How to have a clean house

When I lived in San Francisco, three people who visited my apartment asked me for the name and number of my cleaning lady. They couldn't believe it when I told them I didn't have one, that I kept my place clean and organized myself. It just so happens that my mother is a clean freak and I was raised to share that responsibility. Like eating healthy and exercising regularly, I've come to realize some of us were lucky to be taught these things by our parents and some of us were not. I don't intend this post to be preachy at all, it just occurred to me that I've been asked on more than one occasion, "How do you do it?" So here is the answer. There are three rules to keeping a clean and tidy house and they seem pretty easy -- stay organized, don't make a mess and clean regularly -- but they can seem next to impossible for some folks. It's about breaking habits and building new ones. These are also in order of importance. If you complete one and two, three is easy. If you don't, three will be so difficult that you won't make it.

1) Stay organized
Part one: Everything has a place that makes sense. It's important that everything belongs somewhere. If you can't put everything away even if you wanted to, then you have too much stuff or not enough places to put it. Also, if there is no absolute clean and tidy state that you aspire to, you will always live in filth and clutter. Additionally, the place where everything goes has to make sense. If it doesn't, you'll never remember where anything is and you make it far more difficult on yourself to remember where things go. I have a stack of attractive boxes in my office that hide ugly office supplies. In the summer, I rotate out winter clothes from my closet and put them in a plastic tub that goes somewhere out of the way. In the kitchen, I have utensils for cooking near the stove, dishes near the sink and silverware near the dishes. Coffee mugs are near the coffee maker as is the coffee and tea, etc. Another advantage of organization is that when other people are at your house, they can put things away for you. Neato!

Part Two: Keep things put away. Now that you have a system of where everything goes, this is much easier. It also forces you to get rid of things. My mom has a rule: if something comes in the house, something else has to go out. Your place is not an eternally empty vessel. Plus, everything in your house collects dust so the most you have, the dirtier your place. I have a box for Goodwill that also sits in the same place all the time. When it's full, I donate the items and bring it back empty. Donations are tax deductive, much less hassle than selling and it helps your community. I don't advocate throwing anything useful in the trash but if that's the only way to get rid of something, do it. Back to putting things away. This is critical. I have a small chair by my closet because I like to pile clothes when I'm trying on outfits but as I said, it's a small chair. It limits how much I can pile before forcing me to hang them up. I know it's a cliché but it really is easier to put things away immediately than to save it for later. Every morning or every night, make it a habit to tidy. Put everything away, do the dishes, hang the towels, etc. It's wonderful for the mind to refresh your environment every day.


2) Don't make a mess
I think people who were raised with mothers who acted as maids (or who didn't clean at all) have a hard time with this one. They're hardwired to believe that someone else will clean up their messes. You have to train yourself, brainwash yourself, to counter these thoughts with the opposite. If you have the thought to throw something on a chair or the floor instead think "put it away!" If you have the thought that a spill or mess doesn't matter or someone else will get it instead think "clean it up!" Taking a minute or two throughout the day to be tidy will save you hours of cleaning on the weekend and give you a cleaner house all the time. The second part of not making a mess is being careful. It just makes sense: if you don't make messes, you won't have as much to clean up. I understand that kids change this picture but these are valuable lessons to teach children as well. Not to chastise but to train. If you make a mess, you have to clean it up so be careful. No one is going to do it for you!

Another aspect of not making a mess is being aware of what's making a mess for you. When it's windy outside, close the windows to keep dust from blowing in. Down furniture and comforters make quite a bit of dust so substitute with synthetic "down" if you're not happy to clean up after it. If you have items in your house that leak or drip or otherwise make a mess regularly, fix them or replace them. Are you tracking in dirt on your shoes? Get a better mat outside for cleaning shoes or take them off at the door.

3) Clean every week
Cleaning has to be part of your regular routine. I tend to do it on Sunday mornings. Those are mornings that I'm not anxious to get out of the house, or anxious to get out of my pajamas. Pajamas are great to wear while cleaning, by the way. They're comfortable, I'm not as worried about getting them dirty and when I'm done, they go in the dirty clothes basket and I go in the shower! I find that cleaning is a great time to get some thinking done and I quite enjoy it. I make my coffee or tea, crank up the music or put on a movie, open the shades to get some light in and get to work. First, I take the sheets off the bed, change the towels in the bathroom and get the laundry started. Then I sweep (or vacuum) and wash the floors (on hands and knees, it's the best way!) After that, I wipe all the surfaces with a damp cloth (no point in dusting before you clean the floor) and scrub sinks, toilets and tubs. If you don't have time to do everything every week, split it into two or even three weekends. The point is to do it on a regular basis. If you have kids, make them help. We always had to help clean the house and my brother and I are both very tidy because of it. I try to keep it simple in terms of equipment. I use a tub that I fill with only a few cups of hot water and change whenever it's dirty and an old kitchen sponge for floors first, then the sinks and last for the toilet, before I throw it away. It's a great time to change the kitchen sponge and throw the old one under the sink for the next weekend. If you clean regularly, the house is not as dirty and this can be done quite quickly. Every week/month, choose one room and move the furniture and clean behind and underneath everything.

I also think we should make an effort to clean with natural products for a couple of reasons:
1) It's better for your health and the health of your family to not use toxic chemicals in the house.
2) It's better for everyone's health if the toxic chemicals you use are not rinsed down the sink into our water supply.
3) It's better for the health of the planet if these toxic chemicals and products are not produced at all as some of them have more toxins in the byproducts than the actual product you're using.

Here's the list of my cleaning products: Hot water, vinegar, baking soda, coconut oil, rubbing alcohol. Kitchen and bathroom floors get hot water with a little bit of vinegar; it's a great disinfectant and leaves no residue to pick up dirt. Hardwood floors are cleaned with a a pea-sized amount of coconut oil in hot water; it conditions the wood and leaves the floor shiny without any residue. I also use coconut oil to clean the stove. It magically dissolves hardened oils without any scrubbing. It's amazing! I use the baking soda to scrub the sink, tub and toilet. You can use rubbing alcohol to clean mirrors instead of glass cleaner. All of these products are cheap, non-toxic and effective. I actually use coconut oil for cooking and for my skin so it's always in my house. I use apple cider vinegar because it smells nice and I keep it around for my salad dressings. I seriously urge you to look at the chemicals in your house and consider whether they are really necessary. A friend of mine started a company, Eco-Me, selling kits online to make your own natural products that are even better! Check out the site for more information on why using natural cleaners is so important.