How to Clean a Messy House Fast: 5 Tips for a Spotless Home

Cleaning a messy house can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right approach and a bit of organization, anyone can clean their home quickly and efficiently. Whether you’re expecting guests or just want to tidy up, there are several tips and tricks you can use to get the job done fast.

If your family is like our family, with new messes to clean every day, the practical tips we’ll discuss shortly will be incredibly helpful for quick cleaning and mess prevention.

• Assessing the mess before starting straight with cleaning will enable you to clean more efficiently and prevent future disorganization.
• Prioritizing tasks will help you stay focused and avoid getting overwhelmed.
• Planning the cleaning approach and executing that plan will prevent stress and establish practical duplicatable cleaning habits for future messes.

Understanding the Mess

Before diving into the cleaning process, it’s important to understand the mess. A messy house can be overwhelming, but breaking it down into manageable parts can make it easier to tackle.

• One common culprit of a messy house is clutter. Clutter refers to items that are not needed or used and take up space. Piles of clutter can quickly accumulate and make a room feel chaotic.

• To combat clutter, decluttering is necessary. Decluttering involves going through items and deciding what to keep, donate, or throw away. This can be a time-consuming process, but it’s important to do it before cleaning.

• Another factor to consider is approaching the mess room by room. This can help break down the cleaning process into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, tackling the living room first before moving on to the kitchen can help prevent feeling overwhelmed.

Understanding the mess is an important step in cleaning a messy house. By identifying the causes of clutter and breaking down the cleaning process into smaller parts, it can become a more manageable task.

Organized Cleaning Matters

It’s worth taking some time to plan your cleaning strategy. Creating a cleaning plan and checking your cleaning supplies inventory will save you tons of time in the long run.

Creating a Cleaning Plan

To clean a messy house fast and efficiently, it’s important to create a cleaning plan. This plan should include a checklist of tasks that need to be done, a cleaning schedule, and a focus on organization and motivation. While it may take a few minutes to create your plan, you can reuse the plan for future messes. A bit of time invested to create your plan will save tons of time down the road!

First, start by making a checklist of all the tasks that need to be done. This can include things like vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and doing laundry. Once you have a list of all the tasks, organize them by priority. Start with the most important tasks first and work your way down the list.

Next, create a cleaning schedule. Depending on your needs, this can be a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.

• A daily cleaning schedule should include tasks that must be done daily, such as making the bed and washing dishes.

• A weekly cleaning schedule can include tasks like cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming.
• A monthly cleaning schedule can include tasks like cleaning the windows and deep-cleaning the kitchen.

See the below weekly schedule and feel free to use it as a good starting point.

Tip: To clean a messy house fast, it’s important to focus on regular habits of organization. This means keeping things tidy and in their proper place as a lifestyle. Make sure everything has a designated spot and put things away as soon as you’re done using them. This will make cleaning faster and easier in the long run.

Finally, motivation is key to getting the job done quickly and efficiently. Put on some music, set a timer, and challenge yourself to clean as much as possible in a certain amount of time. Reward yourself with a treat or a break once you’ve completed several tasks. Cleaning a messy house can be a breeze with the right mindset and plan.

Cleaning Supply Inventory

If you’re really behind on your cleaning schedule, it would be a good idea to take an inventory of your cleaning supplies and compare that with what you’ll need for a thorough cleaning. This will save time and ensure that everything needed is readily available. One simple way to do this is to create a checklist for each room.

• When selecting a cleaning solution, it is crucial to choose one appropriate for the surface being cleaned. For example, a wood floor cleaner should be used for hardwood floors, and a tile cleaner should be used for tile floors.
• It’s important to consider any allergies or sensitivities to certain cleaning products. Also, ensure proper ventilation is used when cleaning with chemicals. We recommend using natural cleaning solutions or creating your own homemade DIY cleaning solutions when possible.
• Sponges, scrub brushes, toilet brushes, and more will be useful for deep cleaning in areas such as the bathroom and kitchen.
• Have a nice supply of microfiber cloths, especially if you have a big cleaning job. You don’t want to do mini loads of laundry to clean them between your cleaning tasks.
• Use a good quality vacuum, broom, and mop to ensure your equipment isn’t holding you back, leading to even more frustration. Ever used a weak vacuum? Been there, done that, we don’t recommend it.

Gathering the necessary cleaning supplies is an essential first step in cleaning a messy house quickly and efficiently. Even better, store your various cleaning supplies, chemicals, and solutions safely near the areas where you’ll use them.

1. Tackling the Kitchen

When cleaning in the kitchen, start with big items and clutter, then save the deep cleaning for later. Clear any clutter from the countertops, sink, and appliances. This will make it easier to wipe down surfaces and clean them thoroughly.

