2/20

Clean Your Whole House in Only 15 Minutes!

Home Decor, Organization
By Laura Gummerman

I can do this! Clean Your Whole House in Only 15 Minutes! (click through for more info) If you live in a giant palace with a whole staff of housecleaners, this post is not for you. However, if you are a Regular Joe (or Regular Joan) that has to clean up their own messes (and probably the messes of others too), then you’ve come to the right place. Now, I do know a few people that genuinely enjoy cleaning their house. While I understand how it can be a therapeutic thing to watch something go from dirty to clean, I would always rather skip the actual cleaning part and just have it go right to the “it’s-already-clean” stage without any help or interference from me. That being said, clean doesn’t just happen by itself though, now does it? I tend to do the procrastination method of cleaning where it’s a pretty big mess until the night before there is a party, event, or my husband comes home from a long trip. For some reason he prefers walking into the house vs. wading into the house. Weird, I know. So when a job that I don’t really want to do anyway now involves cleaning the entire house all at once, well, it’s no surprise that it takes forever. Emma said recently she knew someone who kept their house clean by only cleaning for 15 minutes a day, and I was certainly intrigued to try the mini cleaning solution. After I thought about it for a while, I came up with a process to make it work for my house too!

I can do this! Clean Your Whole House in Only 15 Minutes! (click through for more info)Estimate your efficiency: First, you’ll need to gauge what you can actually clean in 15 minutes. It might be helpful for the first couple of days to spend time each night cleaning for 15 minutes and see what actually gets done. You might be surprised at how much you can get accomplished, and you’ll want to adjust your list accordingly.

Decide if you want to do light maintenance or deep cleaning: It’s kind of your call whether you want to spend the time doing “light” or “heavy” cleaning during your 15 minutes. Light cleaning would be things like dusting, putting away clutter, or easy vacuuming, while heavy cleaning would be chores that involve lots of scrubbing or need large pieces of furniture moved to get underneath. Some rooms like the bathroom or kitchen may have more of the heavy cleaning (scrubbing out the tub or drip pans), so you might want to have both a light and a heavy cleaning day for those rooms.

Make a cleaning supply basket: I think a lot of people are like me and have their cleaning supplies spread all throughout their house. Some supplies are in the garage, some are under the kitchen sink, some in the bathroom…so if you only have a 15 minute window to clean, you probably don’t want to spend it running from cabinet to cabinet trying to find the mirror cleaner. Make a little basket of your most commonly used cleaning products, and then you’ll have everything you need already bundled together when you start.

I can do this! Clean Your Whole House in Only 15 Minutes! (click through for more info) Keep a cleaning calendar or chart: There’s something about having a “to-do” item written down in plain sight that makes the probability of it actually getting done go way up. Once you get an estimated cleaning schedule together, write each area on the appropriate cleaning days and keep it where you’ll see it often. Like I said, it may take you a few weeks of adjusting before you get a schedule that works. It’s kind of like when we first started a written financial budget and it took a few monthly rotations before we figured out the right amounts for certain categories.

Sorry, but you can’t count your must-do-everyday cleaning routines: Unfortunately, you shouldn’t count the 20 minutes you just spent cleaning up after dinner towards this cleaning challenge. If you’re like me and love taking advantage of the privilege of eating several times a day, you’ll constantly have to keep up with those messes and you’ll never get to anything else in your 15 minutes of cleaning. The same goes for other habitual cleaning categories like pet chores that have to happen everyday. I don’t think the kitties (or us) would like it if we only got around to their litter box every 8th day. Gross.

Share the list! Unless you live alone and your pets don’t have opposable thumbs, there are probably other people (like significant others, roommates, or kids) that can help with the cleaning challenge too. Imagine how much more can get done if two people are doing this every day! In case math wasn’t your strong subject in school, the answer is “double the cleaning.” I know it can be tough to rope people into helping clean up, but if you set a timer for only 15 minutes, well, it doesn’t sound like a very huge commitment and your chances of group participation goes way up.

Speed clean your house in only 15 minutes a day!Of course, depending on your house or apartment size, the number of days it takes for your rotation to start over again will vary, but I’m really excited to get my cleaning rotation established and going strong. I do love my house best right before guests come over for a party when everything feels so clean and neat, so I would love to get as much of that feeling everyday as possible. What are you waiting for? Get out your feather dusters and get cleaning! xo. Laura

Credits // Author: Laura Gummerman, Photography: Laura Gummerman and Todd Gummerman: Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

87 Comments

  • Oh my goodness, this was exactly what I needed! It seems I’m constantly battling the mess in our house, especially with all the cat and dog hair laying around. Maybe I can motivate myself this weekend 🙂

    Cat
    http://oddlylovely.com

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  • That’s such a great idea. My boyfriend and I just moved in together and we are having a hard time getting into a cleaning routine. This might be the perfect fix to getting all the chores done!

