If I could I would gift every mother a paid cleaning service. That would be the ultimate cleaning hack. The next best thing I can think of is to share these cleaning hacks for moms to save you some time and sanity! This is a sponsored post in partnership with Clorox, all opinions are my own. We all have it, that multi-hyphenated title… mine would look something like this: “pooling-diaper changing-scouting-nursing-cleaning-filming-writing-boss mom.”

I have been a mother now for nearly 10 years and I am so excited to share these cleaning hacks for moms with you to save you time and your sanity. I have been writing this post in my mind for a while now as I do the dishes, bathe my children, run the carpool, tidy up the house- all of those hats we parents wear on a daily basis. We’re multitasking masters and need some cleaning hacks to help us get the job done so we can move on to more important things, right? I’m all about trying to work “smarter” rather than “harder.” So without further adieu, here you go…

CLEANING HACKS:

I try my very best to start the day off with making my bed. It sets the tone for a productive day and makes the room feel so much cleaner. Some days this alone can be a huge accomplishment.

For the Kitchen:

FINGERPRINTS ON STAINLESS STEEL: Use a soft cloth and rubbing alcohol to take fingerprints off in a hurry. A wet microfiber cloth can work well too.

MICROWAVE:

Make a mixture of one part vinegar, one part water. Use a sponge to absorb the liquid and then microwave the damp wet sponge for 2 minutes. After the two minutes it up you will use this vinegar water sponge to wipe your microwave clean. The sponge will steam your microwave while it “cooks” and once heated will make the microwave easy to wipe down.

Use a dishwasher safe “splatter shield” that you keep in the microwave for reheating food that is prone to make a mess.

GARBAGE DISPOSAL:

Stinky sink? Blend up orange peels or lemon peels to naturally deodorize your disposal. I generally never throw my orange peels away, I blend them up for this very purpose.

Have a dirty pan? Clean it by boiling one cup of water and one cup of vinegar. Once the mixture boils, add two tablespoons of baking soda. Let it cool the mixture cool and then wipe away the spots!

SIPPY CUPS.

Sippy cups are my nemesis. Bottles are the enemy. I’m kidding, but really. Many times in my years as a mother I have found lost and forgotten sippy cups/bottles that are past their prime and are to the level of toxic waste material. My dishwasher does a good job of sanitizing my bottle once it has been scrubbed a bit, but I have a hard time getting into the tiny crevices of the sippy cup where they filter is and the inside of the suction area. This is why I now keep a paint brush on hand as I do the dishes. It is a quick tip that saves tons of time and gets to the tiny nooks and crannies of the sippy cup. If you find that they bottle is still not quite as clean as you would like you can sanitize it by boiling it in water and then washing. Be careful not to get it too hot or leave it unattended.

COUNTER TOPS:

 

Dried up food bits can be a pain to clean up. I try my best to wipe up counters after every meal but sometimes I do not get to all of the spots. One tip that can save you time with counter clean up is to use Clorox® Disinfecting Micro-Scrubbers!  These wipes have a textured side that will help you dig into the spot and sanitize and the same time to have your counters clean and ready to go!

Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes with Micro-Scrubbers help kill 99.9% of germs that can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours, as well as 99.9% of viruses* and bacteria – plus Staph, E. Coli, salmonella and strep.

• Use on hard, non-porous surfaces such as: stainless steel or chrome appliances, sinks, bathtubs, doorknobs, light switches, mirrors, showers, shower curtains, toilets (exterior), countertops, and floors (safe to use on polyurethane treated wood, linoleum, ceramic tile, glazed tile and vinyl).

For the Bathroom:

BREAK IT DOWN:

Day to day maintenance is so much easier for me to maintain, or if I am being honest, every other day maintenance. We have a set schedule of when we bathe the kids that we try to stick to which ends up being every other day or so. On these days I will stay in the bathroom with my kids and tidy up the bathroom while they are taking their bath. Clear the countertops, put the garbage in the waste bin, and wipe everything down with a Clorox® Disinfecting Wipe. This shouldn’t take more than 3-5 minutes and makes a huge difference on the time you can save and the overall look of your home. Saturdays are reserved for a deep clean, so the Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes do the job beautifully of keeping the home clean and the germs at bay.

The wipes are heavy duty enough that I can use them on the countertops, toilet, floor, and day to day messes that inevitably happen. They are the ultimate cleaning weapon when combating the inevitably messy day that comes time and time again as a mom!

If I am feeling really ambitious I might even scrub the toilet bowl, but that may have to wait for another day.

