Effortlessly Spotless Home? How to Keep House Clean with Kids

When you’re with kids, the easy first impression is that your home is one giant ball of mess. You may have laundry piling up, dishes unwashed, and floor areas filled with crumbs. If this is your “actual” situation at home, I feel you! Perhaps every momma does. That is probably the reason why you’re looking for ways on how to keep house clean with kids.

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How to keep house clean with kids: My experience

I could say that prior to having kids, I am not a neat freak, nor a cluttered person. I am somewhere in between. Having a clean environment is essential to my mental health, but at the same time, I dislike spending so much time cleaning. I don’t find it therapeutic like other people do, as I would rather do something that can add “value” in my life. I guess I am just different like that.

However, since having a baby at home, I found it increasingly challenging to keep my home clean while managing time for my baby, my husband, and myself. Thus, I was looking for ways on how to keep house clean with toddler, or even just in general now that I have less time in my hands.

Here are some things that really helped me out.

How to keep house clean with kids: Tips that work

Having a portable vacuum

Since I bought a portable vacuum, I considered it my cleaning best friend. This is because unlike a traditional vacuum, it can go on areas and surfaces where I am too lazy to wipe or pick up crumbs. This is so helpful when you want to know how to keep house clean all the time even with children snacking and playing around.

You’re probably asking, what is my portable vacuum? It is the Black + Decker Lithium Powered Portable Vacuum. I love it so much because I can carry it around and pick up dust, hairs, crumbs, or anything–you name it, it sucks it in. If you always want to keep your house clean despite daily messes, I recommend you to have a portable vacuum for your home, not just your car.

If you want to see it in action, you can refer to my video below:

Have minimal cleaning tools

When I migrated to America, I always wondered why they have so many cleaning tools and products. There’s a cleaner for everything which for me seems so unnecessary and makes the task so much daunting.

Thus, I prefer to stick to very minimal cleaning tools and products, which makes me work fast and spend less. What I currently use to clean surfaces and remove dust are the Clorox or Lysol wipes, along with a paper towel to remove the wet compiled dust. For the toilet, I use an all-purpose cleaner with the appropriate tools.

Clean what you can on the way

Another tip that I know really worked for me is to clean what I can on the way. I promise you, it is more difficult to clean things when they’re already in a big pile.

So, pick up that goldfish cracker if you can. Wipe off that spilled milk when you’re already in the kitchen. By doing these little tasks, it lessens the buildup, allowing you to clean less on a regular basis.

Have a cleaning and organizing schedule

Another tip is to have a cleaning or organizing schedule on a regular basis. This is of course, based on what works for you. I won’t say weekly, monthly, or daily, but you should do what you think is best for your family.

In that schedule, you’ll be doing a list of things, sort of like a ‘maintenance’ day to avoid the pitfalls of a messy home. For me, this is a schedule that works:

• Weekly: Mid-week bathroom and kitchen clean as well as vacuuming of common living areas, laundry, other things as needed
• Monthly: Deep clean, bathroom, kitchen, surfaces, vacuuming the rug, changing sheets, etc.

Of course, your schedule will be different with mine. Adjust your schedule according to the needs of your family, your tolerance to dirt/disorganization, and the time that you have.

Asking your children to participate in the work

If you have older children around 4 years old and above, you can give age-appropriate chores through a contract setting. What does contract setting mean? This means that your child can do something fun by themselves or together with you when they cooperate in doing some household chores.

Not only is this a great way to motivate your children, but it can also teach them a sense of responsibility plus some valuable life skills to be independent.

That’s basically it! This is a system I operate around our home. I am a minimalist cleaner, but I like to keep thing in order when I possibly can. Having a husband, toddler, part-time work schedule and a small business can make you lose time for household tasks, but it is all about balance and knowing your priorities.

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