How to Rock a 20 Minute Tidy Up

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All opinions are mine alone.  #RealLifeClean #CollectiveBias 

One thing I am always trying to do is keep our house clean.  Not clean clean because that’s just impossible but clean.  With a baby and a job and a crazy schedule, it seems like house work often is my last priority. Scratch that.  House work is always my last priority.

About a year ago I started doing a 20 minute tidy up before bed .  It doesn’t happen every night, but it does most nights and it has made a world of difference in feeling in control of the state of my house.  I set my timer for 20 minutes, start cleaning with the fury of a thousand suns, and when the timer goes off I am done, no matter what the house still looks like.   This isn’t the only cleaning I have to do in a day, but it makes my mornings much less intimidating and on the days that are just crazy and this is the only thing I get to, at least we aren’t living in filth.   A clean house seems to stay clean okay, but as soon as one thing is a little bit dirty I feel like that is license for the rest of the house to just go crazy with dirtiness. There are either zero messes or 37 messes in our house if you know what I mean.  If you struggle with constant messiness, you should seriously try the timer thing.  I love it because there is an end to it.  Cleaning the house always feel like such a commitment, but 20 minutes is not a commitment.  I hate it when I think, “Ugh, I have to clean the house” and the only end is when the whole house is clean.  So basically there is no end.  With the timer, I know I just have to work hard for 20 minutes, and when the timer is done I can stop cleaning.  And if 20 minutes is too intimidating to you, start with 10 minutes.  Everyone can clean for 10 minutes at night.  It’s no biggie!

I present to you, your guide to the twenty minute tidy up.  These are my steps in order of priority.  Sometimes I get to all the steps, sometimes I just make the first two or three- the first ones are the ones that for me absolutely have to be done every day.

Put “stuff” away.  I use a laundry basket for this.  I throw all the stuff that is lying around the house in the basket and then go deliver the things to where they go.  Our house is split level so if I put one or two things away at a time I will spend my whole twenty minutes going up and down the stairs.  Sometimes I put stuff away away but if I don’t have time, I’ll just set it in the room where it goes.  Often there is a small pile of June’s stuff in her room in the morning that I have to put away.  

Wipe down kitchen counters and load stray dishes.  This one to me is crucial because the house never feels clean if there are dishes sitting in the sink.  I love the CloroxPump 'N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner because I don’t even have to run the faucet.  Get powerful bleach-free liquid on your sponge, paper towel or cloth with one pump. It's a multipurpose, multisurface cleaning solution that's food-safe.   I grab my rag, pump it on the Clorox Pump 'N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner, and rub those counters down.  It is the easiest, fastest way to get your kitchen good and clean.  It’s also is a miracle worker with June’s high chair. 

Run the vacuum in the front room.  I don’t usually vacuum the whole house, but a two minute run in the front room does wonders for making the house look and feel so much cleaner.  Lines in the carpet just do it for me.

Empty trash in kitchen and bathrooms.  This one I don’t have to do every day, but usually once or twice a week.  If it doesn’t need to be done, I go on to the next step.

Wipe down main surfaces in front room.  I do this probably once or twice a week.  I grab a CloroxTriple Action Dust Wipe and wipe down everything that has accumulated dust.   The Clorox Triple Action Dust Wipes have the clinging power to grab and hold onto dust, allergens, and even hair.  I wipe the TV, the end tables, our base boards, the end tables by the bed, even the floor with these bad boys.

Put laundry away. This comes near the end of the list not because there is not a need to do it every day but because I absolutely hate putting away laundry.  I have never figured out a good system for laundry.  I am definitely open to suggestions if you have any.  Right now my system is pretty much ignore all laundry until it is coming out of my ears and refuses to be ignored any longer and then do all laundry in one miserable, long afternoon.  It’s a sucky system.

Scrub bathroom counters and tub.   I LOVE taking baths- I probably take three or four a week but sweet, sweet Greg gets his hair all over the tub, (Greg’s got himself a nice sexy hairy chest.  I do not oblige.  Except when it comes to bathtubs.) and nothing makes me want to bolt from the bath faster than body hair.  When it comes to the tub and my 20 minute tidy up, I love the Clorox Scrub Singles Bathroom Pads.  Clorox ScrubSingles bathroom pads come preloaded with Clorox cleaner so you don’t even have to worry about throwing your cleanser down. The pads have a scrubbing surface designed to power through soap scum and grime and really attack stubborn bathroom stains in record time.  They are just so fast and easy.  Just a quick wipe down and the bathtub is ready for me. 

There you have it folks, my 20 minute tidy up.  It definitely is not rocket science, but such a simple system has done wonders for me when it comes to cleaning the house.  I am no longer overwhelmed by the task and when company drops in unexpectedly my house is usually mostly clean.  I never feel like it gets to the out of control stage that it used to.

And that's it!  If you've made it through all the steps of your twenty minute tidy up early then you can quit before your timer is up!  If this happens to you, though, I will insist that you teach me your tricks because I have never finished all the steps with time to spare!

The 20 minute tidy up is definitely not rocket science, but such a simple system has done wonders for me when it comes to cleaning the house.  I am no longer overwhelmed by the task and when company drops in unexpectedly my house is usually mostly clean.  I never feel like it gets to the out of control stage that it used to.

You can find all Clorox cleaning products listed in this post at Target.  I found the ScrubSingles Bathroom Pads and Clorox Triple Action Wipes in the bathroom and mop cleaning section and the Clorox Pump 'N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner by the dish soaps.

AND, from June 7- July 4, you can receive 10% off selected Clorox products at Target using the Cartwheel app.