DO IT LIKE A PRO

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BY Pallavi Pinakin

There’s no better way to brighten up a home than with a good old-fashioned deep clean. Once swept clear of dust, grime and clutter, your home will sparkle and flow with positive energy. Here are three cleaning secrets from the pros to get you started.

CREATE A SYSTEM A planned approach can greatly reduce your cleaning time and effort. Instead of switching between multiple rooms in a haphazard way, decide on the order in which you want to tackle the entire house. Make a cleaning kit so you don’t need to keep walking back and forth to get supplies. Put all your essentials in a box or bucket, and be ready to move to the next room.

The recommended cleaning regime for any room is top to bottom, left to right. If you wipe down the tables first and then dust the blinds, you’ll soon find dirt coating your recently cleaned tables.

Begin with ceiling fans and fixtures; move on to curtains and objects on walls; then furniture in descending order; and finally, the floor. Proceed from left to right instead of skipping from one spot to another – to ensure that you cover the entire room.

CHOOSE NATURALS Instead of expensive chemical laden cleaners, why not try kitchen staples that have been tried and tested over decades? For instance, white vinegar cuts through water spots and mineral deposits on metal fixtures. Soak a cloth with vinegar and place it over the fixture for 15 minutes, and then wipe.

The acid in lemon juice works wonders on grease. It’s good for countertops and the stove. It’s also a natural freshening agent – mix lemon juice with hot water and pour into drains to refresh them or blend with vinegar for a fragrant glass cleaner. Since lemon juice has a bleaching effect, it shouldn’t be left on surfaces for too long.

ORGANISE THINGS If you have mountains of stuff and insufficient storage space, it will be impossible to deep clean the house properly. Things will keep piling up faster than you can keep them neat and dust free.

So get rid of what you can. Then designate storage space for different categories of items such as shelves for linen, a big box for the kids’ toys, a single bowl for all your keys, and a shoe rack at the entrance. And by making your home a ‘no shoes zone,’ you can keep it much cleaner.