How refreshing for the soul to have a clean out ! I am currently in the process of one of my regular clean outs and it feels great! I start room by room and throw out anything which no longer serves a purpose and have a deep clean as I go.
So what is a deep clean? A deep clean is cleaning those areas you do not normally do every time you do the housework. Its areas which sometimes get forgotten or neglected.
Here are some tips and ideas for de-cluttering and re-organising and having a deep clean.
Based on a typical Australian Household. This is how I do it. Just relax sometimes you need to make a bit of a mess to clear shit from your life. its all part of the process. The aftermath - you will have a super organised, clean and tidy home which is harder to mess up. Tidy House, Tidy Mind. and you will feel refreshed and free from being tied to possessions and material crap.
Just because you are chucking things out does not give reason to go shopping and fill your life with more shit ladies! Its not out with the old in with the new. Its out with it and make space because less is more ladies!
It also does not have to be done all in one day, you can spread it out and do a bit over time. Today for example I did my Kitchen and Living room , the kitchen is a big job, reserve about half a day for this project.
Kitchen:
I work my way cleaning the outside of each cupboard and draw, pulling out all the contents and lifting out the draw liners to give it a wipe down before removing the contents which is either broken or no longer needed. I keep two bags beside me, one is for the second hand shop as I am a believer in giving to those who are in need, one is for rubbish. As I go I reorganise and remove items that take up space that I really honestly do not need in my life. It is about being ruthless. Which can be hard, I am one of those sentimental types but even I can be ruthless when I need to be.
I clean out my refrigerator, throwing food which is turning and checking expiration dates on sauces and condiments. If they are on their due date or past it out they go. I do this every time I food shop but when I deep clean I remove all shelving in the fridge and give it all a wipe down filling the sink with hot soapy water and scrubbing the vegetable tubs.
I go through and tidy the pantry, I love tupperware so I am quite organised in there but its looking for what needs to go! Making sure cans are stacked properly and the potatoes and onions are not turning.
Cleaning the crap off the top of the fridge! lets face it, we all do it, you need it but it doesn't have a home so you dump it on top of the fridge to home later. but it stays there until you clear it out. We are notorious for this in our household so for shorties like me its standing on top of a chair and removing paperwork from the top of the fridge. Its also removing documents off your fridge door which are no longer needed or need to be filed away.
Clean out the oven and oven racks - I scrub oven racks in hot soapy water while i wait for oven cleaner in the oven to do its thing.
Then I give my kitchen the usual general clean, removing items off the benches wiping them down and vacuuming and mopping the floors.
The Living Room:
This is where my washing is.. I make sure its all folded and put away. I get to my odd sock box - we all have these - the dryer or washing machine eats its other half so it sits waiting lonely in the odd sock box for its mate to reappear. My theory if its mate has not turned up in the last few washes then that sock has got to go! Goodbye odd socks!
I clean down my shelves and tidy the cushions on my couch and polish what needs to be polished.
Done this room is quick and easy, I finish with a routine vacuum.
Dinning Room :
We all wipe the table over everyday, but how often do you wipe down your dining chairs. I wipe my table and chairs over and polish my china cabinet and hallway table.
Hallway table - this is where we have a bowl that our keys get chucked into and anything we have in our hands when we arrive home normally gets dumped there too. Its about homing items from the top and throwing out paperwork and things which do not need to be filed or kept. Its about going through draws and cupboards and choosing items for the second hand shop and reorganising your things so its easily accessible.
Bathroom :
Go through bathroom cabinets, any half empty bottles of shampoo, conditoner or soap get chucked. Any rubbish from packaging which may have be tossed in there are chucked, makeup which no longer is being used is thrown out and shelves wiped down and reorganised.
Then general cleaning - the bath, behind the bath, shelves, shower, floors mirrors and vanity. All shinning bright.
Toilets:
Just your usual clean, empty any bins and do floors, throw out any finished toilet spray , this is all done regularly so its not a big room to do.
Laundry:
I wash down my tub where I soak my whites. I organise my washing into piles of towels, whites, work & school uniforms, and colours and whose coloured clothes they belong to.
I clean out the laundry cupboard. organise my items in white open baskets with handles so I know where to find things. I have mine organised so my sheets and pillowcases are in a basket, my beach towels in a basket, my everyday bathroom towels are on the shelf and face cloths/flannels are in a basket and handtowels are seperate. teatowels are seperate. blankets and snuggly rugs are folded at the top and vacuum cleaner lives at the bottom. I have a basket on the top shelf which contains all my cleaning products and an area to store packaged toilet paper. Keeping it all organised makes everything easily accessible.
Clothes:
I go through all the kids clothes, my clothes and my husbands clothes and I organise them into piles, the ones which are for the second hand shop and the ones that just need to be chucked. I hang most of my boys clothes as I find this easier.
I have a clothes rack I got and when I hang the washing I just put my boys wet clothes straight onto a coathanger and hang it on this rack to dry before moving it to their wardrobes. its faster, its less washing to fold and It dries nicely so no need to iron them. I look at what season it is and if it is end of a season and I know either of them will not fit those clothes anymore the following year I move them on.
I go through our wardrobes and my husband and my dresser. anything that has not been worn in quite some time is out.
Be ruthless!
Bedrooms:
Go through bedside cabinets and top of wardrobes, go through your filing cabinets and get rid of any paperwork which is out of date or is no longer relevant.
Reorganise your paperwork to how your life currently is and whats Important to you.
Check under beds make sure there is nothing that has ended up under there without you knowing.
Do the usual change the sheets and vacuum and tidy , polish surfaces.
Theatre Room:
I go through our tv cabinet and get rid of any cords which do not belong to anything. I wipeover surfaces, wipe the tv screen which normally has fingerprints from two monkeys on it.
Toyroom:
I do this when the kids are in bed or at school so I do not get any protests. I chuck any toys which are broken and any toys which have not been played with in a long time go to the second hand shop or to friends with kids of same age. I tidy the bookshelf and arrange the books in height order and I wipe over surfaces and vacuum
Study area:
Clean out paperwork. We carry so much rubbish in our homes we do not even realise it!
Those beautiful pictures the kids draw, I just file away the super special ones and after a bit of time some of them unfortunately have to go in the bin. If I kept them all I would be a hoarder, My kids love arts and crafts.
I tidy the bookcase and get rid of any novels we have not read and do not wish to re-read.
Garage:
My husband and I reorganised our garage lately we bought some shelving and had a massive cull.
Shelving in garages is a must!
So that is just a few things I do when I do a thorough deep clean , so tiny bit different to my regular housework.
It is so refreshing I recommend doing this at least Every 3-6 months. The boot loads of stuff I take to the secondhand shop each year surprises me. Its so worth it and you are helping those in need at the same time!
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