Do you work in a room for hours and wonder what you did? Do you walk around in circles and wonder what to do next? Do you wonder why you are frustrated and feel like a failure? It's because you lack direction. Here are the steps to follow to efficiently clean a room. I have NOT broken these into daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal chores. This is how you do an entire room. Some of these things will be done with a different frequency for upkeep. For instance, you may want to lightly feather-dust on a daily basis, wash used windows weekly, other ones seasonally, wash rugs weekly, vacuum daily or 2X a week, etc. Do the whole room once and then think "maintenance".

You can break the following list into several days' worth of work. This would be a set of activities for a typical "station" week.

I am assuming that you have gathered all the piles of books, magazines, toys, socks, shoes, miscellaneous clothing items, apple cores, newspapers, school work, backpacks, etc. etc. etc., you know, that dirty word - clutter, and dealt with it. If you haven't gotten to the heavy declutter phase, you at least need to have things in a general area, preferrably in piles so you can get to that step.

1. Have your supplies gathered. Don't forget some kind of cleaning caddy to keep them in so you can just grab it. (I have sets of things I use in every room and I keep those in a cabinet in the room in which they are used - for instance toilet cleaner, soap scum stuff and window spray are all in the bathroom cabinet. I do not carry them around the house in my caddy.)

   Put these things in your caddy.

   • window cleaner
     
   • furniture polish
     
   • clean cloths
     
   • feather duster
     
   • 2 sponges
     
   • rubber gloves

   Also have these items in the room:

   • broom
     
   • vacuum
     
   • mop
     
   • bucket of warm water with about 1/4 cup of ammonia added (if you are doing walls)
     
   • bucket of warm water just plain (if you are doing walls)

2. Put on your gloves. Learn to use your gloves and protect your skin every time you do dishes or clean. Chemicals are harsh and there's no sense roughing up your skin.

3. Begin with the broom and dust for cobwebs and dust in all the high places on the ceiling and walls. You can use the broom as is, or place a cloth over it. You can make a muslin or flannel bag with an elastic edge that fits right over it. When you are done it's easily tossed in the wash. Keep it in your caddy.

4. Climb up on a ladder and dust ceiling fans and light fixtures. Take your spray bottle of window cleaner and a rag with you so you can spray and wipe. One trip up the ladder should do it unless fixtures are so dirty they need a wash in the sink. (Which WILL be the case the first time you do it.)

5. Take down the curtains, if necessary. Put them in the washer. Mine are permanently attached to the window frame, so I just vacuum them monthly, when I do the floors.

6. Take rugs out and shake. Put them in the wash, if necessary.

7. Take care of hard-surface floors here if you use a broom or dust mop. Sweeping with a broom distributes a lot of dust. It helps to control dust if you l-i-g-h-t-l-y mist the floor with window cleaner. You don't want the floor wet.

8. Next you'll want to feather dust as much as you can all around the room. Work in a circle dusting picture frames, knick-knacks, table-tops, plants, whatever. Stay in an area until you are ready to move on.

9. Now vacuum. "Vacuum after I dust?", you ask. Yes. If your vacuum kicks and tosses dust everywhere you need a new vacuum or a better quality vacuum bag.

10. Spray all the windows. If you have a lot of windows, spray 2, wash one; spray another, wash the second one; etc. until you are done. As you work around the room in a circle, also do picture glass and frames.

11. Remove knick-knacks from shelves and tables. Spray them with the window cleaner and quickly wipe. Wash any knick-knacks that need it. They are dusted already, but some need a more thorough cleaning. You can gather a load and take them to the sink. I do this in a rubber tub that fits in the sink for two reasons: 1 - I can carry more at one time so I make less trips, and 2 - they are safer in a cushioned tub. Set these aside while you...

12. Remove doilies and tablecloths and wash them if necessary (Use a gentle cycle with a low agitate time. (I bet those rugs are ready to hang or dry in the dryer.) This may be on one of your scheduled laundry days. I generally do all the doilies and cloths from the whole house in one day whenever they need it. Do not use bleach on your fine heirlooms. Use peroxide and borax. These do not harm the fibers as chlorine does.

13. Spray table-tops and shelves with polish. Do not do these ahead. Most furniture polish is not supposed to set. Just work your way around the room in a circle.

14. If you need to wash walls, do it now. Fill the bucket with warm water that has a bit of ammonia and a drop or two of dish soap in it. Dip the sponge in the bucket, squeeze until it no longer drips but is still very wet; then beginning at the bottom wet the entire wall. Now take another sponge, dip it in the plain water, and rewipe the wall from bottom to top. Move on to the next section of wall, replacing water if it gets too dirty.

15. Lay your doilies out flat to dry. When they are nearly dry, spray lightly with starch and iron. Dry tablecloths however you choose. Replace them on tables and shelves, and tastefully arrange your pretties.

You're Finished!

Let's see...have I left anything out? Let me know if I did. I did this in my mind. I don't think it would have worked to good to do a job then come in and type about it.

Proceed to Decluttering

Learn how to get rid of the stuff that gets in the way of you truly enjoying your home.

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