simplify cleaning

I don't know anyone who actually likes cleaning their house, but most people love the results.  Over the years, I've found a few tools that help me simplify my house cleaning, and hopefully, they will be helpful for you too.Water attracts dirt.  Where there's water, things build up that you don't want in your house--bacteria, mildew, etc.  By utilizing a few quick and easy techniques every day, you can keep the nasty gunk from building up, and simplify your routine cleaning.

• Shower Squeegee - For less than $5 (or up to $20 if you want a chrome one), you can purchase a small squeegee that will hang on your shower with a suction cup.  After every shower, squeegee the door, all other glass surfaces, and the floor.  It only takes about 60 seconds, and it keeps the gross stuff from growing.  When your regular cleaning comes around, whether it is weekly or bi-weekly, you won't have to spend a lot of time scrubbing.
• Microfiber cloths -  The 4-cloth microfiber set I purchased from Target when we moved into our new house is a miracle product.  Not only is it environmentally friendly (no more paper towels), it is also a great cleaning tool.  The set included one cloth each for:  dusting, glass, kitchen surfaces and bathroom surfaces.  I've bought 2 more sets since the initial purchase.  My husband and I each keep one of the cloths on a Scotch Command wall hook attached to the inside cabinet door below our sinks.  After we've finished using the sink for face-washing, toothbrushing, etc., we wipe down the sinks and counters.  We have another hook under the kitchen sink.  When you wipe away the excess water, you eliminate the binding element for dirt.

Have a plan.  When we moved from our tiny one-bedroom apartment into a townhouse that was almost three times as big, I had to come up with a new game plan to keep the new place clean.  The result was my cleaning schedule.  The schedule serves a few purposes.

• One, it reminds me of the little things like cleaning the trashcan in the kitchen, which inevitably has a few splatters of food on it.
• Two, it outlines a daily plan, which like the microfiber cloth strategy, helps keep the dirt to a minimum and eases the burden of weekly cleaning.
• Three, it ensures that the cleaning is the same, whether I do it, or my husband does it.  You may need to modify the schedule for your home (email me if you would like the PowerPoint file), but the concept should apply universally.

Update July 2018: Cut old cotton t-shirts into squares for more effective and environmentally-friendly cleaning medium. We received this tip from the founders of Butler's Brand, which we find to be an excellent cleaning spray.