Tips to Keep Your House Clean | Cleaning Tips for Busy Moms

You’re probably looking for tips to keep your house clean, because you’re feeling like most moms do at different times… overwhelmed.

Majority of us don’t actually enjoy the act of cleaning itself, but we do enjoy a clean home. There’s just something about it. Am I right?

We’re busy with the millions of things we have going on. It’s hard enough to clean up after ourselves thoroughly, and then we add the kiddo to that equation.

Trying to keep a clean house with kids seems near impossible most days. Five minutes, if it takes that long, after you pick up the living room floor, they’ve run through, tossed off their socks and shoes, jumped on the sofas knocking all throw pillows back to the floor, and scattered miscellaneous toys about.

Ways for Busy Moms to Keep Their House Clean

Cleaning for a busy mom often feels redundant and counter-productive. So, let’s talk about some tips to help you keep your house clean.

1. Don’t Leave a Room Empty-Handed

You may not realize how often you are in and out of rooms while you are home.

Make it a habit to pick up something that is out of place in one room and deliver it to it’s correct spot.

Here’s a “for instance:”

You walk into the living room to put the throw pillows back on the sofa. While you’re there you grab a glass off of the side table to put in the sink. Now you’re leaving to run errands, so you grab that necklace off the kitchen counter you forgot to put up. You put it in the jewelry box in your bedroom, then put on your tennis shoes to leave. Now you can grab your dirty clothes hamper to drop off at the laundry room, grab the full trash bag out of the laundry room, toss it in the garbage can outside, and off you go for errands!

Whew! That seems like a lot. Make it a habit and you’ll never even notice. You’re walking around the house anyways, so take advantage of your time and multitask!

2. Organize

Do you ever run into that thing that just has no where to go? So, it kind of moves awkwardly from room to room but is never really out of the way.

Organize. Give everything a home.

It’s much easier to pick-up the house if you know where everything you’re picking up belongs!

3. Clean the Bathroom While You’re Giving the Kids a Bath

My kids take baths by themselves now, but this how I cleaned our master bath for years.

Most kids like to play in the bath tub, and there are only so many ways you can play with them while they are in the tub. It’s kind of their time. You’re really there more for supervision.

It doesn’t have to work in this particular order, but this is what I did in the past. We’d get straight to business first and get the washing over with! While they were playing, I would straighten and clean the counter and sink and even clean the toilet! All the while I would talk to them and engage. Cleaning the toilet is possibly my least favorite thing in life, so having my kids to talk to while I was doing it was a nice distraction for me too!

4. Use Decorative Storage

I totally think you should have some sort of decorative storage in every room.

Think baskets. They can be used for anything, and they come in all sizes and materials.

I have an extra large rope basket in our living room that I use to roll up and store blankets. It’s super cute, adds convenience, and gives our blankets a home.

You could also use them for your kids toys, dog toys, mismatched socks in the laundry room, flip flops by the door, etc. It would also be a great idea to use as a catch-all when cleaning up each room. At the end of every week, you could distribute the items back to where they belong.

5. Enlist the Kids

As moms, we often feel like we have to do everything. But you know what?! Getting our kids to help us out is great for everyone.

The way we enlist our kids may look different depending on how many we have and how old they are.

*TRY THIS* Set a timer once or twice a week for 10 minutes. Have them pick up a room(s) for that period of time.

Are you wanting to start implementing chores for your kids? Check out this post of ideas.

6. Keep the Kitchen Clean

I am able to feel somewhat satisfied with the state of my entire home as long as the kitchen is clean.

Having a clean kitchen just feels good.

Families tend to spend majority of their time in the kitchen or at least waltz through it more than other rooms. Having a clean kitchen will make you feel like you have it together!

7. Weed Out Unnecessary Belongings

Decluttering. Our favorite worst enemy,

Having your own home means accumulating… stuff. Having kids means the amount you accumulate multiplies by like 2, per kid! Or something. Whatever the real math is, it’s a lot of stuff.

If you don’t need it or use it, do something else with it. Donate, throw away, and hand-down.

DO THIS! Keep clothes that are too small cleaned out of closets. There have been so many times my kids have put on a shirt that was too small, it ended up on their floor, and I hung it back up! it causes extra work for no reason. It’s a vicious cycle.

8. Keep Disinfecting Wipes On Hand

I’m a real weirdo when it comes to germs. It doesn’t always even make sense.

People are messy, and it’s hard to isolate everyone else’s mess when you’re all cohabiting in the same spaces.

Keep disinfecting wipes on hand. They can seriously be used for anything. I have a can under every sink in our home (for easy access), plus on the shelf in the laundry room. Every time there’s a small mess to clean up, I don’t have to pull out the spray and paper towels. I’m able to wipe and go!

9. Set a Cleaning Schedule

Are you a planner? Planning makes me happy.

Make a cleaning schedule that works for you.

IDEAS: Pick a room for each day of the week, or pick a duty or two (i.e. sweep, wash clothes, fold clothes, clean bathrooms) to complete for each day of the week.

10. Relax

Try not to over think it. I know. That’s just what we do. But seriously, if the dishes stay in the sink for a day, it won’t be the end of the world.

Don’t over-stress yourself trying to keep your house spotless. Are there times for that? Certainly! But, it’s just not realistic on an every day basis.

Keeping Your House Clean

Everyone’s family and schedule is different, and that’s completely okay. What works for one of us may not work for someone else. That’s why we share our ideas with each other. We are in this together mama.

If my tips to keep your house clean don’t work for you as is, use them to inspire you and mold them into ideas that work for you and your family.

You and your family are living in your home, and it’s going to look lived in. Focus on making memories rather then cleaning your life away.

Do you have any tips for keeping your house clean? Share them with the rest of us in the comments!