The 10 Minute Home Clean Up

 “This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.”

The Holidays are upon us and for me that means a lot of guests popping in and out of my home. Some of those guests don’t give me much notice as to when they will arrive either! With 5 kids living in my home, my house isn’t always clean and clutter free. Quite the opposite. Moms are busy, but we still want to keep some resemblance of a clean home, right? So here are some #InstaClean tips for a 10 Minute Home Makeover you can do when Auntie Ann decides to “drop in”.

First, think about what areas your guests will be using in your home. At my home it’s usually the Entryway, Living Room, Kitchen and Bathroom. These are the rooms to focus on the most in those 10 minutes.

Second, get your cleaners ready and put them in a little caddy to carry with you from room to room. This cuts down on the amount of times you have to run from room to room finding the cleaner you need. In our caddy, we have Pledge® Furniture Polish, Pledge® Multi Surface Everyday Cleaner and Windex® Disinfectant Cleaner Multi Surface with Rainshower Fragrance. I also add paper towels and a duster.

When I need to refill my “Speed Cleaning Caddy” I head over to my local Kroger Store to get some more.  Kroger Affiliates Include Baker’s Supermarkets, City Market, Dillons Food Stores, Fry’s Food And Drug, Gerbes Super Markets, Harris Teeter, Jay C, King Soopers, Owen’s, Pay Less Super Markets, QFC, Ralphs, Scott’s, Smith’s, Fred Meyer, and Food 4 Less.

Head over and get them while the Mega Event is going on. Buy 4 save $4! Windex and Pledge Mega Event runs from 11/10-12/27.

Here we go!

1-2 minutes: Entryway. Collect clutter in a laundry basket, sweep or vacuum and polish entryway furniture with Pledge® Furniture Polish. Nothing say’s clean like a shiny wood table with no little fingerprints on it! Spray a mist of a great smelling air freshener while you’re there. Nothing like a first impression.

3 minutes: Living room. Collect clutter in a laundry basket, vacuum around the areas that need it, not the whole floor. A quick dust for all surfaces that your guests may see. Mostly the end tables and coffee table. Again, Pledge®! This time though I use the Pledge® Multi Surface Everyday Cleaner. It cleans wood, electronics, windows and more! One cleaner makes this job really simple. Just spray right on your cloth and wipe clean.

2 minutes: Bathroom. Collect clutter in a laundry basket, sweep, use All Purpose Windex® and paper towels to spot clean the toilet, counter, sink, faucet and mirror. One cleaner for all again makes the job quick! Make sure you have clean towels and hand towels in there. Nothing like feeling dirty after drying your clean hands on a dirty towel. Air freshener again will help with any weird smells coming from who knows what your boys do in there!

3 minutes: Kitchen. Collect clutter in a laundry basket, sweep and polish the table with Pledge Furniture Polish and clean the countertops with Pledge All Purpose cleaner. You will love the way these cleaners make your house smell. You probably don’t even need air freshener after using these products. I love the lemon scent of the Pledge Furniture Polish. Do you have dishes in the sink? Throw them in the dishwasher, or even the oven. Shhhhhh! I won’t tell anyone! It’s the appearance of cleanliness, right? Make sure to clean the inside of your sink by using the dish scrubber and dish soap. Also polish the faucet with All Purpose Pledge. I love using the Pledge® Multi Surface Everyday Cleaner on my stainless steel too. Stainless Steel is the WORST for getting little hand prints all over and Pledge polishes stainless steel beautifully!

NOW put the laundry basket with all the clutter under your bed and set a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget to get it out and put all that stuff away when your guests leave. Easy peasy!

Now want to know my little secret? I make my kids help me and we get done twice as fast. We all go to the room we are working on and I help orchestrate what needs to be done. When the kids are helping me, I don’t even have to use a laundry basket. They are the clutter picker-upers and put-awayers. I polish with the Pledge and Windex (cause they don’t know how to only use the intended amount quite yet) and they vacuum. They straighten and I freshen. It’s teamwork at it’s finest. And they don’t fight with each other when I’m in there with them, so it doesn’t turn into an ordeal.

I hope you have lot’s of unexpected guests this year to help spread Holiday Cheer! Now sit down and enjoy their company!

~Annette