Speed cleaning tips for people in a tremendous hurry

Most of us are in a tremendous hurry. Even if I didn’t have to hurry, I reckon I still would because I’m now so trained by this modern world of ours to well, hurry. We’re hurrying all over the place. Breakfast is fast, getting to work is quick, then there’s deadlines, drop-offs, pick-ups, people, buses, cars, lunches and it’s all in a big crazy well, hurry.

Hell, I’m even writing this in a super fast hurry because talking about hurrying is putting my fingers in a spin.

While I’d love to reduce my pace and drink more lattes at my local café with my friends, I must say one thing I’ll always do in a hurry is cleaning. Simply, cleaning is not something I rate, or will ever rate, as a ‘favourite thing to do and savour in life.’

Cleaning is satisfying but unsavoury. This would be my summary of the awful task of cleaning.

No people – ‘Domestic Bliss’ was invented by the marketing gurus of cleaning companies trying to sell products. There’s nothing blissful about cleaning.

So here’s my super-quick and in-a-hurry method for speed cleaning the house, so I can get on with the hurried business of enjoying the rest of my life – or what’s left of it after all that rushing around.

Clean each room in your house like it’s a hotel

I love the idea of cleaning my room like it’s a hotel. The thought of this immediately conjures up a sense of calm in me because cleaners in hotels are never in a hurry. This is probably because this is a paid gig and they’ve got nowhere else to go or be, but at work. So they calmly walk around the halls of those hotels, folding towels like go-slow towel-folding cleaning bottle-wielding non-fast-ninjas. While I may not have their zen-like cleaning prowess – I do have their method and that’s an awesome fully-laden cleaning trolley equipped with enough cleaning ammunition to well, clean a hotel.

Gather your resources

You must gather all resources necessary (on your hotel-style cleaning trolley) before attempting a full house clean. You will see why this is necessary as the next steps come up. You’ll need everything a housekeeper in a hotel would need to clean a room including:

1. Refills for rooms (toilet paper, hand towels etc)
2. Cleaning products
3. Rubbish bins, fresh sheets, towels and laundry items etc
4. Vacuum cleaner, brooms, wipes, dusters etc

Check out my eBooks for full information on this topic and my ‘Hotel at Home’ cleaning system.

Never leave a room to go wandering about the house while cleaning

1. Start at one end of the house and work to the other end
2. Clean each room fully using all available tools on hand
3. Put rubbish away in the bin
4. Remove ‘items that don’t belong’
5. Any dishes and glasses the kids left there
6. Toys into dump buckets
7. Shoes into dump buckets
8. Spray, vacuum and dust to your hearts content
9. Open windows and air out the room
10. Execute a full clean of the room

Note: I always start in the living room where I have 4 x family dump buckets. The living room is where people leave stuff everywhere, so it makes sense if I’m venturing down to bedroom later – to do this room first.

Only leave a room once it’s clean

Now that the first room (living room in my case) is clean, move on room by room until the entire house is done. Continue the ‘never leave the room’ method keeping all cleaning products and tools close at hand. If you feel overwhelmed, read my other cleaning posts, which include tips on getting everything off the floor first and then sorting ‘like items together.’

Music or podcasts on the move

Don’t attempt a full house clean without some great music or a motivating Podcast to listen to. This makes the experience much more pleasurable and faster. You may even come away with some new knowledge. Despite the satisfaction that a sparkling house brings, this is still one of the most boring jobs in the world, so don’t make it worse with a sad music void. At the very least, put the TV on for some background noise so you don’t abandon cleaning because you fell asleep halfway up the hallway while contemplating cleaning the bath.

Other tips

If you get any chance at all try and clean when the kids aren’t home. Kids and cleaning remind me of a dog chasing its tail. Looks fun, but the task becomes fruitless quickly.

Got great cleaning tips that rival mine? Be sure to share them on my Facebook page.