Clean Home Habits: 10 Simple Ways to Maintain a Spotless Space

Sometimes it can be frustrating when you’re looking around your home, taking inventory of the mile-long list of things that you need to get done and wondering if there was ever a time when your house wasn’t a wreck. Did you ever not have piles of laundry littering couches and chairs in your bedroom? And what about that peanut butter spoon, how long has it been a constant resident of the sink?

Life gets in the way, and it can be difficult to keep up, let alone stay on top of your cleaning at home. When you get home from work or school or the daily hustle and bustle of life, the last thing you want to do is stand at the sink, rinsing and washing and piling dishes into the dishwasher. Your feet hurt and dinner still needs to be made, and your favorite television show comes on in an hour. So, how do the people who always have clean homes do it?

After scouring reports and reviews of hundreds of people who consistently boast clean homes, without the added help of a cleaning service, below are the ten most common habits we found these people share.

Put Your Clothes Away

Ok, we know what you’re thinking, “If it were that simple everyone would do it.” But, that’s the thing; it’s almost TOO simple. Rather than spend the extra three to five minutes it would take to put dirty laundry in a hamper or fold and put away clean laundry, so many people resort to the ever-trusty corner chair or empty floor space.

You always promise yourself you’ll pick it up later, but later comes MUCH later than you anticipated, and before you know it you have a huge pile. But instead, when you take your clothes off, get home, or take clothes out of the dryer, these clothes should be put away or put in the laundry. Immediately.

Say goodbye to the chair and the floor and, instead, put your clothes in their rightful spot at the end of the day. No matter what. You’ll be surprised just how little time it takes to put your clothes where they belong. Plus, your house will be much cleaner by adding this simple task to your daily routine, AND you won’t be wasting time anymore running around looking for that missing sock to your favorite pair. You’ll know right where it is.

Organize Your Mail

It’s easy to throw the mail down on the kitchen table or counter, or the living room coffee table, when you bring it in from the mailbox. You’ll look at it later, and you won’t forget it’s there because, how could you.

But after you’ve sorted through the important stuff, that one pile of mail has now multiplied, and you’re sporting several paper piles. These piles can quickly get out of control and take over your home if you’re not careful. So, instead, start organizing your mail as soon as you bring it in the house.

First things first, invest in a filing cabinet or develop a filing system that works for you. Then, as soon as the mail comes in, put it all in one place to go through. Throw out all junk mail immediately and have a slot for unpaid bills and other important items that you want to keep around. Then, once you’ve paid the bills, hit that filing system immediately! With this simple step, all that paper that’s been cluttering the counters will disappear and, you’ll be able to find exactly what you need when you need it.

Make Your Bed

Yes, typically no one sees your bedroom. Guests aren’t waltzing around asking for a house tour every time they visit (at least we hope not), and you’re just going to crawl back in it later that day, so why bother?

But, if you make the conscious decision to fold those blankets and tuck those sheets, you’ll start to see similar tidying trends spread throughout the house. If your bed is made, then maybe you’ll want to straighten that pile of blankets for the living room or make sure that all your kitchen towels are in one place. It’s amazing how one small change in routine can affect the rest of your cleanliness habits.

And, as a bonus, when you make your bed you’ll be less likely to use it as an everything goes dumping ground for items around the house you’re not quite sure what to do with. Or that pile of laundry that you ceremoniously scoot to the end of the bed each night. So, make your bed, keep your bed mess-free, and let those newfound tidiness habitats take over.

Wipe Down Surfaces

Everyday life can be messy. From splattering grease from frying your morning egg, spilling coffee grinds on the counter, to slinging toothpaste on the bathroom mirror while brushing your teeth. Little spills and spatters happen throughout the day.

Sometimes these things go unnoticed for several days, but a lot of the time it’s just easier to put it off because of time-related reasons. However, after a while, these surfaces get build ups and then, before you know it, you have a mess on your hands. So, instead, take the extra time to wipe down the counters, stove tops, mirror, etc. after each use, to keep things in tip-top shape.

It only takes a few seconds to wipe down a surface you’ve just used, especially because whatever has been spilled hasn’t had time to harden yet. This way, the area stays clean, disinfected, and ready for your next use. And, best of all, you won’t be coming home to bacon grease, and coffee spills on your counter tops.

Do the Dishes

First thing in the morning, you’re working on your cup of coffee, just finished your oatmeal, and the last thing you want to do is wash the dishes after you’re done. You have just enough time before you’re off to start the day, and you don’t want to spend those precious minutes tackling a chore you could just do later that night.

So, you put it off, go on your merry way, and don’t think about it until you get home that night and there’s a sink full of dishes to do before you even begin cooking dinner. It’s one of life’s most frustrating chores, but it could be easily avoided.

