People with clean homes do these 3 things
It’s difficult to keep a tidy home with kids, pets and busy schedules.
Some people seem to excel in this department, while others struggle.
“Having a home that is in disarray can cause stress, which can be detrimental to your health,” says Dr. Rian Rowles, a psychiatrist affiliated with Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill.
Dr. Rowles says that stress and fatigue develop when people feel overwhelmed with the mess.
“A disorganized home can also lead to worry and tension when needed items are misplaced or bills are lost, leading to late fees,” he says.
Dust mites, pet dander and mold can lurk in clutter, which can trigger allergic reactions, decrease air quality and increase potential asthma problems.
Those with perpetually clean homes likely follow the majority of these three tips and examples:
1. They follow the rule, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” And they return the items immediately after use.
- Towels are hung up after use or deposited in the hamper.
- When finished, laundry is put away.
- Clothes are hung up or placed in the laundry basket when removed – not thrown on the floor or tossed on a chair.
- Coats, shoes and bags are put away upon arriving home. Street shoes are not worn in the house – because they carry dirt.
- A system is in place for processing mail, paying bills and filing. Unwanted paper items are placed directly into recycling.
- Once a project is finished or dinner has been prepared, the items used are quickly returned to their storage areas.
2. They constantly mini-clean, which eliminates the need for major deep-cleaning sessions on the weekends or during their free time.
- Dishes aren’t left in the sink – they are either washed and dried immediately or rinsed and placed in the dishwasher.
- Counters are wiped after each use, and water is not allowed to stand.
- Messes are cleaned up immediately after happening.
- Beds are made every morning.
- Items from grocery and shopping trips are immediately put away.
3. They know if you have too much stuff, you will eventually run out of storage.
- There isn’t a need for multiples of items when one or two will do.
- Possessions (toys, shoes, clothes, household items) are constantly evaluated and donated or recycled when no longer needed.
- Too many knickknacks leads to clutter and makes it harder to keep surfaces clean and dust free.
- Too much furniture means more moving out of the way when you need to get floors thoroughly cleaned.
Those with tidy homes are constantly cleaning and straightening up, as they know it’s easier to keep something clean than to let it go and deal with a huge mess later. However, it’s not just one person cleaning up for everyone; the whole family is on board.
Do you have a suggestion for keeping your home clean? Please share in the comments below.
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health enews staff is a group of experienced writers from our Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care sites, which also includes freelance or intern writers.
Thank you for the helpful article on how to tidy up a home. My question is regarding pets. I see that outdoor shoes are not to be worn in the home. However, when a person has dogs or cats, how is the floor kept clean? And dog hair kept at a minimum?
Im my case i have a cat, we have robot vacuum to kept the floor clean from pet hairs. Just remember to empty the vacuum after use.
I love the “one hour cleaning” idea. With a dog that sheds a lot, I found hardwood floors much easier to see dog hair and keep clean rather than when we had carpeting.
YES!! Thank you for this article. I’ve been preaching for years about this to my spouse and he just doesn’t seem to be interested in the benefits of less stress. Strangely enough, he grew up in a household where cleaning and tidiness was a priority. Maybe there is a happy middle ground to be found within each family?
This is a great article for the whole family.
This is so true about clutter leading to stress. I get very overwhelmed with clutter and have always been a neat person, but my fiancé is older and says, “That can wait, spending time together is more important than cleaning.” So I get stressed out and the mess gets bigger and I get unhappier. It’s a vicious cycle and hard to break out of it.
for those too tired to keep up with everything everyday – we use to have the one hour event. Everyone in the family would come together and give exactly one hour each to cleaning the house. No complaining – no cheating – one hour and you were done. For us that was four hours. We never had a problem! And it was a fun time because we played loud music and sand along while we cleaned.
That’s how I live.
Anyway I have four little laundry hampers from the dollar store I keep inside of each other. When I need to move things around to dust & clean I fill them up with decorative things, perfume bottles, etc. It’s so much easier than moving each tiny piece as you go along.
Have you considered using appropriately sized trays to hold your perfume bottles, etc. Then you can just pick up the tray, put it to one side and dust.
I agree mini cleaning is the way to go and preventing the mess from the start makes this even easier, like no outside shoes in the house. We also over organize our closets and pantry so everything has a place. And when its time to put laundry or dishes or whatever its super easy to slide items into place vs. having to “reconfigure” the closet to allow the item to fit. Just saves time and makes putting things away that much easier.
My partner and I have a standing appointment for two hours each week to clean. We share the work, trade off doing the most unpleasant chores, and have a schedule for deep cleaning tasks. We tidy and clean-as-we-go the rest of the week. Saves a lot of hassle and resentment since neither of us is doing more work than the other. We can skip a task once in a while, knowing we’ll get to it next week. Works well for us. Many hands make light work!