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  • It’s so true that just putting aside a couple of minutes to do things like this can make such a huge difference. I’ve been trying to schedule 15 minute blocks of things throughout my day – cleaning, responding to blog comments, responding to emails, etc. It gives me a fun break from “actual work” and also makes sure I stay on top of everything.

    x Kathryn
    http://www.throughthehthicket.ca

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    • It works well with hobbies also, I usually have 2 (or 3) things going at same time. If I give each a 15 or even a 20 minutes limit I actually get somewhere, 🙂

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  • Imagine what could get done if my whole family of 4 each took 15 minutes to clean every day! LOVE this idea!

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  • I should definitely remember this when I get back from my trip around europe! Its sounds doable 🙂

    Thanks for sharing <3
    Liefs,

    Yara

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  • So, if you spend 20 min every day for doing dishes and dealing with other mess + 15 min of this cleaning challenge that means that in fact there is nothing to do with the “15 min challenge”. 😀 Geez, I was thinking I will find a magical solution, lol =) I am a domestic sloth 😀

    Thank you ♥

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  • I am one of those lucky people who love cleaning=) Now I live in tiny cosy flat in the centre, but I wonder if I would still love cleaning when we move to the big house in country-side=))

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  • I’ve been doing a quick little cleanup each evening while the kids are busy watching a movie or playing. It helps SO much to know you will wake up to a clean house and not have to clean up the day before’s mess before you can really start your day!

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  • I adore your blog. And, I absolutely believe in… & celebrate this 15 minute concept. It appears that you choose to use eco-friendly cleansers – but if that’s something you’re concerned about… you can do better! I’m a total Norwex girl. I use only Water to clean my house, coupled with microfiber cloths that have silver embedded within, which makes them naturally antibacterial. Imagine not having to lug that basket of chemicals around…& getting to live in a chemical free home! If you’d like to test drive one – I am a distributor (mainly to obtain my own discount!) and would be happy to donate one. Consider it a thank you gift for sharing your wonderful blog with me…

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  • My name is Lynn and I hate housekeeping and I’m NOT a normal cleaner I tend to clean the house all at once because it has to be really dirty for me to appreciate the clean. LOL.- One of my time savers is in the bathrooms I keep Clorox cleaner and pour it into the little brush scrubby toilet thingy so I can pull it out and use as necessary..we are a messy bunch. 🙂

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  • I’m very excited about those, but it’s really hard to imagine without at least a prospective calendar schedule. I know it’s different for everyone, but I think I might understand better if someone would share theirs. Anyone?

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  • Wonderful idea! Fifteen minutes isn’t too large a chuck out of your day, and as said in the post, you can accomplish so much in that little amount of time. I’ve never been great keeping up with routines; still, I may have to see where this goes. At the very least I can get some of the dust out of here. With two dogs, a cat, and many birds, dust is always a major problem.

    Thank you so much for this post, Laura!

    Reply

  • Love this post! And this is completely random, but I love the hairdo!

    Connie | Sponsored by Coffee | Bloglovin’

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  • This post gives me hope! My house can be clean every day — in 15 minutes! I am so excited. I finally hired someone to clean once a week for 2 hours. For 23 years I’ve resisted having help because I thought “I can do that myself”. The truth is, I can’t clean as well as other people and I like a clean house. I will certainly start a 15 minute clean schedule to help maintain the house between cleanings.

    Cheers — Tammi

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  • Having everything planed and ready really helps instead of just starting.
    Thanks for sharing! 🙂
    Blog: msritaz13.blogspot.ca
    – Rita

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  • I do this! My home has six rooms so they’re each assigned a day (Monday – bedroom; Tuesday – bathroom; etc) and each day I spend 10-15 cleaning and tidying the relevant room. It is amazing how much you can get done in such a short space of time – my home feels clean for the first time in… well… ever.

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  • We’re the same way – the house is cleanest when guests are coming over. Fortunately, we had people over the last 4 weekends, so our house is on a clean streak! But I would love to have a better method, so I’d like to give this a try. Will you let us know if this works for you?? Hope so!

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  • Good tips just in time for the weekend. Who wants to spend the entire weekend cleaning? Not Me! I will need to get the basket/bucket for all the cleaning supplies because i do tend to go back and forth to get the supllies i need. 🙂

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  • Hey Laura!
    I am definitely going to grab your idea and try at home. As tomorrow is Sunday, I hope I will do it tomorrow to be able to have free time in the coming week.

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  • The title is so misleading because you’re not actually cleaning the WHOLE house in ONLY fifteen minutes but parts of the house in fifteen-minute increments each day… should have been “keep your house tidy with fifteen minutes a day” or something along those lines.

