Housekeeping... it's a chore!

As I have mentioned about twelve billion times before, my fiance and I have just recently moved in together. This is the first time both of us have lived anywhere except with our parents. Now that we've been in for six weeks, I think I've learned enough lessons to pass on some tips that I have found helpful in keeping my house clean and tidy and some of the products that I like to use.

Now first of all, I am one of those people who has a big blitz clean of everything once a week and then I clean here and there in between where I see fit. So lets start with my blitz clean. This is usually on a Friday afternoon since I only work until 1pm on a Friday and getting it done then means I have the weekend to myself. My order is this; floors, bathroom, dust, hoover.

I sweep the wooden floors in the kitchen and hall but I don't sweep it into a pan, I put it onto the carpet in the living room. I'll be hoovering it anyway and I always find I can't get it all up when I use a brush and pan. I mop the floors, usually using a mixture of Flash and bleach in hot water and I mop from the back door in the kitchen to the front door next to the stairs. I take all the products I need for upstairs up in advance so that I don't need to walk across it again. I leave my bucket and mop on the bottom step and let the floor dry. I usually leave a few windows open downstairs as well so that this works extra fast.

In the bathroom I have usually already cleaned the glass door of the shower in the morning. I use the Flash Magic Sponge while I'm in the shower. It gets rid of all the grime and gunk and I'm sure I got 2 for £1 in B&M Bargains. Definitely worth buying if you have glass in your shower. I alternate between Flash and bleach each time I clean my bathroom. Too much bleach is bad for you, it eliminates every germ meaning your immune system never learns to fight them so I try not to use it every week. Although with a boy in the house sometime all you want to do is immerse the whole toilet it in....

Regardless of what I'm using I get my rubber gloves on, put the plugs in the sink and bath and pour some product in. If I'm using Flash I just chuck it in there but if I'm using bleach, I usually try to pour it near the top so it runs down the sides. Then I start the hot water running in the bath and scrub it all over, including the tiles and then rinse it all down with the shower head. I fill the sink up with hot water and use that to clean down the outside parts of the toilet, including the toilet seat and then wash the sink, taps and soap holders. I use the toilet brush to scrub the toilet pan and when I flush it, I hold the brush in the water to rinse it off. Lastly, I sweep the floor out onto the carpet in the hall and using the same bucket and mop, I clean the floors. Again, I usually open the window so everything dries quicker.

Next we come to dusting and cleaning the glass. I have a microfibre cloth which I wipe down every window sill and surface with and any pictures or nick-nacks that tend to gather dust. These are brilliant for picking up and holding dust. I just throw it in the washing machine when I'm done. The only place I use furniture polish is on my dining room table. Its a wooden top and the polish gives it a lovely shine. Then, using one of those yellow cloths (I have no idea what they are called but I'm sure my gran used to call them shammies!) I spray Windowlene on all my mirrors (one in the spare room, full length on the front of my wardrobe, one in the bathroom, one in the hall, one above the fireplace and one above the dining room table - thats a lot of mirrors!) and buff them all until there are no streaks. This is probably the most annoying task because you have to move about to check there are no streaks and I can guarantee I always miss some!

Even worse than this is when I actually summon up the courage to use the glass cleaner on my shower screen. Honestly, I don't do this every week because it takes forever and drives me round the bend. This is why I wanted a shower curtain and told my fiance that if we got a shower screen, he would be the one cleaning it. But guess what, he doesn't. I usually only get the Windowlene on that jerk when people are coming round and I want the place to sparkle!

If I'm doing my windows, this is when I would do them but that only happens every few weeks and its basically the same as doing the mirrors - an absolute pain. The reason I do this before I hoover is because dust will fall onto the carpet and you want to make sure you hoover it all up rather than leaving it there for another week.

Finally the hoovering gets done, usually by my other half. Top to bottom, every carpet in the house is done and all the junk thats been swept from the floors is lifted. Huzzah! My house is clean. I usually give the place a final touch by spraying air freshener in every room, spraying Febreze on the couch and rug, tidying away anyting thats lying around and arranging the cushions on my couch. I'm not going to lie, this point in the blitz clean is when you really feel satisfied!

I realise this cleaning process doesn't involve the kitchen. That's because the dishes are washed and put away after dinner and all the work surfaces are given a wipe down with anti-bacterial spray so its not really part of my weekly routine.

In terms of the products I use, Flash with Febreze is my best friend - especially the pink one. I have no idea whatb scent it is but its delightful. I use it on the floors and in the bathroom, and sometimes I pour a little in the toilet to keep the place smelling sweet. I can;t say I'm convinced by the gel version but I'll buy whatever is on deal. And you can get the normal liquid in Savers, B&M and the pound shop super cheap.

When it comes to bleach I don't usually buy branded stuff, supermarket own works just the same though I do tend to reach for the thicker formulas. Same goes for anti-bac spray, polish and glass cleaner - the lower the price, the happier I am. I'm using Windowlene brand glass cleaner just now but thats only because I got it on deal. I love using anti-bac wipes as well. They are so handy for wiping down the table after dinner or wiping down kitchen surfaces instead of having to use the spray and kitchen towel. I also go to B&M for all my cloths etc. I don't see any point in paying over the odds for those things.

So... this is how I clean my house and what I use... I'd say this is a pretty basic routine but it does the job in our wee house!

Louise xoxo