9 Tips to Cleaning Your House Like A Pro

It is tough to fit cleaning into today's schedules. Between working, school, sports, homework, volunteer shifts or social plans, the amount time available to keep the home in great shape seems to continue to lessen. 

If your home is on the market, the need to have it show in its best condition is extremely important, especially in today's buyer's market. Trying to keep your home in this condition can be stressful.  The following 9 tips should help you to get your home in this condition and help keep it that way.

1. Keep a weekly schedule. Creating a schedule with reasonable, daily expectations for everyone will help share the load.  It will also make the tasks more manageable over all.  If the house is tidied up every day, the extra things like mopping or vacuuming will be added on quickly.

2. Clean up after yourself. This tip seems like common sense- however by doing things like putting dishes straight into the dishwasher, wiping down showers and sinks after use and making the bed in the morning will substantially cut down on the things to do before a showing.

3. Wipe spills in the fridge right away. Most homes are sold with the refrigerator, meaning that the buyers will be peeking inside.  Rather than waiting to clean the entire fridge at once, time can be minimized by wiping up spills as they happen.  Things like cleaning out take out and left over containers or removing expired condiments can be quickly taken care of once a week.

4. Clean like a pro. Professional cleaners carry their cleaning supplies with them as they go room to room.  This efficiency cuts down on their time as they are not running back and forth for different supplies. Carrying a tub of multi-purpose cleaners instead of buying multiple cleaners for different purposes will save both time and money. If you have two vacuums, having one on each floor will save you time as well.

5. Dust mini-blinds with fabric softener sheets. Using one of these sheets right out of the dryer not only repurposes them and making dusting easy, it also puts an anti-static film on the blinds which makes them more dust resilient.

6. Natural Odor Remover. Realtors often say "If you can smell it, you can't sell it."  Products to cover odors often make the problem worse, by leaving another strong odor obviously meant to try to mask it.  A deep clean, carpet cleaning for example, should be done, but then a cotton ball soaked in pure vanilla extract can be placed in a shallow dish - out of the reach of children and pets - creating a natural odor remover.

7. Streak-free windows. Letting light in is very important and having streak-free windows adds a sparkle to the home.  A vinegar and water solution applied with a newspaper and rubbed until dry is an inexpensive and highly effective way to achieve the streak free shine.  Using an evaporating cleanser with coffee filters is also known to work.

8. Multi-task. Many cleaning projects do not need much brain power to carry out and can be easily done while doing other things, like talking on the phone.  The next time you are on the phone or are on hold, clean out a junk drawer, wipe the counters down, dust or fold laundry.

9. Set the table. By setting the table for breakfast before bed, time will be saved in the morning routine. If it can be set again for dinner before leaving for the day, not only is it ready come supper time, but it is staged for any potential showings while you are gone.

If keeping the house in great showing condition still seems to be too overwhelming, hiring a housecleaner may be in order. Just remember, you will still need to clean the clutter before they come in. By following the tips above, it should be easier to clean like a pro and keep it that way!