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  • I totally agree. While the idea itself is motivating, it really would have been nice for the author to write about which of the styles she tried, her schedule, and how it was working. I feel like half of the post is missing.

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  • I love anything that takes “15 minutes”…not too long & just amount of time to get something done. I will definitely try this routine in our home. I have a tendency to clean “pre-party time” but I have to get my “cleaning-game” right & become more routine with it. Thank you so much for sharing this & I will give it a try. 🙂
    http://www.allinspiredmom.com

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  • Love the tips and your kitchen! Could you please give a source list on everything we see in the pictures (pink clips, dry erase board, stools, folder on fridge, metal basket with pretty supplies)? Love it all!

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  • what a great idea! I’m such a procrastinator as well! I love having a clean house but I let it pile up and then go crazy on the cleaning. This would be a great habit to form. Thanks for sharing!

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  • Great post! My husband and I do this, we call it a ‘blitz clean’ where we put the iphone timer on for 10 minutes and just go cleaning crazy. Then when the alarm rings, we stop and we’re always surprised at how much we got done! then we just relax and enjoy the rest of our evening! 🙂

    It’s a treat!

    Megs
    http://www.the-whiterabbit.com

    Reply

  • “If you’re like me and love taking advantage of the privilege of eating several times a day…” Ugh, this is so me. I’m constantly doing dishes! Regardless, this post has me thinking it’s time to make my cleaning routines more efficient. I certainly don’t spend 15 min a day cleaning my house, but if you think about it, it’s not that much time. I’ll definitely be giving this a try. Thank you!

    Reply

  • Thumbs up for the post! I love cleaning if it is only for 15 minutes! Greets, Lea Bridge Carpet Cleaners Ltd.

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  • Amazing idea! And your kitchen is beautiful! I loved the candy colors!

    Tks for sharing. I’ll try with my boyfriend 🙂

    Xo, Deborah

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  • What does your calendar look like? I love this idea, but I feel like I always come up with 20 things instead of one and end up getting overwhelmed before I even start. Would love a little more inspiration:)

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  • I would love to know what brand and color the walls are in that kitchen. It’s such a great color

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  • I hate cleaning [I grew up with a maid,what can I say *sigh*] and when I first was living with my husband we had a one bedroom apartment in Virginia Beach, VA. I wasn’t working, and had it all down to a fine routine. We would get up, he would put on a pot of coffee and do his normal morning stuff. I would crawl out of bed about an hour later. Into the bathroom for the start of my day, then into the kitchen to grab breakfast. Take the dishes out of the dishwasher and put away. Go and sit and have coffee and watch something on TV. Good time to fluff and fold the laundry. Go put laundry away, make the bed, pop any new laundry into the washing machine in the kitchen. Put breakfast dishes into dishwasher. Have another cup of coffee and watch something on TV. Run vacuum around the apartment. Quick damp mop of the kitchen, entry and bathroom. Clean bathroom. Take shower. Back to living room for more coffee and TV until time to make lunch. More coffee and tv until time to start making dinner. I think any given task probably took 10 minutes or fewer.

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  • I LOVE the color of your kitchen! I am right in the middle of a home remodel and I’d love to design my kitchen like yours. Do you know what color paint that is? Are there any more photos of the rest of the kitchen? I’d really appreciate it!

    lilgeorgiapeach.blogspot.com

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  • This was right on time. I am very busy and often get behind on my cleaning. This seems to be a bit more realistic than the one big cleaning day a week!

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  • You’re right: having a cleaning calendar would help a lot. I had no idea how much there is to do when you’re in your own apartment! Is there any way you’ve found to store cleaning supplies effectively? Thanks for sharing your tips with us! http://www.allstarcleaninginc.ca/en/

    Reply

  • Would you mind sharing the paint color that you have on your walls? I love it!

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  • Thank you for sharing this helpful cleaning tips and other cleaning services that you’ve shared. I am actually looking for the best cleaning services for my abattoir business. I would love to hire a cleaning company who are providing a quality yet affordable cleaning services for my growing business. Thanks!

    Reply

  • Deep cleaning house is something that we do when we decide to thoroughly clean every little portion of our house. It is absolutely necessary for us to deep clean home at least three times in an year to make it as beautiful and clean as we want it to be. It is more than just the normal dusting and sweeping of the house that we do every day; home deep cleaning involves many little things. It is easy to get confused and to miss out on one of those little things while we tackle the big problem. So, to help you tackle these things in a more organized way here are few steps that we should follow while deep cleaning house.Target this main area like kitchen, bathroom, sofa and carpet electrical appliances and furniture

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  • Thanks for these helpful tips. Considering that our place is always in a mess, these tips will come in handy for sure!

    Reply

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