Most homeowners and pet owners organise themselves to keep a clean and tidy home, whether they have help of do it themselves. 

We can always learn more about how to do both the deep cleaning or the easy clean up with greater efficiency and who better to learn from than full time housesitters and petsitters who’s reputation is built on care for the owner’s pets and property.

Here are the top 7 housesitter cleaning tips from the HouseSitMatch housesitters.

Easy Clean Up for Housesitters – Top Ideas

Due to our busy work and play schedules, it can be hard to find the time to clean our houses thoroughly on a regular basis, which then increases clutter and leads to dusty dirty homes. A messy home is not only a sore sight, but it is a fertile environment for bacteria and germs to thrive.

This is doubly true if we keep pets in the home. Most of us are short on time and due to overcharging our busy lives with all kinds of out of the home activities we can get a little distracted from maintaining our home environment.

Because we’re often short on time to spend on cleaning, we need to find efficient ways to do more in less time. Sure, you can always enlist the help of cleaning services, but this adds extra costs. So, if you want to clean your home quickly and thoroughly yourself, check out these housesitter top tips.

1. Stop Zone Cleaning – A Room at a Time

One of the best cleaning tips is ‘Zone cleaning’ which means focusing all your energy on working one room at a time. This method depends on finishing all the cleaning tasks in a room before moving on to the next one. Although it might seem like a good idea at first, it wastes a lot of time. After you finish your designated room, you might feel exhausted and unmotivated to continue, especially if you have a big home.

Alternatively, you should employ the task-cleaning method. This way, you can finish only one task at a time. For instance, this might mean that you can do all the mopping your house needs before you move on to dusting. Not only will this save time, but you will not feel overwhelmed.

2. Be Extra Careful With Pets in the Home

If you have a dog, make sure to periodically wash its bedding and vacuum with a pet hair vacuum or shake outside thoroughly to remove dog hair from your carpets. Top Tip – a wet rubber glove is better at removing pet hair than lint rollers, which are best used for smaller surfaces.

If you have a cat, cleaning its litter box every day is essential, so you can avoid further mess and unsavoury smells. However, there is another way. For easy clean up, invest in a sifting litter box. This has holes on the bottom and allows the clean litter to drop in another container, separating it from the dirty clumps of waste. Thus, you will not have to spend too much time cleaning your cat’s litter box. 

3. Move from Top to Bottom in the Home

Vacuuming before you dust can be a huge mistake. When you have high shelves or ceiling fans, dusting them after you vacuum will only make the dust fall on your recently vacuumed carpet, which will, in turn, make you vacuum all over again. To save time and for an efficient, easy clean-up dust and then vacuum.

4. Wash Your Windows at Night in a Hot Climate

Cleaning your windows when it is sunny outside is a big no-no. When you spray your cleaner on hot windows, believe it or not it will dry faster than you can wipe it. This will leave streaks and make your windows look even dirtier than before, which will force you to have to clean them again. To prevent this, clean your windows at night or when it is not sunny. It sounds counter intuitive, but it works!

5. The Shiny Bits – Focus on Taps, Toilets, and Sinks

Tackling the bathroom and kitchen can be a daunting task and may take a lot of the time you have allocated to cleaning. Yet, by focusing on corners where dirt gathers, taps, sinks, and toilets, you can deep clean with efficiency in no time.

Germs and dirt gather in your toilet bowl and sinks, so by thoroughly cleaning them, you will be done with most of the work and what was going to be a tough challenge becomes an easy clean up task instead. There is no need to scrub the walls every time if they look clean enough.  Moreover, having all your cleaning tools ready in a container will save you the hassle of moving to and fro the kitchen or bathroom.

6. Save Time – Do Not Hand Wash Dishes

Without a dishwasher, you do not have a choice. However, if you do, make sure to actually use it! it saves you a lot of time and is more effective. Hand washing your dishes before throwing them in the dishwasher simply defeats its purpose, save that time. You should just discard any leftover food in the recycling bins and garbage, and let your dishwasher handle the rest.

7. Wash Your Equipment – Get Ready for Next Time

It is easy to forget that your equipment get dirty as well. A dirty mop and a full vacuum are just not effective, they shed more dirt than they pick up. To cut down the time you need to clean your house, and ensure you have an easy clean up always make sure to clean your mops and empty your vacuum bag. You can also use an antiseptic to ensure that your mops are pristine and ready to go again.

Final thoughts on housesitters easy clean at the housesit end

Home chores can be dull, but try to enjoy the satisfaction of having it done and making it an easier task than it needs to be. Understandably, many prefer spending their free time in leisure activities and something they actually enjoy. Still, domestic chores do not have to be hard; by making the most of these top tips for an easy clean up, you will finish cleaning your whole house in no time.

One last tip: Blast some music, and get help from your roommate or family; you do not have to do everything alone!

FURTHER READING ON HOME CARE, PET CARE AND HOUSESITTING

Shedding pets – How to clean up after them at home

4 Pet care tips for when you are away

Planning your holiday home and pet care

Housesitting cleaning protocols by HouseSit Match

What is House Sitting?