4 Cleaning Hacks That Will Make You Want to Actually Clean

Oh my god, the house is messy again! How is this possible and where the f*ck is the cleaning fairy?

Cleaning…ugh…an everyday torture. And I don’t know about you, but I f*cking hate doing the dishes. Give me a closet to organize or a toilet to clean any day! No joke. Call me crazy, but I’d rather clean toilets than tackle the dishwasher.

And as for cleaning the rest of the house, it seemed a lot easier and much more enjoyable prior to having children. Having children have brought the phrase, “My house is messy!” to a whole new level. And while for the most part I try to tell myself ”This stage won’t last long and before you know it they will be all grown up and moving out, so you better enjoy all the Lego pieces on the floor now while you can!” …however, there’s a good dose of mental insanity that comes along with a messy house. And cleaning that messy house actually balances the sanity vs. insanity ratio…once it’s done of course.

But, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve that has made the whole cleaning experience much more enjoyable. So I thought I should share. Because sharing is nice.

1. Earphones, airPods, ear pods, ear buds, listening thinga-mijjigers…

Whatever you want to call them, get them. Sure you can yell at Alexa to play some music - but one speaker simply cannot extend to all areas of chaos in the house. And...you simply cannot clean in silence. And... the ear thinga-mijjers will help tune out all that background noise and let you dive deep into cleaning mode with less disruption. And... yes, some great music blasting is a good thing too, I have found something better….podcast friends.

Oh I have so many ‘best friends’ on my podcasts. They talk about the things I like to talk about. They make me laugh. They make me think. They just totally engage my brain so much so that I actually forget I’m f*cking cleaning…I kid you not! It’s like the conversation takes on a life of its own and I’m now friends with this whole new, awesome circle of famous people, smart people, educators, funny people and just super-cool people.

So now cleaning can be something I actually look forward to, like a coffee date, or wine night with the girls (not that I’m cleaning while drinking wine, although now that I’ve said that, it’s a pretty damn good idea!). But I digress….the point is, invite a friend over into your ear-pod thingies and have a great conversation while tackling some of life’s least favorable chores.

Check out my Podcast Therapy to find a podcast friend for you.

2. Ahhhhh-sential OILS

Or the proper term..essential oils. Tomato / Tomahhto. Okay, if you do not have a favorite essential oil in your house you must put your device down and go to the store…any store and buy one! Different smells have different effects on the brain. You can google it to find the most beneficial therapeutic effects for you, but for now we are just talking cleaning. We’ll get to essential oils in another post. But for now, I have a few oils tips I'd like to share. Because, ya know...it's nice to share with your friends.

Check out my favorite essential oils for cleaning: lavender, peppermint, and 'cheer up buttercup' citrus blend

TIP 1:

I put an essential oil into my vacuum air filter thingy. All vacuums have one, even the cordless ones. It’s usually a removable pad or filter that blows out or sucks in air. And while the vacuum manufacturer will likely not recommend this, I’ve never had a problem and I’ve done it for years on many different brands of vacuums. I add a few drops of my favorite essential oil (I love Yoga from Saje) to the air filter and when I turn the vacuum on it’s like BAM!!!...a blast of the most amazing smell ever. And instead of my brain saying “look at this f*cking dirty floor”, it’s like sunshine and unicorns takes over the dark, miserable areas of the brain and this euphoric feeling of happiness overwhelms me WHILE vacuuming. Who knew?

TIP 2:

I put Peppermint essential oil into my Windex. I don’t know about ya’ll but the smell of Windex is not my fave. However, a few drops of peppermint… and bring on the sunshine and unicorns again. My brain doesn’t even have a chance to complain about the tiny, sticky human paw prints. OMG, I should really talk to the Windex big kahunas about this idea. OMG, I could be rich! Damn, now I've already told everyone. Okay okay, if you get to them first, mention it was my idea and maybe I'll get a kick back too. Remember, it's nice to share with your friends. And me and you - WE are friends, as of now anyways.

FUN FACT: while that ammonia smell can lead to a ‘cleaning headache’, peppermint is actually used as a remedy for headaches. Holla!!

TIP 3:

Lavender and Citrus essential oils in the mop water. The citrus oils are there to acutely disinfect, cuz that’s one of the things they are good at, but also, citrus is mood uplifting, true story. And Lavender, well, cuz I love lavender an you can add a few drops and whistle while you work. Breathe in…ahhhhh….breathe out….vacuuuuum. It’s amazing. I know!

3. BASKETS

Oh lordy do I love baskets. I'm a basket-a-holic, but for good reason. They are also super helpful while cleaning. Put a laundry basket in the middle of the floor. What doesn’t belong in the room you are cleaning, simply toss it in. You can kick the basket around the house as you go and take from it what you need or simply carry it around at the end and put away the items in each room which they belong. This allows you to focus on one room at a time and not get distracted every time you leave the room to put the dirty socks away!

Check out my favorite multi-purpose baskets: 2 pack foldable medium size - great for everything, large waterproof inside foldable basket - great for laundry and toys, extra large woven jute rope basket - beautiful in any room - good for blankets or as a catch all.

4. Set a timer.

It’s a race against the clock here people. And we all do better, okay maybe not better, but we all move faster when there’s a clock counting down. So set a timer for each room you are in. It’s like the cleaning Olympics. And although I may not enjoy cleaning, I’m pretty sure I’ve won a few cleaning Gold Medals. I work well under pressure and I’m sure you will too.

Check out my Apps + Sites Therapy for the countdown timer I use.

That’s it for now, but stay tuned for more awesome ideas about how to make cleaning more enjoyable.

The next post will include wine for sure!

Happy Cleaning.

full disclosure: links to the amazon marketplace mean that if you click it and purchase something, you will not be charged extra in any way...I pinky swear...I will however receive a small kick-back as a thank from Amazon for giving them a 'shout out' and any earnings will contribute to the coffee and wine required for inspiration for this blog.