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Donate, Toss, or Keep? Your House Cleaning Guide

March 30, 2020

Do you look around your messy home and feel cramped and crowded? Do you wish you could tackle your clutter but can’t get past the mess first? Are you overwhelmed trying to figure out where to even start?

You want to clean your home, but where to start? Maybe a quick look through Pinterest to find some inspiration. Perhaps you just need another checklist to tell you exactly what needs to be done. Maybe you need to get yourself a robot that does the job for you. These tesvor robots might be a great place to start.

Before you know it your whole afternoon is gone, and you aren’t any closer to tackling your clutter or deep cleaning the bathroom. What can you do? First, take a deep breath, you can do this.

You can tackle your clutter and deep clean your house today. But you just need a plan of attack. This article can serve as your house cleaning guide and help with tackling your clutter once and for all.

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Beginner’s House Cleaning Guide

Don’t expect it to be a quick overnight process. It took time to end up in this mess and it will take time to clean out. But with the right help, you will get through this.

One of the best tips for where to begin when cleaning your house is at the top. You will start at the top and work your way down, both in the house as a whole as well as in each room individually.

Trying to clean your entire home can be intimidating. So, let’s break it down into manageable steps:

  1. Grab your favorite dusting wand and head upstairs. Start at the ceilings in each room and dust your way to the floorboards. Get each room done as quick as you can and move on to the next. Head downstairs once the upstairs is done. Once you are done with the dusting, put away those items and get out your vacuum.
  2. Again, with vacuuming just as with dusting start at the top and work your way down. Do you have drapes that need a quick once over? How about your dog’s favorite corner of the couch? Work your way down to the floor and then vacuum yourself out of the room moving on to the next.
  3. Next, grab your favorite cleaning spray and cleaning rag and start tackling the many surfaces in your home. From the windows down to the counters and sinks all the way to the doors and knobs. Wipe down each surface in each room and then move on to the next.
  4. Finish up your floors that aren’t carpet by sweeping and mopping.
  5. After I have gone through the whole house ensuring it is sparkling clean, I tackle the bathrooms. And again, the best plan of attack is top to bottom, ending with the toilet – and under the toilet. If you have boys you know why this is the last cleaning location before taking all your cleaning rags to the laundry.
  6. Lastly of course, running a few loads of laundry can give your home that amazingly fresh and clean feeling. There is nothing like crawling into a freshly made bed with clean sheets after a long day of cleaning your house top to bottom.

By choosing one task and getting the whole house done in each step, you eliminate the need to stop and start each chore and lug each and every item from room to room. You simply pick one task and get at it until you are done, moving as quickly as you can.

This step by step house cleaning guide ensures that you can quickly get your whole house done in one afternoon.

But what can you do if you want to clean, but you can’t get past the clutter? Don’t worry, we can show you that too. Let’s look at how to clean out your home and clutter in a step by step manner as well.

Pick Your Process

Whether you follow Marie Kondo or Julie Morgenstern, every organizing guru agrees, you must clean out the junk before you can clean your home. To work through this process we will go through each item around our home and decide if it will end up in one of three bins. If you have a lot of stuff to get rid of, especially bulky ones, you may need the help of a cheap and reliable skip bin hire in Dandenong, for example, if you live near the area.

Now you will pick one location in your house, it doesn’t really matter. It can be your master closet or your kitchen pantry. You can even start super small and simply tackle your junk drawer for now.

Either way, the key here is to get started.

You are going to take everything out eventually so your only decision is how to best do this step. Do you want to take each piece out one at a time and decide its eventual deposit bin? Or will you empty the entire thing out at once and then go through your pile one item at a time?

This decision is completely up to you and your individual situation. Do you have curious kittens who will snuggle into your clothes pile and take a nap while simultaneously getting cat hair on your favorite black pea coat?

Or do you have young children who will find their next favorite musical instrument in your pile of pots and pans you just took out of the pantry? Then maybe you will want to take each item out one at a time before putting it in the best bin.

However, if you find that process taking too long or going too slow, then, by all means, follow the KonMari method and dump it all out on the floor so you can truly see how much stuff you had hiding in the back of your closet.

You want to take the time now to create these three bins. They can be laundry baskets, old cardboard boxes, or plastic bins. Regardless of what you choose, you will want three distinct places to put each item.

Do You Love It?

Now, as you go through your items one by one in the process of your choice above, you will ask yourself these 10 questions.

  • Do you need it?
  • Do you use it?
  • Would you miss it if you get rid of it
  • Do you love it?
  • Is it still in good condition?
  • Do you need two?
  • Could another item pull double duty and allow you to get rid of this one?
  • Could someone else use it?
  • How would you feel knowing someone else needs this item and you have two?
  • Is it trash?

Obviously, each question is personal. So you need to be the one who goes through your closet. This can’t be something you delegate or outsource unless you can live with the consequences.

As you answer each question, the answers will tell you which bin the item belongs in.

If you answered yes to questions 1-4 then put it in the keep pile and don’t feel guilty, you are keeping the items you use and love in your home where you live. You deserve to be happy.

However, as you answer questions 5-9, you might find that you would rather bless someone else less fortunate and donate that item. In this case, it belongs in the donate box.

And finally, if you answered yes to question 10, then you know that it belongs in the trash bin. Get these items out of your house to allow your family to enjoy the treasures that they use and love.

Finally Love Your Home Again

Whether it’s a new year or spring cleaning, we all go through times of wanting to clean out our homes. So, go grab your three bins and let’s get started figuring out what you want to keep, toss, or donate.

From deep cleaning to decluttering, all you need to get started is a step by step roadmap to get you there. As you move through your home removing the junk and donating what you don’t need you will find more room to enjoy the items you do keep.

And as you continue to remove the clutter and clean your home, you will find you have created a truly peaceful and enjoyable home for your family to enjoy.

This house cleaning guide is meant to be used over and over in order to help you make your house into a home. Bookmark this site and come back each time you tackle your clutter, you will be glad you did.

For more articles and inspiration on cleaning your home and home decor, continue reading on our blog.

Donate, Toss, or Keep? Your House Cleaning Guide was last modified: by

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