LIMIT YOUR TOYS:

When it is time for a bath I ask my kids if they want to bring a new toy to the bath with them. The rule is that is must be taken back with them when they leave. We do have a some toys that stay in the bathroom that are kept in a bath toy bin, but I really try to keep these to a minimum so they don’t take over and make a mess.

Need a toy sanitized? Throw it in the dishwasher! I love having bath toys that I can throw in the dishwasher, I wrote a post about it here.

Consider keeping TONGS in your bathroom. You never know when you may need to fish something out of the toilet or the tub! #momlife

I like to keep Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes in every bathroom and under every sink, so that if I have visitors coming over I can do a quick, effective clean up. They are also nice to keep in your car for unexpected spills and for cleaning grocery carts and restaurant tables.

Clutter Maintenance:

CLIPBOARDS:

Clipboards!! I love them. Paper clutter is real and it only takes one day of school papers to have you feeling overwhelmed with the amount of dates, homework, and bills to keep straight. I have a small bin that holds clipboards for everyone in the family. You can even color code the clipboards with a sticker to help you keep straight which clipboard is who’s. When my kids come home and they have paperwork I need to sign or a homework assignment that is due in the future they/or I will put all of their special papers on one clipboard.

I also have a special clipboard for myself to attach a recipe, a card to a friend, or a bill. I also have a special clipboard for my husband so after I sort the mail he can see exactly what he needs to pay attention to when he gets home.

ONE TOUCH SYSTEM:

Try your very best to install a one touch system to everything that comes into your home. This method is super helpful with paper clutter or even your shoes. Everything should be left in the right place so you only have to touch it once to get into its place.

So what does the one touch method mean? If you see an item out of place you “touch it once” by making sure to put it in its proper place. A good example of this would be picking up the mail from your mail box, once you touch it, sort it, throw away the junk, and put the important papers/bills in the proper place. This is the perfect time to pull out your clipboard.

You touch it once and you move on with your day so you’re not moving it from place to place to place.

 

For the Nursery:

DIAPER PAIL SMELL:

Add a dryer sheet to the bottom or your diaper pail to reduce smell. Also, to save time, I like to keep the roll of garbage bags at the bottom of my pail so I know exactly where to find them and I can reline the pail right away.

BABY COVER:

I adore multi-purpose baby covers. This one can be used to cover while you are nursing, walking the baby in the stroller, or keep their hands clean while in a shopping cart or at a restaurant. Easily throw the cover into the wash and start fresh for the next adventure. I try to keep one in the car and one in the house.

CHANGING TIME:

To save space in our nursery I have put the changing table in the closet. It frees up our limited floor space and I can use the clothing rack as a mobile holder to keep my baby’s attention as I change his/her bum.

LAUNDRY:

START A LOAD OF LAUNDRY BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE:

If I’m leaving to run errands or I know I’ll be gone for a few hours I start a load of laundry before heading out the door. There is something so awesome about feeling like your house is cleaning for you while you’re away. When you get home move the items to the dryer. You’ll never be waiting for the washing machine to finish if you have it working while you’re not around. Plus, my washing machine is loud, so it’s nice to not be around for that nonsense.

Try your best to get in the habit of getting a load started at the beginning of the day, drying it half way through, and then doing a quick put away right before bed. This could be part of your bedtime ritual with your kids!

KEEP SOCKS IN MESH BAGS:

Socks are my nemesis. Seriously. Matching socks might possibly be my least favorite thing to do in the world. That’s because for years I would just throw everything in the washing machine and at the end of the cycle I would have one sock clean, but the mate would still be dirty in the bottom of the hamper. I needed to wait until the other was clean to match them, but by the time that happened I would forget that I cleaned the first so they would both be sitting in the mateless sock pile. Times that by every sock in the house and by the time I matched socks I would have piles. I wasn’t very smart with socks. Now I give every person in my family a mesh zipper bag. All the socks go in the bag and then when it’s time to do laundry we can throw the mesh bag right into the wash to clean all the socks at the same time. Matching up socks is easy when you know the mate is close by. To keep track of each mesh bag you can even add one side of velcro directly to the hamper and the other side of velcro to the mesh bag. The velcro keeps the mesh bag close, but still easy to detach when it’s time to add them to the washing machine.

LOOKING FOR MORE LAUNDRY HACKS? GO HERE

Getting crayon out of clothing:

So there you have it my fellow multi-tasking parents! I hope you enjoyed these cleaning hacks! Do you have any you would add to the list?

*Human Coronavirus, Influenza A2 Virus; †Staphylococcus aureus; ‡Escherichia coli O157:H7; §Salmonella enterica; **Streptococcus pyogenes