Blitz Cleaning - 10 Rooms in 1 Hour

Last Sunday we were expecting family for lunch, so I decided a tidy up was needed.  The house was not in a terrible state, but every room had it's issues and just looked generally untidy.

Blitz cleaning is something I have really embraced lately. It's a great way to get the house tidy in a hurry - but it will only work well if the house is already in a state of semi organisation.  It's not ideal for a major declutter or if cleaning has built up over time. You would need to set aside a lot more time and possibly helpers to make a dent in a major cleaning operation.

My idea is to take 1 minute before you start, to plan what needs doing in the room (what will make the most impact) and then use a further 5 minutes to do the blitz and get as much done as possible. So, 10 rooms, 1 hour.  

 

Make sure you have all the cleaning equipment at the ready before you start - it will waste precious time if you don't have the spray'n'wipe, vacuum and wipes or whatever else you need ready to go.

 

I also have some specialist equipment. I keep a leaf rake in the house for rangling building blocks and getting toys and clothes in hard to reach spots.

During this blitz, I used my trusty tool to rake out toy cars from under my son's bed. It is surprisingly handy and saves a lot of bending! 

I use a timer to keep me on track and you could make a list to refer back to while blitzing although in this instance I just settled for the top 5 tasks so I could remember them without notes.

It helps to work with a sense of urgency. You want to get through the tasks quickly and move on quickly. Sometimes that means settling with the progress you have made in one area in order to make progress in the next. You will definitely work up a sweat if you are keeping a good pace.

Here's how I tackled two of the major spaces. I started in the master bedroom,  luckily the damage was not too severe.  My top 5 tasks were:

1. Make the bed (and remove the cat :-)

2. Wipe down the bedside tables.

3. Vacuum the floor.

4. Put away / hang up a basket of clean clothing.

5. Take the dirty clothes pile down to the laundry.

Making the bed was the longest task, as I fussed around a bit with it, I had pulled it up earlier but it needed a re-straighten and I changed the pillow cases to freshen it up.  The rest of the tasks were dealt with super fast.

The next area was the master bathroom. This was more of a challenge because it was not in a super hygienic state. Ok here's the top  5:

1. Clean toilet

2. Clear and clean vanity

3. Rinse bathtub

4. Remove dirty washing

5. Wipe down floor

I actually ran over a couple of minutes just to improve the hygiene. I also changed the hand towel and replenished the supply of toilet paper - it seemed silly not to.

 

There were 8 more zones I worked on, 3 kid's rooms - which were not so much of an issue. I straightened the beds and picked up the toys in each room. After vacuuming there wasn't much else to do.  The kid's bathroom needed more attention and the toilet some serious scrubbing, but the hallway, kitchen, dining and lounge were all achievable in the time frame. 

10 rooms, 1 hour - house spotless :-)