HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HOME EFFORTLESSLY

It is lovely to be able to relax in the sitting room of your home when everything is clean and tidy and all your possessions are in the place where they are supposed to be but it is no fun at all when it is you that has to make sure that your home stays this way.

When times were a little more affluent, when most of us had jobs and there was no economic crisis the women who went out to work usually had the luck of being able to employ a daily help who would keep their home in good order while they themselves were working hard at their job for the most part of the day but unfortunately the daily help has been one of the first luxuries that has had to be thrown out of the window. I myself had to get rid of mine even though I was really fond of her and she had almost become part of the family but at € 300 a month it was really not on - I just couldn't afford to keep her on any more and now that I have lost my job myself it would now be an absolute impossibility to have kept her on.

I was sad to let her go as she was so good but I am sure that her other richer clients will be able to continue to accommodate her with a good income. Though I will miss her chatter and banter very much as apart from being a very good cleaning lady she was also full of life and always a source of entertainment which filled the whole of my home with joy and laughter.

The first thing that I did was to decide to take the sheets of the bed to the laundry once a week where they charged me € 10 to wash and iron them. This € 10 has been worth it because ironing sheets just takes too much of my time and so at least each week we have the luxury of having clean and ironed sheets on the bed. Just by not going out two nights of a week we have saved the € 10 that we need to have the sheets sorted out!

On Saturday afternoons both my husband and I deal with the ironing of our own clothes which have been washed and hung out to dry during the week. My husband goes first placing the ironing board right in front of the television while he watches his formula one racing and when he is finished then next go I watching some romantic comedy film!

My husband is in charge of cleaning all the windows and also cleaning the bathrooms and then the rest of the house is left to me. The way I do it is to tackle one room per day. On Mondays I tend to do our bedroom. I first change the sheets and make the bed look very appetising. I then take out my duster and pledge and begin to clean all the wooden furniture and also the tops of the paintings hanging on the walls. Next I grab hold of a sponge and a potent cleaning product and proceed to wipe away any marks left on the walls, doors or cupboards and finally I get hold of the Hoover and hoover everywhere including under the bed.

Our bedroom is now nice and clean and void of any dust!!!

On the Tuesday my husband will tackle the bathrooms. First we need a product like Ajax or Jif to clean the enamel bath and the wash basins. Then another stronger product to clean the loo . A good glass cleaner for the mirrors and for the tiles on the walls to bring out their shine. There are marble wall tiles in one bathroom and also the work top as it were round the wash basin is also marble and the best thing for these surfaces is baby oil. Get hold of a cotton wool ball impregnated with baby oil and go over the whole surface of your work top and also your wall tiles. Finish off the treatment by rubbing with an old rag and you will find that all your marble surfaces are looking like new again. I am in charge of tidying up all the drawers that I have containing make up, hair curlers or medicines by applying the nozzle of the hoover to them which sucks up any dust, stray hairs or dirt from the drawers leaving them spic and span. If you have tiled floors then a mop and bucket are now needed in order to give them a wipe over but always remembering that first you have to take the hoover to the floor in order to suck up all those stray hairs which come from your own head!

On Wednesday it is now time for the kitchen. Make sure that you get the hoover to suck up all those crumbs inside your drawers, on your shelves and most importantly on the floor. Get a good hob cleaner for your hob and a good grease cleaner to tackle your extractor fan. This grease cleaner will also be useful to be applied to your wall tiles and work surface and also to wipe any residue of greasy fingers that have been left on your cupboard doors. Finally get out a bucket of warm water mixed with floor cleaner and get set to clean your kitchen floor. This is also a time to look into your cupboards and put all your products into some sort of order while at the same time cleaning the shelves on which your products stand. Clean your rubbish bin and put in a new plastic rubbish bag.

On Friday you can dedicate your time to seeing to your terrace or balcony if you have them. Tend to any ailing plants, or trying to sort the sick ones out by giving them more vitamins or more soil. Sweep away all the old dead leaves that have fallen into your terrace, give it a good hose down and prune away all the dead leaves and dead flowers.

One week has now gone by and your home should be spic and span with not that much effort on your part. By tackling it one day at a time you are able to cope with the maintenance of all of your home and it has hardly cost you anything in terms of effort and far less in money.