• If you have lots of unwashed dishes, you can fill the sink with hot, soapy water and let them soak while cleaning and decluttering the rest of the kitchen. Once the countertops are cleared, wash the dishes (or load the dishwasher) and move on to deep cleaning.

• If there are any clean dishes in the dishwasher, unload them and put them away. Then, load any dirty dishes into the dishwasher and start a new cycle. This will save time and ensure that dishes are thoroughly cleaned.

• Once the countertops and appliances are clean, move on to the floors. Sweep or vacuum any debris, and then mop with a disinfectant cleaner. This will ensure that the kitchen is not only clean but also sanitized.

Cleaning a messy kitchen can be a quick and easy task with a little effort and the right tools. As a rule of thumb, start by cleaning the largest messes first and finish with floor cleaning. If you have small children, be certain to store any cleaning chemicals safely and securely.

2. Cleaning the Bathroom

As alluded to earlier, start by gathering all the necessary cleaning supplies, including a scrub brush, cleaning solution, sponges, and a bucket of warm water.

• We like to start by cleaning the highest parts of the bathroom first, then work our way down. That means cleaning walls, light fixtures, tile, mirrors, countertops, the tub and shower, the toilet, and finally, the floors.

• For any stubborn sink, shower, or toilet stains, you can apply your cleaning solution first, then work on the rest of the bathroom while the solution is working to lift the stains.

Remember to always wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated area to avoid inhaling harmful fumes. Store chemicals and cleaning solutions properly.

3. Sorting and Organizing Clutter

When it comes to cleaning a messy house, sorting and organizing clutter is a crucial step. Clutter can come in many forms, such as piles of clothes, stacks of paper, kids’ toys, or a collection of magazines. To tackle clutter, it’s important to have a plan of action.

First, start by identifying what items are clutter and what items are not. This can be done by sorting items into piles, such as keeping, donating, or throwing away. Once the clutter has been identified, it’s time to start organizing.

You can easily separate your items with trash bags or storage containers. The goal is to separate items that need to be thrown away, donated, or otherwise quickly and efficiently. Another method is to create a designated spot for each type of clutter so you can manageably donate or discard it at a later time.

Decluttering can be overwhelming, but breaking it down into smaller tasks is a strategy that will lead to success every time. Start with one room or area at a time, and work through the clutter in that space before moving on to the next.

By sorting and organizing clutter, a messy house can quickly become a clean and organized space.

4. Managing Laundry

Laundry can be a never-ending chore, especially when you’ve got mountains of it from having a large family! To manage laundry effectively, it’s important to have a system in place. Here are some tips to help you stay on top of the laundry:

• Sort laundry as soon as it’s dirty: Encourage family members to sort their laundry as soon as it’s dirty. This will make it easier to manage the laundry pile later on.
• Create a laundry schedule: Set specific days for doing laundry and stick to it. This will help you stay on top of the laundry pile and prevent it from becoming overwhelming.
• Use laundry baskets: Have laundry baskets in each bedroom and bathroom to collect dirty clothes. This will prevent clothes from piling up on the floor.
• Use a laundry hamper: Have a designated laundry hamper for each family member. This will make it easier to sort clothes and prevent mix-ups.
• Use a laundry sorter: Consider using a laundry sorter to keep whites, darks, and colors separated. This will save time when it’s time to do laundry.
• Use laundry bags: Use mesh laundry bags to keep delicate items separate and prevent them from getting damaged in the wash.
• Fold clothes as soon as they’re dry: Avoid letting clothes sit in the dryer for too long. Fold them as soon as they’re dry to prevent wrinkles.

By following these tips, managing laundry in a messy house can become a lot easier and cut off hours of inefficiency and frustration.

5. Cleaning Room by Room

This approach allows you to focus your efforts and see progress more quickly. Here are some tips for cleaning room by room:

Start with the Most Cluttered Room

Begin with the room that has the most clutter and mess. This could be the living room, kitchen, or a child’s bedroom. Start by removing any items that don’t belong in the room and putting them in their proper place. Then, focus on decluttering surfaces such as countertops, tables, and shelves.

Work from Top to Bottom

When cleaning a room, it’s important to work from top to bottom. This means starting with high surfaces such as ceiling fans, light fixtures, and shelves and working your way down to the floor. This ensures that dust and debris from higher surfaces don’t fall onto surfaces that have already been cleaned, which is especially important in the kitchen and bathroom.

Use a Checklist

Creating a checklist for each room can help you stay organized and ensure that you don’t forget anything. Include tasks such as dusting, vacuuming, and wiping down surfaces. You can also break down larger tasks, such as cleaning the oven or washing the windows, into smaller, more manageable steps.