If you don’t have access to a dishwasher, just rinse and wash dishes after each use. You’ll never have to worry about a dish drainer that’s too full or a sink, for that matter. If you do have access to a dishwasher, just rinse those dishes out, pop them in the dishwasher, and run it at the end of the day. You’ll wake up in the morning with clean dishes that will only take a few minutes to put away, and you’ll always have exactly what you need when it’s time to cook the next meal.

Put Coats and Shoes Up

You walk into the house after a long, hard day and you toss your coat across the back of the couch, kick off your shoes into the corner, and plop down into the recliner. Your feet are achy, the chair feels so comfortable, and you aren’t about to get up to put away those shoes or that coat.

You’ll grab the shoes before you go to bed (maybe) and you’re just going to put your coat back on in the morning, so leaving it on the coach really won’t be that bad. But that night you didn’t put your shoes away, and the next morning you’re cursing under your breath as you trip over the shoes and stub your toe, for the third time that week.

This could all be avoided if you did one simple thing each evening, put those shoes and coats away. There are several ways to make this easier by setting up an area right beside your door to hang your coat and neatly tuck your shoes away, or you could walk the added few steps to put these items away in your closet. But, either way, you’ll be thankful that you did when the raincoat isn’t dripping water everywhere, and your shoes are neatly, and nicely, out of your way and no longer a tripping hazard.

Dust and Vacuum Weekly

Nobody likes to dust. Nobody likes to vacuum. And the few people that do, those are few and far between. While everyone would love to be able to hire a service to take care of maintenance cleaning tasks each week, or month, the reality is that most of the time, that’s just not in the budget.

It can be frustrating to take on these tasks, especially if you’re someone who has an aversion to the minimalist lifestyle. But it’s an essential for those who want to keep their house clean and filth free.

Now, this isn’t a daily task, though it could be for those who have furry companions that like to leave mounds of hair in every crevice and corner, but it should definitely become a part of your weekly cleaning routine. Figure out how many times a week works best for your family and set a schedule.

If you vacuum and dust at least once a week, not only will your house stay cleaner on a regular basis, your deep cleans won’t take up as much time. Maintenance cleaning is the best cleaning, and you’ll be glad, both in the short term and the long term, that you did it.

Return Items After Use

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s a constant struggle in nearly every household. People can’t find their TV remotes or staplers or that one box of pens that they bought specifically to have on hand the next time you were writing checks and paying bills. It can be irritating, especially when you have no one to blame but yourself.

First, you need to establish a home for everything. This means you’re going to have to get a little organized. We’re not talking crazy, like all items must be labeled, but have a general idea of where you want things to go.

Then, always remember to put things back in the places you’ve decided they’re going to live. Not only will it keep the clutter to a minimum, but also you’ll always know where to find things when you go looking for them. It’s a win-win, no matter how you look at it.

Deep Clean Regularly

Although this isn’t a daily tidiness necessity, it’s a must for those who want to make sure that their house gets clean and stays that way. While dusting, vacuuming, and doing other daily chores keeps the dirt and chaos at bay, regular deep cleanings need to be scheduled to make sure that all the areas that aren’t getting cleaned on a daily and weekly basis are still getting the attention they need.

Many things like scrubbing down the bathtub and toilet, mopping the kitchen floor, and other tasks that often go unnoticed need to find their way into this cleaning schedule. Just sit down and make a list of all the chores in the home that are getting done regularly, and all the ones that aren’t getting done regularly. Then, set aside one day a month to knock out all of those tasks.

Start with the ones that don’t get done as often so if for some reason you aren’t able to complete the list, you’re still covering all of your bases. In doing this, your house will not only be clean, but you’ll feel an extra sense of pride for finally nailing down a deep cleaning routine.

Go Through Items

Another not so daily task, but an essential one, is to make sure that you’re keeping up on the things you keep in your home. It’s easy to let years of unused birthday and Christmas presents pile up, or even clothes fill your closet that maybe you haven’t worn in several years. In almost every room of the house, there’s at least one item that takes up just a little too much space and causes just a bit too much clutter.

This isn’t to say you’re on the brink of becoming a hoarder, but it’s easy to get caught up with life and forget that maybe you don’t need to have five different sets of salt and pepper shakers at various spots on the kitchen counter.

In an effort to rid yourself of such mess, start going through each room of your home periodically. This doesn’t have to be an all-out spring-cleaning, just maintenance work to make sure you keep everything in check. Toss out the ratty old kitchen and bathroom linens, take clothes and shoes you haven’t worn in years to consign, and finally throw away those three-year-old magazines sitting on the coffee table.

Not only will your house look better, but you’ll feel better too, and ready to tackle any cleaning your home may throw at you.