10 rules of emergency cleaning on the way to a perfectly clean apartment
Have you ever had a situation where the house is a complete mess, and guests are about to appear on the threshold? And when there is less than an hour left before their arrival, you have only two options for the development of events: leave everything as it is and be considered an absolute dirty in their eyes, or do emergency cleaning, which we want to tell you about in our article.
At first glance, it seems that everything is very simple — I hid the garbage, wiped the dust, vacuumed and that's it. But, if you want your apartment or house to be really clean, you will need to learn a few simple rules.
The Bombora publishing house published the book "Rake your shit", which, as you may have guessed, is devoted to the topic of home cleaning. One of the chapters of the book describes in detail the emergency cleaning: what and how to do when guests unexpectedly come to you, the owner of the apartment with an unscheduled inspection or a plumber to fix the toilet.
Usually in such cases, people start to panic, throw mountains of clothes into the closet, shove scattered socks under the sofa and hide everything that is ugly in the pantry. In fact, you need to pull yourself together, turn on your favorite music, which will help you concentrate on the main thing, and start an emergency, but effective cleaning. Here are a few of her rules:
It would seem such a trifle, but many people really forget to make the bed. Or they consider it not so important, because "at night it should be spread out again."
However, according to the author of the book, a made-up bed will make your bedroom 20% cleaner. So do this task first.
Brushes, rags, gloves, detergents… All this should be at your fingertips when you are doing emergency cleaning. Therefore, collect everything you need in one place and only then get down to business.
Take a garbage bag and walk around the house. Send in all the loose wrappers, old receipts, newspapers and pieces of paper, in general, all the obvious garbage that it's time to throw away. The author of the book assures that in this way you will noticeably clear the space and finally "get rid of the unpleasant smell", but we sincerely hope that the original condition of your apartment is not so deplorable.
After you have finished with the garbage, go through the rooms again and see if there are dirty dishes left somewhere. Take all the forgotten cups and plates found during the raid to the kitchen and send them to the sink. If there are not too many dishes, wash them immediately. Otherwise, just fold it in one place and go back to emergency cleaning.
Collect all the dirty things and start washing. While you are doing the rest of the cleaning, the machine will have time to finish washing, and then you will be able to hang out no less clean laundry to dry with a clear conscience. If you don't have much time, just load things into the washing machine and start it a little later, after you say goodbye to the guests. Most importantly, do not forget! (Delayed start will help you...)
When the dishes are washed, things are hidden, washed, and the garbage is taken out, we can start the main part of cleaning. First, determine which of the rooms your guests will spend the most time in. It is in this room that you will need to clean most thoroughly, in the rest — it is enough to wipe the dust and vacuum.
It is quite possible that your guests will come into the bathroom, be sure to clean up this room thoroughly. At such moments, a person is left alone with himself and begins to look at everything around. Agree, it will be very unpleasant if he sees stains on the mirror, stains on the towel or traces of dried shaving foam.
In public areas like the living room and kitchen, you should definitely put things in order on flat surfaces — tables, bedside tables, kitchen counters, and so on. Put away all the extra things that lie on them, and if they don't have such a place, just put them in boxes or even throw them in the trash. After clearing the surface, wipe it, then you can take a short break or wash a few plates. Then start cleaning again.
When all flat surfaces are free, wipe them with a special cleaning agent. After that, proceed to wiping the glasses. With clean windows, your apartment will look much brighter and more cozy. Don't forget about mirrors, too. People are likely to look at them, and divorces on the mirror can spoil all the positive impression about your home.
As a rule, in Slavic houses, guests spend most of their time in the kitchen, so be sure to pay maximum attention to this room. After the main part of the cleaning is finished, wipe all appliances and dirty surfaces in the kitchen, for example, shelves, stove, microwave, sink, and so on.
As soon as you are more or less satisfied with the overall picture, proceed to the floors — sweep them or vacuum them. If the floor is too dirty, walk on it with a damp cloth, but you should not wipe it to shine — remember, you don't have much time, and you also need to prepare delicious snacks for guests.
Well, now you are clean and you can safely invite friends to your place!
And how are you doing with cleaning? Do you spend it on specially designated days or "when you have to"?