The Daily Scrub: Cleaning Tips to Use Every Day

Who has time to clean their entire apartment every week? I know I don’t. Unfortunately, when laundry piles up and the stove collects grime, many renters end up spending a whole day or weekend tackling the chores on their to-do lists.

However, you can avoid this time-consuming situation by doing little bits of cleaning every day. Think of it more as maintenance than actual cleaning. The better care you take of your apartment, the less often you’ll have to overhaul with your sponge.

With that in mind, here are some easy cleaning tips to use daily that will cut back on chores in the long run (and help you burn calories!):

Cleaning Checklist: The Bathroom

The Daily Scrub Cleaning Tips to Use Every Day - Cleaning Checklist The Bathroom

The counters, tub, and toilet in your bathroom slowly collect grime, but a quick clean can help reduce the frequency with which you have to scrub the room head to toe. Fortunately, the tasks required are pretty simple. Here’s what you should do every day either after you shower or before bed:

Squeegee Your Shower

If you don’t have a shower squeegee, you should purchase one. These inexpensive tools will save you tons of time and money in the long run. Your tub and shower are wet places, which breeds mildew and can potentially lead to the growth of mold– not a pretty situation. What’s more, soap scum can build up on the tile, leaving streaks and more grime.

Help your shower stay drier and remove marks by using your squeegee before you hop out of the tub. Simply rub down the walls and tub. This easy task is incredibly effective at reducing mildew and keeping your bathroom cleaner for longer.

Close the Curtain

You open your shower curtain to get out of the tub, but don’t leave it in this position. The bunched-up fabric takes longer to dry and can encourage the growth of, you guessed it, mold and mildew. Over time, your curtain will show dark spots where mold has taken over.

While you can throw many fabric curtains in the wash, preventing the issue altogether is ideal and easy. Simply close the curtain again when you get out of the shower. This helps it dry quickly and thoroughly.

Wipe Down Surfaces

Disinfecting wipes are about to become your best friends. Use one to quickly wipe down your toilet, then get a fresh one to clean your sink. You can also spot clean the floor using a wipe if you notice any marks. Easy right?

Cleaning Checklist: The Kitchen

The Daily Scrub Cleaning Tips to Use Every Day - Cleaning Checklist the Kitchen

A good cleaning tip: The kitchen should always be clean. After all, it’s where you prepare your food, and you want to avoid ingesting bad bacteria. Here are some daily tasks to complete that will prevent foodborne illness:

Clear the Kitchen

Put away everything you’re not using, including food and utensils. Place dirty dishes in the sink. Basically, make sure the counters are clear.

Clean All Dishes

Leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight might seem like no big deal, but bacteria doesn’t take long to run amok. In fact, it takes less than 24 hours for bacteria to spread and grow. Talk about gross! Make cleaning your dishes before bed a new habit to reduce the germs in your apartment.

Wipe Counters

You should have already cleaned your cutting board, but you should still disinfect your counters. Juice from raw meat could leak onto these surfaces, spreading germs. Use disinfecting spray, soap, or wipes to quickly clean your counters. This doesn’t have to take any longer than a minute.

Clean the Sink

Once your dishes are done, bring that disinfecting cleaner to the sink. Quickly wipe it down to get rid of any food particles that may have clung to your sink.

Cleaning Checklist: Everywhere Else

The Daily Scrub Cleaning Tips to Use Every Day - Cleaning Checklist Everywhere Else

Your bedroom and living room aren’t as prone to germs and bacteria as your kitchen and bathroom, but caring for these spaces every day still reduces the amount of time you spend on big cleaning days.

Pick Up Your Stuff

Your roommates will appreciate this one: Pick up anything you left in your living room, whether it’s your laptop or the books you left on the coffee table. Your roommates don’t want to have to move around your clutter to use the shared space.

When it comes to your room, picking up your belongings helps keep them in good shape. If you’re stepping all over your clothing, it will wear out faster. Basically, follow the simple rule, “Put it away when you’re done with it.”

Spot Clean

Whether you spilled a drink or knocked over your makeup box, don’t let spills sit overnight. The area could become sticky, attract bacteria, or just become a huge mess– ever track mineral powder through your apartment? Not fun! As soon as a spill occurs, clean it up. That could include sweeping, wiping with a paper towel or using a hand vacuum to tackle crumbs.

Keeping your apartment clean doesn’t necessarily require full on chore days that last forever. Instead, follow these daily cleaning steps to keep the place in good shape. Ideally, you shouldn’t spend more than a few minutes on each task.

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