8 House Cleaning Tips for Moms (How Even YOU Can Keep a Clean House!)

Have you ever been chasing your kids around the house when you pass by the kitchen and stop to realize how big of a mess it is? The table has milk spilled all over it, the floor is overtaken with crumbs and the sink is piled full of yesterday’s dishes. How do you clean when you have no time? Use these house cleaning tips for moms to get on your way to a clean house.

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You feel overwhelmed just by looking at the mess but you don’t know what you have to do to clean it up. Where do you even start?

And the worst part is, the mess in the kitchen is just a fraction of the mess of your whole house.

GIRL, YOU NEED THESE HOUSE CLEANING TIPS FOR MOMS

We all want a clean house, but rarely do we want to actually CLEAN our house.

When you’re a busy mom, trying to find free time in your schedule to clean your house can be next to impossible. And, when you do finally find that free time and make a plan to clean your house, something often pops up and takes away your free time. (Kids, anyone?)

HOW DO MOMS KEEP A CLEAN HOUSE?

Have you ever wondered how some moms do it? How DO some moms keep a clean house with 4+ little kids running to and fro?

You know, the moms who always have a hot dinner on the table ready for when their husband gets home from work. The ones who always have time to sit down and do a messy craft with their kids, but 10 minutes after the craft is done there’s no trace of it. The moms who seem like super-mom?

How do they do it?

The secret to their successfully cleaned house is using some of these fast house cleaning tips for moms (or anyone, really) that you’re about to learn.

I’ll admit, some of those moms might spend more time cleaning their house than you would like to, and that’s fine. Maybe you want to focus less on having a clean house and more on enjoying time with your kids (which I, personally, think you should do). But, even though you want to worry less about cleaning, you still don’t want your house to be a disaster.

You do want to be able to invite surprise guests into your home without stressing about the state of your house.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN WHEN YOU’RE BUSY

I’ll be the first to admit – I LOVE having a clean house, but I don’t necessarily like to clean it.

Yup. I want the clean house, but I don’t like to make it that way. I used to struggle way more with cleaning before I found these house cleaning tips that I’m sharing with you today.

Before I found ways to clean our house more efficiently (instead of spending an ENTIRE day cleaning, only to have mud drug into the house again by the end of the day) I would do almost anything to avoid cleaning.

I would make up excuses for myself as to why I didn’t have time to clean (before I became a mom… I didn’t know it, but really, I had ALL the time in the world!), and I would push cleaning off for weeks.

Eventually, I came to the point where I realized that our house needed to be cleaned regardless of how I felt about it, and hiring someone to clean it for us just wasn’t in our budget, so I bucked up and made a promise that I would clean our house regularly.

I wasn’t going to let it stay a mess anymore.

So, I started searching for every resource on how I could clean more efficiently. How I could clean our house FASTER while ending up with better (cleaner) results than I had been ending up with.

And, through everything I learned, I am now able to actually enjoy cleaning – sometimes.

Are you ready to learn how to clean your house more efficiently, how to spend less time cleaning and more time with your family?

Let’s dive right in!

8 HOUSE CLEANING TIPS FOR MOMS (TRUST ME, YOU NEED THESE!)

1. LEARN TO BE HAPPY WITH “CLEAN ENOUGH”

What I defined as clean before having kids is far more than I’m willing to do now that we have kids.

Clean before was spotless. It was perfect. Now I’m learning to be happy with a house that is clean enough.

Because if I still wanted to achieve that spotless and perfect home I used to aim for, I would spend ALL day every day cleaning. And not only do I not have time for that, but I also don’t want to do that.

I have a business to run, I am a homemaker, a wife, and a mother. And I just plain don’t have time to have a perfect house.

But I do have a house that is clean enough.

It’s clean enough for me and it’s clean enough for my husband. We’ve both decided that having a perfect house at the cost of family time just isn’t something we want. We would rather live in a messy house and have time to spend together as a family.

But, since I can’t stand the thought of living in a messy house, after becoming a mom I decided to shoot for a “clean enough” house and no more.

Our floors usually have crumbs on them. The laundry should probably be done more often. The dishes even pile up a little bit from time to time.

But I have time to be a wife and a mom. I have time to raise our kids instead of putting them on the backburner for the sake of a clean house. I have time to work on my business.

So, learning to be happy with “clean enough” was the very first step I had to take when I became a mom. It was the very first step I took towards keeping a clean house as a busy mom, wife, and business owner.

And it’s the very first step you need to take, too, if you’re looking for ways to be happy in your home. If you’re looking for ways to have a clean (enough) house without sacrificing family time, starting to be okay with a house that is clean enough – not spotless – is key.