Don’t Forget the Details

When cleaning a room, it’s important to pay attention to the details. This means cleaning items such as light switches, doorknobs, and baseboards. These areas can often be overlooked but can make a big difference in the overall cleanliness of a room.

Remember to take breaks when needed and celebrate your progress along the way!

Maintaining a Clean House

By following a few simple daily habits and creating a cleaning schedule (like the table posted in the earlier section), anyone can maintain a clean and clutter-free home. Here are some tips to help keep a house clean and organized:

Daily Habits

Developing daily habits is an essential part of maintaining a clean house. Some of the daily habits that can help keep a house clean include:

• Making the bed every morning
• Doing a load of laundry every day
• Wiping down kitchen counters after each use
• Putting away items after each use
• Sweeping or vacuuming floors daily
• Training your children to do all of the above!

By incorporating these habits into a daily routine, a house can stay clean and tidy with minimal effort.

Cleaning Schedule

Creating a cleaning schedule is another way to maintain a clean house. A cleaning schedule can help break down cleaning tasks into manageable chunks, making it easier to keep up with cleaning. Some cleaning tasks that can be included in a cleaning schedule include:

• Dusting furniture and surfaces
• Cleaning bathrooms
• Mopping floors
• Cleaning windows
• Vacuuming carpets and rugs

By creating a cleaning schedule and sticking to it, a house can stay clean and organized.

Clutter-Free

Clutter is stressful. Reducing the clutter leads to reducing stress for everyone in your household. Some tips for keeping a house clutter-free include:

• Regularly decluttering items that are no longer needed
• Creating designated spaces for items
• Putting away items after use
• Avoiding impulse purchases (I know this is hard)

Decor

Decor can also play a role in maintaining a clean house. Choosing decor that is easy to clean and maintain can make cleaning tasks easier. Some decor tips for maintaining a clean house include:

• Choosing washable fabrics for furniture, curtains, and even rugs
• Selecting easy-to-clean flooring when doing remodels
• Avoiding cluttered decor and opting for a more minimalistic style
• Incorporating storage solutions into the decor

Taking the above simple steps will go a long way in making your cleaning and decluttering routines simple. That’s the goal: to make executing your cleaning responsibilities as easy as possible.

Pets

Pets can also impact the cleanliness of a house, to say the least. Some tips for maintaining a clean house with pets include:

• Regularly cleaning pet bedding and toys
• Vacuuming floors and furniture to remove pet hair
• Wiping down surfaces that pets come into contact with
• Keeping litter boxes clean and odor-free

Order-Promoting Habits

As mentioned earlier, a clean and organized house can help reduce stress and increase productivity. Creating order from chaos, seeing that transformation, and knowing you were responsible for it are gratifying aspects of homemaking.

• Incorporating cleaning tasks into a daily routine
• Decluttering regularly
• Creating a cleaning schedule
• Choosing decor that is calming and inviting

The home should be a place of rest, relaxation, and peace. Keeping it clean will ensure it’s conducive to each of those attributes, not only for you but for your family.

Maintaining a clean house requires daily cleaning habits, a cleaning schedule, clutter-free spaces, easy-to-clean decor, pet cleaning, and organization.

Cleaning FAQs

What are some tips for cleaning a cluttered house quickly?

Cleaning a cluttered house can be a daunting task, but it can be done quickly by following these tips:

• Start by decluttering the space. Get rid of anything that you no longer need or use.
• Break the cleaning process into smaller tasks. Focus on one room at a time.
• Use a timer to keep yourself on track. Set a goal for how much time you want to spend cleaning each room.
• Use multi-purpose cleaning products to save time. These products can clean multiple surfaces at once.
• Use a vacuum cleaner with attachments to clean hard-to-reach areas.

How can I motivate myself to clean a messy house?

Motivation is key when it comes to cleaning a messy house. Here are some tips to help you get motivated:

• Create a cleaning schedule. This will help you stay on track and make cleaning feel less overwhelming.
• Set small goals for yourself. Celebrate your accomplishments along the way.
• Listen to music or a podcast while you clean. This can make the process more enjoyable.
• Enlist the help of a friend or family member. Cleaning together can make the process go faster and be more fun.

How can I clean my whole house efficiently?

• Break cleaning into timed sessions and assign rooms or tasks.
• Start at the top and work your way through each room systematically.
• Play upbeat music to keep you motivated.

How do I stay organized while cleaning?

• Make a checklist of tasks to keep you focused.
• Store cleaning supplies in the rooms where you’ll use them.
• Put everything back in its place when done cleaning.

How can I deep clean my whole house efficiently?

• Deep clean one room at a time.
• Soak or scrub heavily used surfaces before wiping.
• Open windows for ventilation while cleaning with strong chemicals.
• Allow yourself plenty of time to deep clean thoroughly.