Keeping Your Home Clean Is Easier With the Swipe and Swipe Method.
There are many methods you can follow when it comes time to get down to business and declutter your home, but if you want to keep it clean between big cleaning sessions, you’ll have to follow a different strategy. I suggest the “swipe and swipe,” suggested by proven cleaning pro The FlyLady . I already love her technique for spring cleaning the house , and this one is no different, although I think you can and should adapt it for other rooms.
What is FlyLady’s “swipe and sweep” cleaning method?
To understand what cleaning lady legend FlyLady means when she talks about “swish and swipe” as a way to maintain your bathroom, you have to understand her basic method, known simply as the FlyLady method. In her original technique, you divide your home into five zones and then focus on a different zone each week. Zone 1 is your entryway, porch and dining room, and Zone 2 is your kitchen and so on. Although your primary bathroom is included in Zone 3 along with another room such as a den or pantry, depending on your home, there is no room for bathrooms only in the five zone categories. According to her, this is because the bathroom needs to be cleaned every day.
She recommends rubbing the toilet on the toilet every morning and running a rag over a dirty surface, such as the vanity, when you use the toilet. There is no need to use cleaning liquids for this. The brush and cloth themselves are suitable for care.
The idea is that by incorporating two quick scrubbing strokes into your morning bathroom routine, you’ll keep your bathroom clean longer without having to put in much effort.
Adapt the wave-and-swipe principle to keep your entire home clean.
FlyLady has a great idea when it comes to your bathroom, but you can extend this idea to other parts of your home as well. The goal of rethinking how you clean is less about focusing on swiping and wiping down the “right” things and more about getting into the habit of doing small tasks in every environment to keep your space clean. This could include running a washcloth over a surface, as FlyLady recommends in the bathroom, or “swiping” a misplaced item before leaving the room, for example. Here are some examples of how you can apply this technique throughout your home:
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Every morning before leaving the bedroom, wipe down the bedside table and take the empty cup from last night’s water to the kitchen.
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Wipe down the faucet and refrigerator handles before leaving the kitchen.
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Disinfect light switches and remote controls when you’re done spending the night in the living room.
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Wipe down the doorknob and lock it when you get home.
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Before leaving the room, spray and wipe down the mirrors with cleaner.
Whatever you choose or don’t do, get into the habit of doing two almost insignificant cleaning tasks before you leave any room so that eventually it becomes second nature and you don’t have to deal with so much when it comes time to clean. These tasks will depend on what little messes you have or want to prevent, but this is less a guide on what to do and more on how to think about your current quest to keep your home tidy.