We all have better—and far more fun—things to do than scrub counters or dirty pots and pans. But a few key cleaning mistakes could be making your chore list take far longer than necessary and give you less time to do the things you really like.
Fortunately, by keeping a few magical cleaning rules in mind, you can make sure that every second counts when you’re washing up—so you can get back to what you really want to do even faster. The best part? Most of these common cleaning mistakes simply involve being lazy and letting nature take its course—so you can clean smarter, not harder.
- Cian Ballentine, founder of Cannonball Cleaners
Cleaning Things in the Wrong Order
Yes, there is a very specific order you should clean your house, to avoid having to rescrub something you’ve just gotten gleaming. In most rooms, a top-to-bottom approach is best—so the dirt from dusting and cleaning countertops all falls to the floor, which should be your very last to-do for each room. But sometimes, you might forget a few sticky spots and end up with a need to redo, says Cian Ballentine, founder of Cannonball Cleaners. The spots where people are most likely to have an oops moment? They wash the stovetop before they clean an over-the-stove microwave, or they do the tub before they clean the shower tile.
Overdoing It With Product
More isn’t necessarily better when it comes to cleaning products. And too much detergent can dull finishes, take longer to rinse away, or even attract dirt and make your floors and other surfaces look and feel dirty even faster. Be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle when you’re diluting a product—and spray or wipe on only the amount of cleanser you need to get the job done.
Spraying and Wiping Immediately
This may be one of the most common cleaning mistakes out there—especially because it seems like every cleaning video or commercial out there shows people spraying on a product and then wiping it away immediately. But that gives the product no time to do its job—and leads to more work for you, especially if you’re tackling stuck-on ick or stains.
Your best bet? Spray your cleaner, then let it sit for several minutes (you can move on to another room or a different task while you wait). When you come back, it’ll be much easier to wipe away the grime.
Not Letting the Dust Settle
Dust doesn’t immediately fall to the floor after you swipe it away—it’ll linger in the air for a while. So moving right from dusting to washing floors isn’t necessarily in your best interest, as more dust will fall after you’ve declared it mission complete. “I try to always dust early on so it has time to settle by the time I’m doing the floors,” Ballentine says. “I always do floors last in any cleaning.”
So you’ll probably want to give at least 20 minutes for the dust to settle before you take on the floors.
Make sure you use microfiber dusters—or slightly dampen your cloth—when you dust, to help reduce the amount of dust that gets into the air in the first place.
Not Soaking Tough-to-Clean Dishes
Burnt-on or dried-on food can be hard to scrub away—but letting it soak in hot, soapy water can do a lot of the (literally) dirty work for you. For really burnt-on foods on a pot, you can fill the pot with water and a touch of soap, then let it boil for several minutes to help the crusty spots lift away from the pot’s surface.
Using the Wrong Cleaning Tools and Products for the Job
The wrong cleaning products won’t be as effective in cleaning your home (and can actually do damage—like if you use vinegar for your granite countertops, for instance). Using less-effective tools for dusting, such as a feather duster, could actually just scatter dust on more surfaces and make it take much longer for you to get your surfaces gleaming.
You’ll also want to make sure to clean your cleaning tools from time to time. Dirt can collect in your broom and hair can get trapped around your vacuum cleaner beaters, making them work less effectively—and making your chores take that much longer.
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