2. USE BASIC CLEANING SUPPLIES

The key word here is BASIC. Some people believe you have to have every single cleaning item on the market to keep a clean house.

But in all honesty, I believe those are the people who are putting off cleaning the most. Why not just grab any rag you have on hand and start dusting? Sure, it might not do the perfect job that the newest and greatest rag does, but it will get the job done for the time being.

Keep in mind, while you don’t need every cleaning supply out there, there are a few BASIC cleaning supplies you should have on hand to make cleaning your house quicker and easier.

You’ll want to have a couple rags that each have designated purposes. I use this rag specifically for cleaning mirrors, windows, and stainless steel appliances (it doesn’t leave streaks or lint behind). Then, I have this rag and this rag that I use for dusting and cleaning countertops the bathtub with. For cleaning the toilets you can use a special toilet cleaning wipe, but I prefer to use a cut up old t-shirt for cleaning my toilets. That way if there’s anything too gross I don’t feel bad just throwing the rag away, because I didn’t spend money on it.

When it comes to cleaning the floors, you’ll want a basic vacuum cleaner, one that works best for your family (here are my top picks of GOOD vacuum cleaners all under $100) and a simple mop.

To make things simple you could even grab a vacuum/mop combo like this one here. (Who knew THAT was a thing?!)

Then the only other tools (besides a broom) that I use for cleaning our house are our cleaners. I like to go super simple here and use a basic vinegar/water mixture as an all-purpose cleaner for our house. I put the mixture into this spray bottle and use it everywhere throughout our house.

I do, however, keep a bit of bathroom cleaner and these scrubbing bubbles on hand for when our tub gets out of hand.

I put all my cleaning products into a cleaning caddy to keep them all together (so I don’t have to run from one end of the house to the other, only to realize I forgot something. This way I just grab the caddy and all my cleaning supplies come along.) and I’m set to go.

You DON’T need all the greatest and latest cleaning supplies when it comes to cleaning your house.

3. USE SCHEDULES

I’m a huge advocate of using cleaning schedules, routines, and to do lists wherever possible. I have found that when I use a schedule I stay on track and get things done a LOT faster than when I don’t.

(I used to be someone who would make countless lists only to forget about them. When I started using a formula to do everything on my to do list that all changed. Here’s a to do list formula that will help you get everything on your list done – even if you’re famous for making lists and forgetting about them!)

Usually, if I don’t use a schedule, I’ll remember a couple of the tasks and get them done (at some point) throughout the day, but I rarely ever get everything done when I’m relying on my memory.

It’s a lot easier to forget, or “forget”, about stuff when it’s not written down on a piece of paper where you can see everything that needs to get done.

I like to use a weekly cleaning schedule (though some weeks if I have a day with not much planned I will power through and do all my cleaning tasks in one day) to split all the cleaning tasks up over the different days of the week.

This helps cleaning not feel quite so time-consuming.

Another thing I find especially helpful is using a simple daily routine to do small cleaning and organizing tasks throughout the day, without them feeling like work.

I orchestrate the tasks so they fit seamlessly into my day. In the morning I have a number of things that need to get done like making the bed, emptying the dishwasher, and cleaning up after breakfast. But, these don’t feel like chores, they just feel like a normal part of my day.

(I make the bed before leaving the bedroom in the morning, I empty the dishwasher as soon as I get into the kitchen for the first time in the morning, and I clean up after breakfast as soon as we’re done eating.)

4. DO A LITTLE BIT OFTEN

Doing little bits of cleaning more often is a lot easier than doing more cleaning less often.

Instead of leaving everything to pile up and trying to tackle it all in a day, try to get into the habit of doing small cleaning tasks at any chance you get throughout the day.

These tasks may seem small and insignificant, but when you keep up on them you won’t have to set a whole day aside once a week to clean your house because you’ve been doing small things all week to upkeep the cleanliness.

Doing something small like sweeping the kitchen floor once a day will stop food crumbs from getting dragged from the kitchen to other rooms of the house. Spot washing floors after spills instead of leaving everything for a couple days will save you from having to get on your hands and knees and scrub the floor.

Loading dishes into the dishwasher as soon as you’re done with them instead of letting them pile up all day will save you from a mountain of dishes in the evening. Dusting the office while you’re working will eliminate one more thing from your weekly to do list.

Remember – you don’t have to do it all, but every small thing counts. If your baby is napping in the afternoon and you have stuff you have to get done, take a quick 5 minutes before you start tackling your tasks to motor through vacuuming the house – or even just doing something small like wiping up the kitchen counters or picking up laundry and putting it in the hamper.

Doing little cleaning tasks here and there will make a big difference in the whole look of your house.

