1 – Take EVERYTHING out. Do not just reorganize a shelf. It is best to get everything out! That way you can see what you have, and find out if there is a better place to store things, or simply discard things that are no longer needed.

2- I keep medicine, emergency items, towels, binders, and different things in my closet. Group like things together. Get rid of anything you haven’t used in the past year and not longer need. Go through old medicine and discard any expired medications. Get rid of old towels, chances are you have too many. Only keep what you need in this closet. Perhaps keep older towels outside for easy access when washing your car. Simplify things, and it will be much easier to keep under control.

3- Get clear bins to keep things organized. I would always just have a whole bunch of junk on the shelf. It was a mess, and it took time to find what I needed. This time I decided to group like things together, and keep them in small clean bins. I can easily see what is needed. Fold towels and other linens nicely. My sheets sets I keep together by storing them in the pillow case that belongs to that sheet set. I got these clear bins at Lowe’s for about $1.50 a piece.

4- Put everything back into the closet. If you have a large family, you may choose to label things so they too know where to put items.

4- Be disciplined. Instead of not putting something where it belongs, always return it to its proper place. It really only takes a few seconds to return something to its “home”. Don’t create clutter by not making that extra effort.

PS- Put fun music on! Do a closet at a time, and in a no time, your closets will be organized. It feels SOO goood!

How to clean out a linen closet is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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Seasonal

• Change your air filter (Every 3-4 months)
• Clean out your dryer’s  lint duct (not to be confused with filter)
• Test your smoke detectors
• Shampoo/Clean carpets (may be done annually – you choose)
• Wash your blinds/ windows (interior and exterior)
• Turn over mattress, and vacuum.

Tips on what to Clean Seasonal/Annually is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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• Look for storage containers on sale the first couple of weeks in January. They are always on sale. I recommend getting clean plastic bins, because you can easily see what is in the container. Less confusion, equals less mess!
• Store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillow cases. There will be less hunting for matching through different piles.
• Install a tension rod underneath your kitchen sink (in the cabinet)  to store your spray bottles.
• Purge, purge, purge. Get rid of things that you don’t love. Chances are, you will not use it and it is just taking up space. If you don’t need it, give it to someone you know will use it.
• Use bread tags to make cord labels.
• Don’t forget about under the bed. You can buy special containers just to put under the bed to store things you do not need easy access to.
• Never store fresh laundry in a basket. Always put it on your bed, or sofa. Fold it as soon as possible. You will less likely forget about it, and put it away quickly.
•  Go through your closet, donate clothing you have not worn in the last year. Chances are, you will not ever wear it again, and it is just taking up space.
• Don’t forget your coat closet. Declutter any unwanted items now. Don’t wait until the end of the season.

Random Organizational Tips is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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Check out this post on how to clean your microfiber sofas! I am so excited to try this! I will let you know how it goes!

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For My Dad

My dad is kind of OCD about keeping his car clean. This antibac (will remove bacteria without any additional cleaners) microfiber Dusting Mitt will be perfect for him. It has thick, terrycloth-like texture, and it collects dust and traps it. He can keep it in his glove compartment and clean as much as his heart desired. It is also used for quick & easy dusting throughout the house including mini blinds and plants. Check out a video of this product in action here

For My Sister

My little sister hates taking off her makeup at night. She often leaves on mascara for the entire night. I read that if you leave makeup on, it can age your skin more quickly. For her, I am going to get this body pack. Using only water, it removes makeup and gentle exfoliates the skin. It removes any bacteria, leaving your face feeling fresh and rejuvenated. I love these cloths! Check out a video of this product in action here

For My Mom

My mom has stainless steel appliances. I showed her this window cloth – and she says nothing has been able to get her steel clean like this cloth. The antibac Window Cloth allows you to clean windows, mirrors, jewelry, and shiny surfaces with water alone. Clean dirty surface first with a moist Enviro Cloth, then polish with the Window Cloth for a streak-free shine. She will be thrilled with this! Check out a video of this product in action here

For My Big Sister

My older sister makes bread all the time, and sprays her counter with oil. She hates the smell of dirty rags, so often only uses paper towels to wipe down messes. She will love this Enviro Cloth. This multipurpose, antibac, microfiber Enviro Cloth removes dust, dirt, and grease from all washable surfaces; while preventing the transfer of germs to your hands and cross-contamination between surfaces. Available in four colors allowing you to color-code for different purposes or rooms. Use it dry for dusting, or damp for cleaning walls, tiles, bathtubs, counters, metal surfaces, car interiors, etc. Between laundering, simply rinse, wring out and hang to dry. She will love cleaning with this cloth! Check out a video of this product in action here

Be sure to check out the CUSTOMER SPECIALS, as you can get many of these items together for a discounted price. Click here to look at more great products from Norwex. I love getting harmful chemicals out of my home, and replacing them with better working, safer products!

