7 Time-Saving House Cleaning Tips

Samantha Pregenzer is a San Francisco-based professional organizer, founder of Simply Organized and a mother of three who offers some time-saving tips for cleaning your home. “Most importantly, Pregenzer notes, "Keep your contents simple. Simple generally means easy to clean.”

1. Designate places for everything. “Open-topped baskets are great timesavers,” Pregenzer explains. You can organize clutter by using baskets in different rooms in the house. In the living room, store magazines and mail in them. In the kitchen, use them as decorative bins for dry recycling plastic bags, cardboard and clean glass.

2. Teach ’em young! Mimic what your kids learn in preschool. “Preschool teachers have it down,” says Pregenzer. “They make games out of everything, including tidying up the classroom.” Sing with your kids or play word games with them as you teach them to put away their toys or their clothes. This will make tidying up a game and not a chore.

3. Dish tabs unite! Every mom needs coffee, but who wants to battle the disgusting film that builds up in your stainless steel coffee pot? How many times have you just given up and headed out for a $5 latte? Not anymore. Just pop a dishwasher tab into the coffee pot, fill it with boiling water and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. Dump out the water and Voila! You’ve got a crystal-clean pot without scrubbing.

4. Caddies are great timesavers. “Try having a separate cleaning caddy for each room of the house or color-code them for your cleaning days,” suggests Pregenzer. You might choose a blue caddy with bathroom cleaning supplies and a red one for the kitchen. You could have an all-green, organic caddy for the kid’s rooms and a super-strength cleaning one for the laundry room or garage. Each caddy contains all the products and tools to clean that area of the house. No more wasted time searching for rubber gloves and sink cleaners!

5. Multitask during bath time. After you’ve given the kids their baths and they’re lingering in the tub playing with their rubber duckies and battleships, take a few moments to wipe down the sink and floor and run a scrub brush over the toilet bowl. You’re spending time with your kids and cleaning at the same time. This saves you from having to set aside separate time to clean the kids’ bathroom.

6. Go natural with vinegar. Save time, money and exposure to harsh chemicals by using vinegar as a cleaning solution. It’s pet- and kid-friendly and works like a charm to clean and disinfect either full-strength or diluted with water. Keep a spray bottle in the kitchen and bathroom for quick glass-cleaning touchups.

7. Washcloths have many lives. Keep a stock of inexpensive washcloths at hand-the kind you buy in bulk. Use them for your face and hands and when they start to break down after a few washes, use them to clean the bathroom and, after more use, they’ll be great rags for general housecleaning or use in the garage, Pregenzer suggests.



Shelley Moench-Kelly is a New England-based writer and editor whose freelance clients include Google, L’Oreal Paris and TheWeek.com. You can follow her on Facebook