I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing when it was first published in the United States, and it has been amusing and wonderful to hear the impact the Netflix show has had on individuals. I have been told, if you are into thrifting, this is your year, because so many people are jumping on the bandwagon of "tidying up their homes to find joy" that consignment and thrift shops are overflowing with inventory. I have watched the show, and it resonated with me more than when I read the book.
As I have previously stated in other blogs, I am constantly revisiting the items left in my apartment and observing which ones still have purpose and are meaningful, and getting rid of the ones that have not been utilized or have been collecting dust. In 2018, I read the book, Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day by Becky Rapinchuk (founder of Clean Mama). I follow Clean Mama on Instagram and Facebook. I thought I would share some of the nuggets of organization that was in the book, and show some of the additional items that have left my home.
- Introduction
- Home keeping is a learned behavior, and Clean Mama has coached millions of readers through her online community on how to keep a home clean and maintained it.
- The Simply Clean method is meant for busy lives, and it's designed to take the drudgery right out of cleaning
- The 28-Day Simply Clean Challenge is designed to help you build the habits needed to make cleaning effortless, so you never have to really think about it again.
- Part One: The Simply Clean Method The Secret to Cleaning Less, Yet Having a Cleaner Home
- You want a clean and tidy home, now what?
- The most effective part of the Simply Clean method is that you will not feel overwhelmed by the routine.
- Start with daily tasks--there are five daily tasks
- One: Make beds
- Two: Check floors (touch-up purposes for vacuuming and sweeping)
- Three: Wipe counters
- Four: Declutter (this includes dealing with mail on a daily basis)
- Five: Do laundry
- Weekly Tasks
- Monday= Bathroom cleaning day
- Tuesday= dusting
- Wednesday= vacuuming
- Thursday= floor washing day
- Friday= catch all day (menu planning, paying bills)
- Saturday= sheets+towel day
- Sunday=Daily cleaning tasks only
- Part Two: the 7-day simply clean kick start: 10 minutes to a happier, healthier home
- Seven days: decluttering, bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming, floor washing, catch-all day, and laundry
- Day 1 Decluttering 101
- Clutter is different for everyone. One suggestion: Get ride of the piles.
- How to declutter so you can really clean: A predetermined block of time, keep a timer (great way to motivate yourself to work quickly), and something to listen to or something to watch.
- Garbage bags or bin--at least four
- 1. Toss
- 2. Donate/sell:
- try not to get distracted with selling items right now--worry about clearing the clutter first and then deal with items that you want to sell once you've completed the challenge
- keep a basket in a logical spot in your home
- 3. Relocate
- anything that is imply in the wrong spot. Put all of tehse items in the relocate bin, and return them to their proper spot when the decluttering session is over
- 4. Keep
- Day 3: Dusting
- Give your air vents a quick once-over with your duster or vacuum cleaner's hose attachment
- Part Three: The 28-Day Simply Clean Challenge: Turn the Method into a Habit
- The challenge is very deliberate 28 days, because research says that it takes three weeks to form a new habit.
- Day 1= Clear and clean kitchen counters
- Remove everything from your kitchen counters and put them temporarily on your kitchen table or another space nearby
- Spray the counters
- Selectively return the items to the counters
- If there is something you don't use daily and you have extra space to store it, stash it away where it is still accessible.
- Day 2=Clean small appliances
- Remove your small appliances and clean them thoroughly
- run white viegar through the coffee maker
- dump the crumbs from your toaster
- Day 3= Purge and clean refrigerator and freezer
- Start with refrigerator and empty it completely
- wipe your refrigerator clean, take out any drawers or containers that can be washed
- Day 4= Clean oven and wipe appliances fronts
- You can clean it with a nontoxic cleaning paste, or the self-cleaning option on your oven (it's going to get stinky, so make sure you have widnows open and don't need the oven for a few hours)
- once the oven is done, let it cool, and wipe out any burned food debris with a wet sponge or cleaning cloth
- Wipe fronts of appliances with a microfiber cloth
- Day 5= Clear and clean pantry or food storage area
- Empty food pantry, throw away anything that is expired, foods you are no longer interested in donate to food bank.
- Day 20: Take inventory of bathroom linens--donate, toss, or keep
- If you have tattered linens, consider donating to your local animal shelter
- Part Four: Customizing the Simply Clean Method for Your Life
- Bimonthly: Wipe switches, phones and remotes. Every other month, use a rubbing alcohol wipe or a little rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth or cotton facial pad and wipe it over your light switches, telephones, and remotes.
- Tips for customizing the simply clean method for different schedules
- Working from home: you might find it most helpful to get homekeeping tasks out of the way early in the day so they don't get pushed to the back burner.
- Cleaning service, hire help when you need it--most cleaning services can do one-time cleanings or can schedule two to four cleanings without a long-term commitment. This is perfect for after a surgery or during a particularly busy time in your life. Consider hiring people for specific jobs like window and carpet cleaning to make some of those larger and more time-consuming tasks a breeze.