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• Try to keep leftovers in a clean storage container. If you see what is in it, you are less likely to forget about it.
• Do a quick cleaning of your fridge every time you put in new groceries. Nothing goes in, without something coming out.
• Keep some baking soda to help deordorize your fridge.
• Keep food organized in sections. Keep fruits and vegetables in the crispers, etc… Try to keep your food in the same place, that way there is less confusion. You will also waste less food if you know where things are. You won’t accidentally forget about that sour cream you have, and go but a new one.

• If you want something different to deodorize naturally, try Norwex Fridge so Fresh. Replace the old soda box with this compact and effective and NATURAL fridge deodorizer! Also good by diaper pails, garbages, stinky lockers, and more!

How to Clean your Fridge is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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Background

The 5S system was developed in Japan by Hiroyuki Hirano and was first implemented in the Toyota manufacturing plants in the late 1980’s.  It is part of the push towards lean manufacturing which emphasizes the elimination of waste.  While these principles have been widely adopted by manufactures, they are quite applicable in the home.

Sort (Seiri) – The first step is to eliminate all unnecessary items in a room or space.  Get rid of any items that you don’t need.  If you have any items you are unsure of, red tag them.  This involves placing a red tag on any questionable items and placing those items in a designated holding area in a storage room or other out-of-the-way place.  Items that remain in the holding area beyond a set time (i.e. three months) will be discarded.  Those that are used can be stored in a lower prior location (see next “S” for more details).  Each person will have to modify this system to account for unique needs (i.e. holidays and other seasonal changes), but it is important to avoid the “just in case” mentality.  The more you are able to get rid of, the easier the next four steps will be and the more likely you will be in successfully maintaining a clean, clutter-free, and organized home.

Set in Order (Seiton) – Once the area is free of unneeded items the area and all remaining items need to be set in order.  If any cosmetic changes, modifications, or repairs need to be made (i.e. painting walls, putting up shelves, etc.), now is a good time to do so.  Once those jobs are done, items need to be organized in a logical way.  Because most of us have at least some degree of laziness in us, the better the area is organized, the more likely it is to stay that way.  Some questions that need to be addressed include:

1. What jobs need to be performed in the area?

2. What tools will I need to complete those jobs?

3. How often and where exactly in the space will I use each item?

4. What are potential safety hazards within the space?

Keeping those questions in mind, find a place for everything.  Simply put, everything needs a place, and everything needs to be in its place.  Using labels, shadow boards, and other visual cues, designate a place for each item.  It needs to be clear where things so the system can be maintained by everyone in the home.  This will help keep the area clutter-free and make items easy to find. 

Shine (Seiso) - Now that unnecessary items are removed, and we have a place for everything that will remain in the space, it is time do clean and polish.  Deep clean the space and all items in the space.  Take pictures of the space so you know what it can and should look like.  Next, set up a cleaning schedule to maintain the cleanliness.  

Standardize (Seiketsu) – Standardize the cleaning and maintenance of the area.  This can be accomplished with checklists and the schedules and pictures established in the Shine step.  The purpose of this step is to ensure the results of the shine step are reproducible by everyone in the house whoshares in the cleaning duties.  Everyone needs to know what the expectations are and how those expectations can be met.

Sustain (Shitsuke) – Sustaining the system required discipline.  Getting everyone to buy into the system is a big part of this step.  Soliciting input from family members on how the system is going and how it can be improved will help them get on board and stay on board.  If you have put a solid effort into the first four steps and got everyone in the house on board, you are well on your way to a clean and organized home.

How to 5S your home is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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Machine Drying:

• Don’t overload. That increases your drying time, and wrinkles.
• Seperate heavy and light items, so they’ll dry more evenly.
• Remove your permanent press items (dress shirts, pants) as soon as possible. You also won’t have to iron!
• Clean the lint out of the  filter after each use!

TIP – Keep the lint you pull from the filter. Also keep any toilet paper roll. Stuff the roll with the lint. You have yourself a fire starter for the next time you may need to start a fire!

