Friday, January 24, 2014

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 18: Cleaning Binge


Do you do what I like to call cleaning binges?
You know, you don't really worry about stuff or tidy up on a regular basis, 
then try to clean EVERYTHING all in one day?
Simply don't worry about it until things are really bad or company is coming over?

I use to do binge cleaning all the time.
Once I had children I realized I couldn't continue to do it that way.
I became too frustrated as they interrupted.
Other needs meant I couldn't spend the whole day on a cleaning project. 
I would end up just putting the piles of stuff back where they came from.
Futile. 

It left me feeling defeated and like I could never catch up.



All Day Clean-A-Thons vs Daily Maintenance. 

I don't know about you but I don't really like to clean.
The idea of spending a whole day cleaning does not sound like my kind of fun.
Plus it's really not healthy for you or your family.

Think about it.
If you only go through and tidy/clean the whole house once its really 
dirty you only really have time go hit the surface stuff.
Letting things get really dirty before dealing with them can actually cost you more.
More time. More energy. More money.

It takes more time binge cleaning than it does doing little daily maintenance.
Think of it this way.
The toilet has a small leak.
You think "eh no big deal it's only a small leak." 
But here is where you would be mistaken.
That little leak does cost you a little more water.
The water might be seeping down into the floor.
If it's seeping into the floor it could be causing mold, mildew, and rot.
The mold and mildew can cost you your health.
The rot will cost you a new floor when you do get around to fixing that small leak.
More time. More energy. More money.

While yes the leak would have taken you time to fix, it would have taken less time, less money on supplies, and a whole lot less energy and frustration to just fix then instead of waiting till it became a big issue.

The same can be said about every area of our homes.
You all know how much I hate doing laundry but really doing laundry on a regular basis saves time, money, and energy when I do it all every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
By doing it frequently damp or wet items don't have the chance to mildew.
Mildew ruins clothes which would cost more money to replace. 
Plus the time to go shopping for new clothes which honestly I hate clothes shopping.

Another one would be cleaning out the inside of the refrigerator.
By cleaning it out once a week you avoid things getting forgotten in the far back corner.
Which then get nasty.
Then you feel like avoiding them longer because you're afraid of how bad its going to be.
It can start to affect other items in your fridge.
More time. More energy. More money.

I know it takes discipline to maintain and do a little tidy every day 
but in the end it makes a huge difference.
One of the things I try to do now is to always clean out the fridge 
before I go shopping for groceries. 
This saves me time and money at the store as I know what we need restocked.
Plus if I do it before I go shopping I can quickly wipe off the shelves without having to empty everything out. Quick, easy, and pretty painless.

So what about you?
Do you go on cleaning binges or do you daily maintain with little tidies?


Today's challenge is to go through the fridge.
Clean out anything that needs to get out of there.
My mom always said "If you wouldn't eat it yourself you wouldn't serve it to someone else." So if its even questionable think "Would I eat this?" 
No? Well then there's your answer.
Wipe down the shelves and drawers with hot soapy water.
Also go through the freezer.
If it is so freezer burned that you can't tell what it is, pitch it.


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