Your house won’t be such a disaster when evening comes around if you’ve been doing small chores throughout the day.

5. DO LAUNDRY DAILY

Laundry is just one of those things. (Isn’t it?) It’s one of those things that seems IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with.

There is always more laundry to do, and when you’re looking at a huge pile of laundry it can feel impossible to get under control.

No matter how often you do it, there’s always more to be done. It doesn’t matter if you spent an ENTIRE day doing nothing but laundry, by the end of the day, there’s going to be more dirty laundry.

It’s just how it is. Especially when kids are in the picture.

Try doing a load of laundry each and every day instead of letting it pile up all week and spending the whole day doing laundry.

Doing small loads of laundry each day won’t only keep the laundry situation under control, but it will also be a lot easier for you to do. A small load means it will take less time to dry, and it will take a LOT less time to fold and put away. (See? It CAN be manageable!)

I like to follow a simple laundry schedule. I used to wash all of my husband’s and my clothes together, but since having our family has grown I no longer want to wash baby clothes with my husband’s dirty work clothes, so I’ve created somewhat of a laundry schedule (that I’m still getting used to).

I do kid laundry and bedding about twice a week, and I throw in our bathroom towels, linens, and bedding in with these loads. Then on Saturday’s I wash my husband’s work clothes along with all our other clothes that need to be washed.

6. KEEP THE MESS OUT

Stopping messes before they start will cut down on the amount of time you spend cleaning.

While you can’t foresee every mess that’s about to happen, you can stop some messes. Doing simple things like having everyone take their shoes off at the door will stop mud and dirt from being dragged through your house.

If your whole family is used to wearing their shoes in the house, this can be a bit hard to remember to do. But, keeping a shoe rack or a shoe tray (this is like the one we use) by the door will help everyone remember to take their shoes off.

(Plus it will keep the shoes from becoming a cluttered mess by the door.)

You can also implement other rules like only eating food at the kitchen table to help keep the messes down in your house. Doing this will keep crumbs and food particles in one place – in the kitchen. It will also stop dishes from getting left in various places throughout the house.

7. AUTOMATE AND DELEGATE

It’s not that you’re lazy… it’s just that you’re really busy these days, and your home may be suffering because of it – and you deserve a break.

Learning different ways that you can automate and delegate cleaning tasks is not selfish or lazy – it can actually be very efficient.

I used to think these robot vacuums were ridiculous and that I’d never sink that low (really?!).

I thought that such a minuscule task like vacuuming could easily be done and there was no reason I wouldn’t be able to find time to do it. Then I realized that time has value, and if getting something to automate some of your cleaning tasks frees up your time to focus on doing something else, it just might be worth it.

You can automate a couple different cleaning tasks, but since, at least for me, vacuuming is the task that requires the most amount of time, I don’t think investing in a robot vacuum – like this one – is a bad idea at all. (Yes, it’s a bit of an investment, but if the time you save by automating this task is worth more than the money you put into it, then it’s a good investment. If the time it will save you isn’t going to be of much significance, it would not be a good investment.)

You can also free up some of your time by delegating tasks to the littlest members of your family.

If your kids are old enough to do some chores on their own, giving them a small list of chores to do will help them learn responsibility and will give you a bit of a much-needed break.

8. CLEAN UP FOR 10 MINUTES EVERY NIGHT

The thing I love most about this cleaning tip is that it involves the whole family.

Before sending your kids off to bed have everyone in the family chip in for a quick 10-minute tidy up.

Give each person a different chore and set the timer for 10 minutes. This is when you’ll wash any last dishes that didn’t get washed yet, sweep the kitchen floor, turn on the dishwasher, pick toys up, put laundry in the hamper, and wipe up any spills.

This shouldn’t take any longer than 10 minutes, especially if you have everyone chipping in. Plus, waking up in the morning and starting your day off with a clean house is a LOT better than waking up to a messy house.,

Sure, the house is going to get messy again today, but you’ll do the exact same 10-minute clean up in the evening as the night before so it doesn’t get out of hand.

Family time should ALWAYS trump a clean house.

BE HAPPY WITH A HOUSE THAT IS CLEAN ENOUGH AND ENJOY TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY

Never sacrifice family time to clean your house. Your kids will only be kids once. While the mess in your house is certain to come back day after day, as each day passes with your little ones it’s a day that you won’t get again.

Relax, enjoy life with your family, and don’t try to have a perfect house. Learn how to be happy with a house that is “clean enough”.

Related:
How to Clean Every Room in Your House
Simple Daily Cleaning Routine to Keep Your House Tidy
23 Best Cleaning Tips for Busy Moms