Line Drying/Clothes Drying Rack:

• Be sure clothesline and clothepins are clean
• Smooth items as you hand them.
• When you dry colored items outside, turn them inside out to prevent fading.

I personally love the way the clothes from the dryer feels. I usually will let my clothes dry outside for most of the time, and put them in the dryer for 10 minutes.

Norwex also has these awesome dryer balls.  They reduce the time your clothes need to dry by 25%.  You place both in your dryer with laudry, and set your dryer at the desired heat. The unique design of the Dryer balls lifts and separates laundry while softening fabrics. This reduces the drying time, static cling, and wrinkles, naturally without chemicals. No need for fabric softner or dryer sheets. When you are finished remove the balls from the dryer. The balls have a 1 year warranty, yet they last 3-5 years. Click here if you are interested.

How to do dry your laundy… is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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Below are lots of different tips to clear your shower doors.

Use a wet dryer sheet on the soap scum.

• Apply cheap shampoo, let it sit for a couple minutes, and then rinse it off.
• Get cheap toothpaste – a lot of people swear by this. Apply with a sponge to your door.
• Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner. (Wear  gloves, and make sure the room is well ventilated)
• One part vinegar, one part water  in a bucket.  If you have really bad soap scum, you can use straight vinegar.
• WD-40

With all these tips, apply the product with a damp sponge/cloth. Rub your doors, and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Once clean, rinse the doors with water.  Dry the doors with a cloth.

Let me know what works best for you!

How to Clean Shower Doors is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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It’s called grout refresh. It is a grout colorant and sealant. Two in one! I tried scrubbing the grout with cleaners, and none of them worked very well. I knew this was my solution. I first cleaned all my grout with a cleaner, and then I took an old toothbrush that belonged to my 3 year old – it was the perfect way to paint on the new grout sealant. I’m not going to lie, it was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Before I painted, I scrubbed down my grout with this:

Check out my before and after!

Refinishing your grout is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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• Did you know that the dentist recommends to brush our teeth for 2-3 minutes? Use that time! Put away things that are on your counter, sort through “that pile” that is on your night stand, wipe down your mirror and counter. You can get a lot accomplished during those 2-3 minutes using only one hand. You may even prevent a cavity.

• We all spend a good amount of time on the phone. Make sure you have a cordless phone, and use that time. You can do dishes, tidy up clutter, sweep, wipe down walls, etc… A lot of cleaning gets done while I am also connecting with family and friends. Don’t sit on the sofa, get up, chat and clean!

• While you are cooking, don’t wait until everyone is done with their meal to start the dishes. Try to have all the dishes you used to prepare the meal done by the time you sit down to eat. Clean up as you cook, doing this  makes clean up simple and easy.

• Never put your clothes down and say, “I’ll hang that up later.” Later may take several days. Just hang it up, or put it in the dirty clothes hamper. Don’t take short cuts, and you’ll have a cleaner home. It may take only 15 seconds to hang that shirt up – it is worth it!

• As soon as you take your clothes out of the dryer, let them stay in your laundry basket for only a minute. Transfer your clothes to your couch, or bed. You will more likely put them away if they are in your way. Turn on the TV and fold your laundry right away.

What do you do while you…. is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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The house never gets really filthy enough for you to explode and do a 10 hour marathon clean.  

So the problem is, without some sort of cleaning schedules in place for your household, there are cleaning jobs that just NEVER get done.  When is the last time you actually scrubbed down your electric can opener?  Seriously, I looked at mine tonight and was grossed out, and then instead of taking a minute to wipe it down … I said to myself “I’ll have to clean that one of these days”.  How many other areas of your home do you do this in?  Those light switch smudges, the dirt layer on the top of your bathroom baseboards, the fridge drawers … EEEK … the list goes on and on.  So how do we overcome this inherent problem?

Cleaning Schedules 101

On top of the daily house cleaning jobs like dishes and putting away toys, there are other tasks which must be done once a week or so. Vacuuming, dusting, mopping, laundry. You know, the things that really stand out if you put them off for very long. But on top of THAT we must have cleaning schedules for the more thorough deep cleaning in our homes. Doing these things once a month or so (before they get TOO nasty) will give you a great feeling that your house is always CLEAN and takes way less time than if you put it off for 6 months.

The Importance of Cleaning Schedules is a post from the Cleaning Schedules blog where you can get lots of house cleaning tips, schedules, checklists, and more.

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