- Part Five: How to clean and organize (just about) anything
- Room-by-room tips to organize your home
- Get in the habit of wiping down kitchen counters after dinner and putting out fresh towels.
- Always completely empty any space you're trying to organize. Not only will you find that you are able to organize it more effectively, you're also less likely to put everything back if you're forced to deal with it, making it easier to really declutter
- How to organize a pantry
- Before you do anything, determine a couple zones that you can put everything into. Determine categories that work for how you cook and bake and what you store: snacks, cooking, baking, beverages, cereal, lunch supplies, food storage supplies, canned goods, grains and pastas, condiments, etc. Write these zones down on sticky notes and place the notes on a kitchen table or counter where you will be grouping items together. Completely empty your pantry or food area and place items in their appropriate caterogry on your kitchen table or counter.
- If you are feeling extra-ambituous, keep a pantry inventory sheet to track what you have on hand and what you need. Make a list of must-have items and keep track of quantities.
- Laundry
- If you use the same color of towels and sheets. This allows them to be washed together and keeps washing them a breeze.
- How to clean anything
- Rule of thumb for storage of any small appliance is that if it's not used at least two times a week, it gets stowed away. On the counters you could keep coffeepot, coffee grinder, and toaster.
- Clean and freshen a mattress
- Use a waterproof mattress pad. A mattress pad will keep any potential stains off your mattress and keep your mattress clean longer. Toss the mattress pad in every other washing.
- When you rotate your mattress, take a couple of minutes to vacuum the top of it to remove any dust and dust mites.
- How to clean baseboards, doors and trim
- Baby wipes make a great baseboard cleaner. You can use them on painted and natural wood because of their gentleness.
- How to vacuum effectively
- Vacuum horizontally in each room. Then vacuum vertically in each room. This technique is the best way to make sure that the carpet is lifted and the embedded dirt, pet dander, and pet hair is removed.
- You can put a drop or two of your favorite essential oil on a cotton ball and put it in your vacuum canister or vacuum cleaner bag to freshen the air while your vacuum is running.
- Stain removal
- Bodily fluids: Bloat and soak up with cold water and treat with oxygen bleach alternatives.
- Fruit and juices: run under warm water and treat the stain with white vinegar. If the fabric is white, treat with hydrogen peroxide.
- Grease and oil: Keep a piece of white chalkboard chalk in the laundry room and draw over any grease stains. If the grease or oil stain is larger, sprinkle a little cornstarch over the stain and a drop of dish soap.
- Ink: Dab with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.
- Sweat: Mix up a baking soda and water paste and scrub with a clean toothbrush to dissolve perspiration. Soak in 1/4 cup oxygen bleach alternative and warm water in washing machine or a small laundry bucket for a couple of hours or overnight.
- Unknown stains: Rub with a bar or castile soap.
- wine: blot with club soda or cool water and soak up stain.
- Cleaning your car, supplies: garbage bag, linter roller, vacauum, all-purpose stray cleaner, window cleaner, and microfiber cloths.
- Part Six: Cleaning supplies and resources
- Hydrogen peroxide: it's a natural disinfectant and when tested has been shown to kill germs more effectively than bleach. Keep it in the brown bottle--its disinfecting properties go away when exposed to light. Spray on yucky cutting boards, counters, mildw. Let it set for 5-10 minutes and wipe clean.
- A few things you need to know about DIY Cleaners
- Never, ever use vinegar on stone, granite, marble--vinegar's high acidity will etch away at your beautiful counters over time.
- Homemade cleaners have a shorter shelf life because they don't have preservatives..
- The bulk of each cleaner is water--use filtered or distilled water to extend the shelf life of your cleaners, or boil and cool the water if you are unable to filter it.
- Environmental Working Group at EWG.org they rate cleaners from A-F, then list the potential harm.
- Essential oils are oils from plants--they are not fragrance oils.
- Brands: doTERRA, Plant Therapy, NOW
- Citrus scents (sweet, refreshing, energizing scents): lemon, orange, graperfruit, lime
- Spicy Scents (warm, inviting scents): cinnamon, vanilla, clove, ginger, and cardamom
- Clean scents (combinations that smell fresh and clean): tea tree, lemon+peppermint, rosemary+pepermint+lavendar, pine+lemon+lime
- Spa-like (soothing): lavender+eucalyptus, cedarwood+pine, cardamom+peppermint+rosemary
- Garbage disposal cleaner
- 1/4 cup baking soda nd 1/4 cup lemon juice. Mix ingredients together to form a pasty liquid. The liquid will start fizzing--quickly pour in disposal. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Run cold water, run on disposal.
- Resources and Favorites
- Clean Mama Home= shop that you will find favorite cleaning supplies
- Homekeeping Society= a monthly essentials subscritpon to help streamline and organize your life.
- Clean Mama printables= downloadable lists and organizers designed to help you get things figured out quickly.
- Find downloads and additional resources at http://www.cleanmama.net/new-simply-clean
This round of decluttering for me consisted of getting rid of the majority of my movies and TV series, along with starting to tackle books, and photos.
