5 MINUTE CLEANING MIRACLES

Cleaning up doesn't have to take all day. Using quick, 5 minute clean-ups can help you to keep your house clean and organized without expending a lot of energy or wasting any of your precious time. Some things may take up to 10 minutes, but I like to set a timer and try to beat the clock each time I do a task. Not only does it make it more fun, but it also helps household chores to be less overwhelming when you know they're only going to take a few minutes.

Kitchen

Loading or unloading the dishwasher only takes 5 minutes if you rinse dishes before putting them in the sink. I had to offer rewards to my family to get them in the habit of doing this, but after about a week we were all rinsing our dishes after we ate without even thinking about it. For cooking, wash pots and pans as soon as you're done with them. That way there is no scrubbing to do later. It actually took me a couple of weeks to get cleaning the kitchen down to 5 minutes, but now it's a no-brainer and a very rarely spend longer than that cleaning it. One more kitchen tip is to grab things that hit the counters or table throughout the day and put them up while talking on the phone or waiting for food to cook. Then all you have to do is wipe later.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are easy to clean quickly if you do it every week. Spray down the shower with a no-scrub cleaner. Divide peoples toiletries in separate baskets or drawers so you can quickly clear the counter. I like to use a multi-purpose disinfecting cleaner so that I can clean the mirror, counter top, sink and toilet surfaces with one spray. Wipe down, rinse the shower with the shower head, one quick scrub inside the toilet with toilet cleaner, and done.

Laundry

I love my 5 minute laundry routine. I take a laundry basket and go from room to room collecting. This takes about 2 minutes, usually. Then I go dump it in the washer. I only separate new darker garments and things that need to be bleached. These items I let pile up until there is enough for a load. By now I'm usually at about 3 minutes. Open the dryer and get out the clean clothes. If I do this every day, there are usually not too many clothes in the dryer at one time. I have a rolling garment rack stocked with plenty of hangers. I hang almost everything. The garment rack has a shelf where I keep a basket for each family member. Here I toss underwear, socks, and shorts, which I do not hang. Everything else goes quickly on a hanger and I mate socks as I see them. If a sock loses a mate, it simply stays in the basket until next time.