KEEP YOUR HOME TIDY YEAR-ROUND WITH THIS QUICK TIP

After long hours at the office, school runs, grocery shopping and all the other day-to-day tasks, most homeowners simply don’t have the time to clean their own homes. And, what with the rising cost of living, many can no longer afford to hire cleaning professionals either.

But, neglecting your cleaning duties can have detrimental effects on your family’s health. Anyone with allergies knows how badly dusty shelves and unswept floors can affect sinuses and worsen congestion. More than this, mold, mildew, and other harmful bacteria can build up in areas like bathrooms and kitchens if surfaces aren’t cleaned and disinfected regularly.

A build up of dirt can also end up costing you more than you realise. When it comes to selling a property, the home depreciates substantially in value for every room that has cleanliness issues. Sometimes the build-up is beyond the help of some bleach and scrub brushes, and homeowners will then have to reinvest money into the home (re-grouting tiles, replacing stained carpets, retouching severely stained cupboards, etc.) before they can sell for full value.

THE SOLUTION?
Develop a ten-minute daily cleaning rule. It’s understandably difficult to find the time and motivation to spend a few hours in any day cleaning the house. But, it is comparatively easy to find just ten minutes a day to get to a few chores. Rather than trying to spring clean the whole house once a week, try to tackle one cleaning task daily. You could focus on just one room at a time or you could tackle just one chore at a time. Spend just ten minutes each day cleaning that room, or doing that specific task (scrubbing the shower, or cleaning the windows, for example), and by the end of the week, your home will be much cleaner than if you had waited for the day when you had enough time to clean the whole house thoroughly.