I had Oliver, that became apparent very quickly. Having a child in itself is overwhelming. You feel out of control because everything is very much down to them and what they need. A messy environment and clutter made it worse. I didn’t have as much time, either. So I broke things down into five-minute tasks, building habits into my day around Oliver’s routine. That was the start of me taking back control.”
Her followers couldn’t get enough. In fact, her tips and hacks proved so popular that she has amassed 4.2 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million on TikTok at @anna_louisa_at_home. Yet Anna Louisa (real name: Anna Lee), didn’t care about cleaning until she moved into her own home aged 26. And then, she found that it became important for her mental health and emotional wellbeing.
She has now written The 5 Minute Clean Routine, a cleaning bible of ingenious advice and practical guidance to help make your home a cleaner and calmer place to relax and unwind. So why does she think people can’t get enough of her cleaning tips? “We just want an easier life,” she says. “We want shortcuts so that we can use the majority of our time doing things that we actually really want to do,” she says. “I want to help people make their home lives nicer and easier because, as long as you’re happy at home, nothing outside matters.”
And anyone who finds themselves envying Anna Louisa’s husband Shaun should note that he pulls his weight. “He doesn’t clean but he tidies up and that’s quite nice because it allows me to go straight in and clean,” she says. “And I’m very good at delegating. I don’t do it all, I refuse to.” Here, she shares her brightest ideas for helping you clean and tidy your home as quickly, easily and efficiently as possible. Read on to find out how you can sprinkle some of Anna Louisa’s domestic magic around your own home…
Make a list of chores
I love a list. I had so much whizzing around in my brain that when I was trying to sleep, I’d be lying there for hours every night. So now I write down everything I need to do the next day and list it in priority order. If I don’t get it all done, it doesn’t matter. The rest can be moved to the next day’s list. Also there’s the satisfaction of ticking it off.
Create a cleaning routine
Build a daily routine, a weekly routine, and a monthly routine. You just need a list of things that need cleaning every day, week or month then tick them off as you do them. So you might hoover and clean the sink daily; weekly you might dust or clean the bathroom. Monthly jobs would be cleaning windows, cleaning out the fridge or descaling the kettle. I change bedsheets weekly and wash bath towels after three uses.
Declutter
I try to think “one in, one out”. If you upgrade something in your house, don’t keep the old one. I’m terrible when it comes to Oliver’s things though. I want to keep everything.
Cull your clothes
If you have clothes you haven’t worn for a year in your wardrobe, why hold on to them? I had a big wardrobe clear out in January and I feel so much better for it. Afterwards, hang clothes with the hangers backwards. Then, after you wear something, hang it the right way round. That way, you can see what you haven’t worn all year.
How to organise your cupboards
I bought storage boxes from B&M and they make such a difference. When you look in a cupboard, you can find something straight away rather than spending half an hour searching for it. You can also buy dividers for your drawers to keep items in categories, or make them out of cereal boxes cut in half.
I have a couple of lazy Susans in my fridge so they spin and you can see all your sauces. I also have them in my bathroom cupboard.
The one product I use everywhere
If I could only have one product to clean my whole house, it would be washing-up liquid. It will do pretty much every job in your house. A brand called Neat is more eco-friendly and they have a spray like a foaming washing-up liquid. I could use just that one product throughout my whole house. But you might have something stronger for limescale, like Viakal.
Make my multipurpose spray
You could also make my multipurpose spray for use throughout the house. It’s 60ml white vinegar, 480ml water, a teaspoon of dish soap, and a fragrance such as orange peel, springs of rosemary or mint, or 10-20 drops of essential oil. Shake well and let it infuse for a few days before you use it.
What equipment you need to clean
I would recommend a steam cleaner. Shark make a good one or I have a Karcher steamer and it has an attachment for everything. It will steam clean your fridge, the microwave, or the oven. You can use it on glass, in your bathroom, on sinks and taps. It can sterilise everything. I would also recommend a spray mop rather than a mop and bucket, like Vileda’s One Two Spray mop.
I also love my SonicScrubber. It’s got loads of different attachments. My absolute worst job is anything to do with the shower drain but the Sonic Scrubber cleans plugholes. It’s got another attachment for taps and tiny crevices, or another for washing up so you don’t have to scrub.
Multitask
I try to multitask a lot. I’ll ask myself, what can I do while the kettle’s boiling? Or I’ll set myself a 30-minute timer and race against it to get the job done. A game-changer for me was using a mop to clean the shower tray and walls. I also keep a scrubbing wand with washing-up liquid in my shower so, if I have a hair mask or conditioner in, I use those two minutes to scrub down the shower while I’m in it.
Just do five minutes at a time
Cleaning is like the gym – starting is always the hardest part. So just do five minutes. Nine times out of 10, you’ll then do another five minutes, then another. Before you know it, your room is transformed. I also love listening to podcasts or really energetic music to make cleaning more enjoyable. Housework impacts my mood significantly.
The 5 Minute Clean Routine by Anna Louisa (Century), £18.99, is out on March 13
ANNA-LOUISA’S CLEANING KIT:
- neat. Foaming Washing Up Spray Discovery Kit (500ml plastic bottle; spray foam trigger; four 30ml plastic-free foaming washing up spray refills), £20 (neatclean.com)
- Viakal Limescale Removal Spray, £9.41 for two 500ml bottles, amazon.co.uk
- Shark Floor & Handheld Steam Cleaner S6005UK, £179.99 (sharkclean.co.uk)
- Karcher Steam cleaner SC 1 Multi & Up Extra, £99.9 (kaercher.com)
- Vileda 1-2 Spray microfibre spray mop, £29.25 (vileda.co.uk)
- SonicScrubber Household System, £22.95 for 1 tool + 4 brush heads (sonicscubber.com)