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I was sent this email recently and thought I’d answer it here (with permission of the sender) because I get a lot of tweets and comments along the same lines.
Dear Thrifty,
How can I make sure that cleaning doesn’t bog me down? Sometimes I feel like it takes over my life leaving me with no time to spend with my kids. How do you fit cleaning into a busy life?
Thanks, Kate.x
Dear Kate,
Despite appearances to the contrary, I do not enjoy cleaning but it does have to be done. I slip cleaning in just about everywhere in my life, not because I want to do more of it but because I don’t want it to become a huge part of my life. Off course sometimes I slip up and fall off the cleaning wagon for a week when I’m ill and it all goes to pot but for the most part I stick to small bursts of cleaning rather than spending an entire day scrubbing the spare room in preparation of the in laws arriving.
I want cleaning to be an involuntary nothing-y entity in my life, rather than a huge task to endure and suffer. I like to keep on top of it by doing it bit by bit. I clean in the advert breaks of my favourite television shows and try to do two things at once. I wipe down the sink or shower screen when I brush my teeth, I dust the top of door frames as I walk from room to room putting the laundry away and I quickly wipe down my dressing table and mirror every time I put my make up on.
Don’t let cleaning and organising become a big thing. Don’t let it become bigger than it is. Don’t let cleaning become something to dread. Make it something unnoticeable, make it a background thing, make it happen whilst you are living your life and you’ll barely notice you’re doing it.
Thriftyx
10 thirty second cleaning tasks
1. Dust a TV or mirror.
2. Throw the dirty washing into the hamper.
3. Wipe down your kitchen sink.
4. Add 250ml of white vinegar to a 90 degree tea towel wash in order to keep your washing machine fresh, clean and limescale free.
5. Wipe down the inside of your make up bag with a damp cloth and leave to air out.
6. Run a lemon over a stained chopping board to get rid of stains.
7. Keep drains clean and clear by throwing some borax followed by a kettle of boiling water down them.
8. Clean a stained tea/coffee mug with a quick paste made from salt and water.
9. Check your fridge for manky food and chuck anything very obviously funny coloured.
10. Label a new plug, that way you’ll always know which item is being pulled out of the socket.
TTFN,
P.S. Come and say hi over on my Facebook page. I have out-take photos from outfit posts amongst other stuff.
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