General cleaning - what it is and how often it should be done

For many, the approach of general cleaning feels comparable to the approach of a natural disaster. And I will prove to you that if you approach this matter wisely, you can enjoy not only the result, but also the process.

What is general cleaning

Many people understand this in different ways, so for a start it is worth deciding on terminology. In fact, there is no point in arguing whether general cleaning of window glass is enough or not enough, a slightly different formula works in which this cleaning itself consists of two components: its rarity and scale. Well, specific activities are already individual for each apartment.

If you go back to the already mentioned windows, then if washing them once or twice a year is enough for a subjective feeling of cleanliness in the apartment, feel free to refer it to the general cleaning. If they become soiled that they have to be washed every month, and even more often, there can be no talk of any “generals”. The same with scale. Even if you add once every six months, wiping glasses to daily rituals such as folding things and brushing crumbs off the table is, to put it mildly, not quite that.

If it is very simple to say and do not fill the head with formulas, the general cleaning is when all those actions to make the apartment clean, which you have not done for a long time, are suddenly done in a couple of days or less.

How often do you need spring cleaning

A natural question immediately arises: how long is a long time? Well, as they say, everything is learned in comparison, so let's try to understand the classification of all sorts of different types of cleaning:

1. Daily Here the name speaks for itself: it usually includes washing dishes, unfolding and hanging things (which include not only clothes), making the bed and much more. For some, this category includes sweeping and even mopping. In order to understand whether this or that action applies to the daily, ask yourself a simple question: "Will the apartment look uncleaned if I do not do this for more than a day?".
2. Weekly Usually, this also includes what is done 2-3 times a week. As a rule, this is wiping dust, walking with a vacuum cleaner, washing, washing floors.
3. Monthly. Removing dust from upholstered furniture with a vacuum cleaner with a special nozzle, wiping lamps and sconce, blinds and baseboards, washing the door mat, disassembling accumulated things and discarding unnecessary things.
4. Once every three months or half a year. Cleaning the stove, oven, microwave, sweeping the web out of the corners, washing windows.
5. And finally, the queen of all cleanups - general. I will tell about it below. Accordingly, as the most ambitious one, it is held once or twice a year.

Reference! There is also the so-called unexpected cleaning, which, as the name implies, is never included in the plans of the owners of the house. Usually it is carried out either in front of unexpected guests, or with a “sudden mess” - broken dishes, spilled coffee on the expensive carpet or sprinkled cookies, an unexpected flood that does not require repair - it can be anything.

Here we come to the main thing. To facilitate cleaning and make it much more pleasant will help the good old planning, which will be the first stage. How? I'll tell you now.

Planning on paper takes a little more time and attention than a cursory coverage of an apartment with a glance, but before your eyes there will be an objective list of tasks, which, as a rule, differs from the subjective “oh my God, what a mess!”. This is the first.

The second. It often happens that in the process of general cleaning you have to arrange an even bigger mess than it was (for example, pull out all the books from the cabinets and place them on the floor). When you look at this, your hands may come down; you may feel that there is no progress. However, a sheet with checked checkboxes made points looks very encouraging.

It is best to divide the apartment into zones and systematically clean each one of them, from the smallest to the largest, so that what is cleaned now no longer interferes with the cleaned in the future.

Attention! As each item is completed, you can sign the elapsed time in front of it; such a list can be very useful when planning next time.

The second stage is preparation. Take out all the necessary accessories: rags, sponges, brushes, detergents, mops, buckets and basins, a vacuum cleaner and / or a scoop with a broom, etc. shop now, so you do not waste time. If the apartment is not very many things that are not in its place, then their analysis can also be attributed to the preparatory stage.

The third is the action itself. You choose the sequence of rooms yourself depending on how convenient it is, but I recommend leaving the bathroom and toilet for last, since this is where you will most often go to wash rags, pour water from buckets, etc.

The optimal order is from top to bottom. The logic is clear: dirt and dust on top with all the accuracy can get on the floor and other surfaces that are at a lower level, it is most effective to wash them last.

Of course, the actions themselves are individual for each apartment, so I can not give any specific advice, so here you just have a small “reminder” about what people often forget:

• washing walls and, if possible, ceilings;
• chandeliers;
• walls and floors behind and under the gas stove and other massive objects, including beds, wardrobes, sofas and a bath with a toilet;
• paintings;
• radiators;
• pipes and mixers;
• knobs, switches and sockets;
• kitchen hood;
• the inside of the refrigerator;
• control panels (even if they are in a plastic case);
• cups for toothbrushes.

Believe me, despite the laboriousness of such work, when you look at how the points of the plan are crossed out one by one and you have less and less of them, you get great pleasure, which compensates for everything. And if it does not work out to compensate completely - it will be made clean and sparkling in every, even the most secret corner, apartment. Enjoy your general cleaning!