5 Ways to Clean Up and Maintain Your Home

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Not just "magic cleaning".

1. FlyLady

This is perhaps the most famous tidying system. Moreover, it includes not only cleaning, but also time management. The "" system was invented by Flylady in 1999 by American Marla Scilly. The name can be translated into Russian as "fluttering housewives", and this is the whole essence of the method: putting things in order can bring joy and ease. To do this, you need to get rid of hours of exhausting general cleaning on weekends and divide all household chores into small daily steps.

Basic techniques

FlyLady's day begins with a morning ritual and ends with an evening routine. Immediately after getting up, you need to put yourself in order, put on makeup, dress beautifully, but practical - so that it is convenient to put things in order. “Flying hostesses” always wear shoes with laces at home - so that there is no temptation to throw them off like house slippers and fall on the sofa ahead of time. The ritual also includes tasks like "water the flowers", "unload the dishwasher and washing machine", "drink a glass of water", "read affirmations", "clean the kitchen sink to a shine."

• Speaking of the sink. It is the cornerstone of the flylady system, a kind of symbol of cleanliness and order. As conceived by Marla Scilly, cleaning the sink every day helps to keep cleaning automatic and keep the hostess motivated.
• The house or apartment is divided into zones. Typically, a zone is one room or kitchen. Small spaces like an entrance hall, bathroom and toilet can be combined into a common area.
• You need to devote 15 minutes a day to tidying up. Moreover, during the week you work only in one area and methodically tidy up, say, the kitchen or living room. Next week, move to the next zone and so on in a circle.
• The house has many so-called hotspots, or hotspots. These are places that literally accumulate clutter. The back of a chair with clothes always piled on it, a sofa on which books, toys or T-shirts were thrown, a shelf in the hallway, where a mountain of pieces of paper, checks and all sorts of little things taken out of pockets grows. First, you need to write down all the hotspots that are in your home. And every day to devote time to them - several times for five minutes.
• Once a week, on weekends, there is a short (no longer than an hour) spring cleaning, which the “flying housewives” call “the blessing of the house”. During it, you only need to brush off the dust, vacuum and wash the floor. Because if you responsibly treated the previous steps of the flylady system, all things are already in their place and order reigns at home.
• Zone cleaning, "blessing the house" and "extinguishing" hot spots are carried out on a timer. This is necessary so as not to get stuck in some area and not spend half a day there instead of 15 minutes.
• FlyLady pays special attention to decluttering, or, as it is called here, littering. To do this, Marla recommends the Boogie-Woogie 27 technique: you need to run around the whole house in 15 minutes and collect 27 items for disposal. This should be done at least once every 1–1.5 months. Also, "flying housewives" adhere to the principle "Bring the new - throw away the old!".
• To keep all household and personal affairs in order, to write down routine tasks and hotspots, plan menus and keep to the cleaning schedule, you need to have a diary. Or, as flyledies call it, "audit trail".
• In flyledi communities, for example, on the official website of Marla Scilly or in the Russian-speaking group on Vkontakte, they regularly post cleaning tips and so-called flyspots - additional tasks for the day.

2. Magic cleaning

The method was invented by the Japanese writer Marie Kondo. At first, she published several children's books, but the world popularity and the title of an expert on putting things in order for Marie was brought about by “Magic Cleaning”. The philosophy of bringing order to Marie Kondo is to keep the house filled with things that bring joy. This system not only teaches you to put things in order, but also allows you to become a minimalist, develop awareness and a reasonable attitude to things.

Basic techniques

• All the things you have in your home are divided into five categories: clothes, books, documents, sentimental things (gifts, souvenirs) and komono (everything else). Items from the same category are kept together, rather than scattered around the house. Each of them has its own clearly defined and unchanging place.
• Every 1, 5–2 months, you need to declutter. Because if the house is littered with things, and the shelves and drawers are full, cleaning turns into Sisyphean labor - no matter how hard you try, in a couple of hours there will be a mess again.
• Decluttering is done not by room, but by category. You need to start with clothes: collect all the things that are in the house, dump them in one room on the floor, take away only the most necessary things, and throw away the rest. Then move on to books, documents, and so on.
• To understand which thing to leave and which to get rid of, Marie Kondo suggests taking the object in hand and listening to yourself: do you feel a "spark of joy"? If yes, then there is a thing that is useful to you and brings positive emotions - you leave it. If not, throw it out without regret. No "what if someday it will come in handy." Since this thing has been gathering dust in the closet for a long time or evokes difficult memories, you need to say goodbye to it. Marie Kondo believes that it is better to buy a new one later than keep the old one for years. And she is also against the idea of giving unnecessary things to friends and acquaintances - because this way we just dump our trash on other people's shoulders.
• How to fold clothes. This is probably the most famous part of the technique, its calling card. Firstly, drawers or shelves cannot be filled to capacity - all things must be visible. Secondly, Marie promotes "vertical folding" in every possible way. That is, clothes are not stored in piles, as we are used to, but in rectangles or rolls. They need to be "put" on a shelf or in a drawer of a chest of drawers vertically - so that not a single thing is hidden from our view. In addition, thanks to this technique, it is possible to maintain order in the closets: things do not creep, do not get confused and do not turn into a huge lump.
• Clothes that wrinkle easily or take up a lot of space are best hung on a hanger. This must be done in the following order: first outerwear, then dresses, jackets, trousers, skirts and blouses.
• In addition, according to Marie Kondo, it is imperative to wear nice and tidy clothes at home so that you will not be ashamed if guests suddenly come. Marie also offers to create her own "place of power" in the room - a comfortable corner with your favorite things, which will energize you.

