We often see lists talking about things that we might be forgetting to clean as often as we should, but there are some cases where the opposite is true. I thought it might be a welcome change to point out a few things that you can probably take a break from cleaning once in awhile.
I love those lists of reminders for cleaning tasks that you might not be completing very often. I find them to be great reminders of things that I can add to my deep clean plans and actually I find them pretty motivating as well. Lists always make me feel like accomplishing big things is something that I can totally do and I’m never without a list of tasks that I want to get to around the house. If you found yourself feeling curious about this blog post, then you probably have a constant to-do list as well, whether you love it or hate it. I think that the only thing better than checking items off of a list is checking them off even more quickly than you thought you could, so I thought today’s post might help us all be a little more efficient with our time and feel just a little more accomplished when it comes to maintaining our households. 🙂
Washing Bath Towels
Do you throw your bath towel in the laundry after each use? Not only does this create a huge amount of extra laundry, it will wear your nice towels out much more quickly. Unless you were particularly dirty from working out in the garden on a hot summer day, try just hanging your towel up in a way that will allow it to dry completely for your regular daily showers and only wash it ever few days.
Vacuuming
I get it. Some people just love vacuuming and really get a feeling of satisfaction from vacuuming their homes often. It’s also important to note that while washing something frequently in a washing machine will wear it out more quickly, the opposite is true when it comes to vacuuming carpets. Vacuuming your high traffic areas frequently will keep your carpets in better shape for longer. The thing is though, you probably don’t need to be doing that intense twice-weekly vacuuming routine when you feel like you need to get every corner of every room and under every bed and sofa, especially if you don’t love vacuuming. You can free up a whole lot of time if you just vacuum the high-traffic areas and the middles of rooms rather than feeling like you need to do it all.
Cleaning Glassware and Dishes in the Dishwasher
It’s pretty common to grab a glass of water, take a few sips, dump the rest in the sink and then put the glass in the dishwasher. It happens in our house all the time. This of course fills up your dishwasher more quickly, but it will also make your glassware look terrible really quickly – especially if you live in the country and have well water like we do. I’m trying to make an effort to just give my glasses a quick rinse in soapy water and then dry them off and put them away more often, rather than feeling like every dish that anyone touches needs to go straight into the dishwasher. It will help keep my new glasses looking shiny and pretty for longer and it will cut down on the number of times we run the dishwasher every week.
Cleaning Mirrors and Glass Doors
The truth is that you’re probably making your glass surfaces dirtier when you’re trying to clean them most of the time. You know how it goes: You notice a few dust particles here and there so you get out the paper towel, polishing cloths, and window cleaner. Pretty soon, instead of a few specs, you have streaks and smudges all over the place that you now need to try to polish away. What looked like a 10 second job, is suddenly a 10 minute job. Try just running over your mirrors, glass doors , and other polishable shiny surfaces with a feather duster most of the time, and save the big wipe down for when you actually see finger prints and smudges if you want to save yourself some time.
Bathing Your Dog
While there’s a good chance that your dog might prefer to never have to have a bath, it definitely needs to happen every so often… just probably not as often as you think. It’s actually best to only bathe your dog once every 2-3 months to avoid skin irritation. This counts for the full bathing experience with soaps and dog shampoo and all that. An occasional spray down with the hose to clean off muddy paws in the summer is just fine. If odors are a concern, try something like this waterless bath spray that we really like around here. A vacuum with a pet grooming attachment can be a pretty great thing too once your furry friends get used to it!
Does anything else come to mind when you think of things people clean too often? Let me know what else you think we can cross off our lists! 🙂
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.