Your lives are busy, especially during the school year, and the last thing you want to do is clean at the end of the day. It’s not even what you want to do on your weekends, right? So, short of hiring a cleaning service to do the work for you, we’re going to share some tips and tricks to clean your home despite the long hours you keep.

  1. Clean a Little Each day

Taking the time to clean a little each day will help it to feel like less of a chore and more like straightening up. In the morning, when you are just about done in the bathroom, wipe down the countertop and sink basin. Swish the toilet wand around the toilet bowl to keep it cleaner and prevent hard water stains. Or, if you are still in the shower, use a dispensing soap wand to wipe down your shower and tub surfaces. Just finishing up breakfast, again wipe down the countertops and put dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

  1. Clean When You Find a Little Extra Time on Hand

In the evening, when you are watching TV, and there is a commercial on this is the perfect time to do a little dusting in the living room. You can clean and keep an eye on when your show comes back on in that 2-3 minute time span. Only watch Netflix or have commercial-free tv? No problem, you still have other times where you’re waiting on someone, right? If you’re not in a hurry, instead of hurrying them along, pull out the broom and sweep the floor or use this time to unload the dishwasher. If you are washing multiple loads of laundry, use the time between loads to pre-treat what will be going into the washer next.

  1. Clean More Often

Cleaning more often may seem like an impossibility when you are always on the go, but if you are routinely cleaning each day and have some extra time, you’ll spend less time on the full deep cleaning sessions that had you cleaning almost every weekend hours on end. Cleaning more often means when you do go too deep clean, there is less to clean. Take the bathroom, for instance; if you take the time to wipe the counter daily, clean the toilet, and shower at least every other day, you’ll only need to mop and wipe down other surfaces. What may have taken you 15 minutes before now might only take you 5 minutes—giving you back time that you can use to spend with your family.

  1. Keep Cleaning Supplies Easily Accessible

Keep your cleaning supplies in each main area of your home, like the kitchen and bathrooms; this will eliminate the time it takes to gather everything to begin cleaning. For the kitchen and living room, keep our Casabella Infuse All-Purpose cleaner for countertops and appliance cleaning and our Casabella Infuse Glass & Window cleaner for windows and other surfaces needing an extra shine. In each bathroom, keep our Casabella Infuse cleaners; All-Purpose, Glass & Mirror, and Bathroom for all your surfaces. Pair all our cleaners with their microfiber cloths for the ultimate sparkling clean. Keep our lightweight Casabella Infuse Spray Mop for all your flooring needs, suitable for sealed hardwoods and other hard surface floorings, close at hand in a broom or laundry closet.

  1. Ditch the Clutter and Put Things Away

Think about what you use daily and what you haven’t picked up in months. If it’s something you haven’t used in a while, it’s probably safe to say it’s clutter and can be thrown or given away. As for putting things away, take 15 minutes at the end of each day to straighten and put them in their proper place. Use these 15 minutes to get the family involved in picking up after themselves. Before bed, everyone should make sure their shoes are in their rooms or neatly by the front door, backpacks are packed, and outfits are out for the next day. This will ensure your morning routine goes smoothly and might also give you the extra time in the morning to get some cleaning done while you’re waiting on everyone else to finish getting ready.