3. Anonymous idlers

In 1982, American Sandra Felton was unable to find her master's thesis at home. After that, she realized that she was in complete chaos in her dwelling and that something needed to be done. As a result, Sandra came up with the HOW TO Organize for the Messie Person system, which she called Messies Anonymous. The methodology, as in the previous two cases, is based on getting rid of trash and "the art of small steps."

Basic techniques

The whole family should be involved in cleaning. Let everyone do what they can to tame the mess much faster and more efficiently. In addition, the family approach develops a sense of responsibility in the household: since they all live and litter together, it means that they need to clean up together.

• Every thing has its place. They used it - they immediately put it in place, and nothing else.
• Sandra Felton recommends cleaning according to the Mount Vermont method - it is named so thanks to the employees of the hotel of the same name. To put things in order, you will need three cardboard boxes measuring approximately 30 × 45 cm. In the first box are sent things that are thrown away, in the second - those that need to be given or sold, in the third - those that can be left. Cleaning begins from the front door and moves along the walls, systematically collecting scattered and misplaced objects in boxes. There is no need to try to clean the whole apartment at once - work a little, as much as you see fit. If today the cleaning is over, leave the boxes near the wall and go about your business. You can decompose things from the third box in your free time, and those that are in the first two, throw away and sell without hesitation. The rubbish cannot be organized - it can only be thrown away.
• For those who have not cleaned for a long time and have completely neglected the house, anonymous lazy people suggest trying the Vesuvius Method. Here, too, you will have to stock up on several boxes or bags - for each category of things. Sign them - for example, "toys", "clothes", "throw away", and without hesitation put the objects scattered around the apartment there. When they are all in the boxes, get rid of what you don't need. The rest of the things will be easy to sort out into places, because you have already divided them into categories.
• Use the 30 second rule. If a task takes no more than half a minute (wash the plate, wipe the table), do not put it off until later. Do it and forget it.
• Anonymous lazy women also have morning rituals - they are very similar to the "routine" of the fly-lady. Clean up after waking up, make the bed, ventilate the room, collect scattered things, and so on. You can add whatever you want to this list.

4. Sparkling house

This is the German system of Сasablitzblanca cleaning, based on the principles already familiar to us: every thing has its own place, and you need to move towards cleanliness in small steps. And there are also many unexpected "zoological" metaphors in it.

Basic techniques

• The first rule of a sparkling house is to destroy evidence. That is, put things back in place immediately after using them.
• Start your day with a “mini-routine”: ventilate the room, make the bed, put things in their places, water the flowers.
• Designate a “day room” each morning and clean it up for 15-30 minutes. Work in another room the next day.
• Additional daily tasks like washing, dusting are called "sheep". They need to be “caught” regularly so that a whole “herd” does not accumulate by the end of the week.
• This system is also not complete without decluttering. Every day you need to catch "ducks" - that is, do small tasks that will help rid the house of unnecessary things. For example, disassemble one shelf in a closet.
• Children are also recommended to be involved in cleaning. Simple tasks for children are called "worms". From the age of three, kids can easily collect toys, lay out their clothes after washing, or wipe the dust.
• Make lists. Cleaning plan for the day, shopping list, menu for the week.

5. Home for life

It is more of a system of organizing space, but it also helps to maintain order. The technique was created by the Chinese woman Lu Wei, a blogger and interior designer. In her book, she talks about the correct design of the home, the arrangement of furniture and the zoning of space, the secrets of proper storage of things. Most of all Lu Wei's advice will come in handy for those who buy an apartment or are going to make repairs.

Basic techniques

• The storage area should cover 12-40% of the total living space. The smaller the house or apartment, the more space you need to set aside for storage.
• A built-in pantry is better than separate wardrobes.
• If you want to keep things in order, buy the same rectangular containers made of transparent plastic. Sign each one - so that there is no temptation to put things in the wrong place.
• Use the 80:20 principle. Only 80% of things are in plain sight, the rest are stored so that they are not visible. By the way, this idea is contrary to the principles of Marie Kondo.
• Memorabilia - gifts, souvenirs, postcards - should be put into so-called time capsules. That is, send them to plastic containers, one for each year.
• Use all the free space for storage, do not leave empty space under the ceiling.