"Veettai katti paaru ; kalyanathai panni paaru" is an old saying in Tamil, meaning 'constructing a house or performing a marriage is not easy'. But in modern days with more sophisticated flooring and appliances, maintaining a house is more tougher than constructing it .
Cleaning dust, Kitchen greases, termites, salt sediments, tap blocking, bathroom dirt and scums, appliance repairs, maintaining documents, arranging clothes rack, book shelves, vehicle maintenance, garden maintenance; the list goes endless...It would seem as if we (esp women) dedicate most of our precious time in cleaning and household maintenance.
How to avoid and manage this herculean mundane maintenance task with proper planning and simple cleaning aids?
Planning - how?
Your planning and scheduling of tasks at work is applicable at your home as well.
Besides the schedule, spend one weekend in a month for cleaning. This is mandatory for working women who can hardly spend time on cleaning during week days. You can complete the pending tasks and also complete some tough cleaning tasks on that day like vacuuming , dusting fan , garden maintenance etc that would require additional help. You can also choose this as a 'eat out' day. Cleaning would be fun if you do it as a family and the end of the day it is your house!
Cleaning aids - what to use?
There are hundreds of cleaning products in the market that come with attractive ads. But they do not give us the desired results. Some of the simple cleaning aids that must be in the house are Vinegar and Washing soda for kitchen and bathroom cleaning.
Documents - never ending search
"This month's Electricity bill is missing" "Ration card - I ransacked the entire house and it is not found anywhere" These are common statements in every household.
Want to save time? - seek professional help
Certain tasks are done perfectly only by professionals. If you have less time and you can afford it, go for it. Certain agencies like service square does it for you in one call. You can have complete cleaning of your house every quarter and then your maintenance becomes easy. Cleaning chimney plates consumes almost half a day. Spending 250 or 300 bucks every quarter will save that time which you can use for a day out with your family.
Live a happy and healthy life !
Cleaning dust, Kitchen greases, termites, salt sediments, tap blocking, bathroom dirt and scums, appliance repairs, maintaining documents, arranging clothes rack, book shelves, vehicle maintenance, garden maintenance; the list goes endless...It would seem as if we (esp women) dedicate most of our precious time in cleaning and household maintenance.
How to avoid and manage this herculean mundane maintenance task with proper planning and simple cleaning aids?
Planning - how?
Your planning and scheduling of tasks at work is applicable at your home as well.
- First and foremost , prepare a list of things that has to be cleaned and maintained in and around the house. The list should be exhaustive and to the micro level.
- Classify them as self or third party maintenance, like for example 'chimney', you might call the professionals for cleaning it in a regular interval.
- Next, decide on the frequency of maintenance. For instance, bathroom cleaning - twice a week whereas store room cleaning could be once in 2 months.
- Based on this list, prepare a spread sheet in the beginning of every month with the list of tasks and due date (For some tasks like fridge cleaning, you can plan to complete in a week instead of scheduling it for a particular day) and assign it to either individuals in the house or to the third party. For third party, make a note of their phone numbers. (If you have phone apps, you can use them and set reminders).
- Try to follow the schedule as far as possible. Obviously there would be schedule slips due to external factors but you can always cover it up the following day.
Besides the schedule, spend one weekend in a month for cleaning. This is mandatory for working women who can hardly spend time on cleaning during week days. You can complete the pending tasks and also complete some tough cleaning tasks on that day like vacuuming , dusting fan , garden maintenance etc that would require additional help. You can also choose this as a 'eat out' day. Cleaning would be fun if you do it as a family and the end of the day it is your house!
Cleaning aids - what to use?
There are hundreds of cleaning products in the market that come with attractive ads. But they do not give us the desired results. Some of the simple cleaning aids that must be in the house are Vinegar and Washing soda for kitchen and bathroom cleaning.
- Salt water is a major problem for Kettles, vessels , ceramics and other appliances. Water softening is very expensive and involves more maintenance. Vinegar is an excellent aid for removing salt deposits. Boil water in the kettle with a cup of vinegar and you can see the salt dissolving in it easily. Similarly you can use it for sink corners and ceramics to remove salt deposits. This is far better than the cleaning products available in shops.
- Removing grease from kitchen towels and napkins is not easy. Rinse them in washing soda and wash it. No washing powder can replace it.
- Yellow layer in Wash basins and Closets. Scrub with water emery (available in hardware shops) paper. The stain vanishes easily.
- Termites is a never ending problem in the kitchen. Keep a crushed garlic or mint leaf in every shelf. This only helps to some extent as it will protect only until the smell remain.
Documents - never ending search
"This month's Electricity bill is missing" "Ration card - I ransacked the entire house and it is not found anywhere" These are common statements in every household.
Try to avoid paper copy as far as possible. Wherever e-statement and bills are possible, switch over. (Maintaining e-documents is a separate topic and it is out of scope :-)). In spite of online statements and bills, we end up piling up huge documents and bills every month. A filing system with compartments and label is essential for arranging and easy search. Have separate compartments for each of the items like warranty bills, school fee receipts, Insurance copies etc..Review documents on a monthly basis and throw away old copies, if no longer required.
Wardrobes - categorize
Most of the ready made wardrobes in shops have only 1 hanging compartment , a draw and 2 shelves. We just buy them without customizing it for our needs. Due to this, we end up arranging and searching for clothes very often. A good wardrobe should have sufficient compartments for categorizing clothes and other accessories. For example inner garments should necessarily be in a separate draw or shelf to avoid it getting mixed up with other clothes. Similarly fashion accessories, belts, wallets should be kept separately. If the shelf size is big, use pouches or cardboard boxes as separators. This would save lot of our time.
Most of the ready made wardrobes in shops have only 1 hanging compartment , a draw and 2 shelves. We just buy them without customizing it for our needs. Due to this, we end up arranging and searching for clothes very often. A good wardrobe should have sufficient compartments for categorizing clothes and other accessories. For example inner garments should necessarily be in a separate draw or shelf to avoid it getting mixed up with other clothes. Similarly fashion accessories, belts, wallets should be kept separately. If the shelf size is big, use pouches or cardboard boxes as separators. This would save lot of our time.
Want to save time? - seek professional help
Certain tasks are done perfectly only by professionals. If you have less time and you can afford it, go for it. Certain agencies like service square does it for you in one call. You can have complete cleaning of your house every quarter and then your maintenance becomes easy. Cleaning chimney plates consumes almost half a day. Spending 250 or 300 bucks every quarter will save that time which you can use for a day out with your family.
Live a happy and healthy life !
