Cleanliness is Next to Godliness or Amy’s Tips to Cleaning a Room September 30, 2009

I’m sure we’ve all heard things like, “Clean your room” “Make your bed” “Wash off the table” “Clean up your toys” “Don’t eat that in the livingroom” and so on and so forth, and I’m sure we’ve all had our “rolling of the eyes” moments about that, and thinking “Mom is SOOO particular!
However, there is something else we have to remember. One of my Mom’s favorite quotes is “Cleanliness is next to godliness”. Now, MAYBE that’s taking it a little far, but there is a good principle behind it! Such as, God wants us to have hospitality. When the house is messy, do we invite people in when they come to the door? At our house, unless it is a close family member (our Grandma for instance) we run out to great them on the lawn, and just never get around to asking them in! *Blush* If the house is messy, do we fear having someone just drop in? Do we have a welcoming spirit?

Ok, having a messy house is one thing that our family struggles with, and it’s getting better, but I still have to clean a LOT during the week to make it presentable, and even then I only usually get to the three main rooms of the house (which are the most important since that’s what everyone sees! )

Having a clean house not only encourages hospitality, it also is a peaceful thing. Honestly, I feel things are much more peaceful after I have cleaned! And my heart feels much more settled.

So, here’s some things that might help you if you have a hard time knowing WHERE to start on that big pile of junk!! Or you just want to encourage your Mom, and get things looking spiffy again! (And believe me, she’ll be SO happy to come home from shopping and find a clean house! ).

For the Living room -

1. I like to start with the couches (we always seem to have Instruments and things on them from trying to keep the dogs off them while we are gone! ), clean them off, straighten the pillows, straighten the cover if you have one, etc.

2. Pick up the toys off the floor and put them away (I don’t know about your house, but here I just put people’s things on their beds.). This could take MANY trips, and if you have a little sibling who is feeling helpful, this is a good thing to enlist their help on! (I have this thing where I like to clean by myself, but if someone offers, it’s never a good idea to discourage them, so making them do the running is a good idea! Besides, all those trips can make you tired, and those “little” kids have a lot of energy! ). Try to avoid throwing things behind the couches and stuff if you can help it. (I have run into a problem because I piled lots of books on the school shelf in the living room, and now there are lots of stacks, and the shelf if really messy, so now I have an extra big project, instead of just an extra trip to the book room with the books people aren’t reading any more.).

3. Clean off the tops of things like the Piano. This is one thing that I often don’t do, but then it gets out of hand, so don’t be like me!

4. Vacuum! Yay! My favorite part! I like turning around when I’m done and finding that the room looks SO much better then before without all that dust and dirt on the floor (and dog hair here! ), and it gives the rug, if you have one, a fresh look! Make sure to do a really good job at vacuuming! Don’t be lazy! (Tip for hard floors, depending on what kind of vacuum you have, I prefer to sweep our hard floors like in the hallway and kitchen, I feel I get up more dirt that way. However, my Grandma has a vacuum that works just fine on hard floors, so what ever works for you! ).

5. Dust! I almost never dust, and believe me, our house is dusty. I need to add that to my cleaning list I think!

The Kitchen-

1. Start by cleaning off and washing the table, counters, and stove before you do the floor, that way any crumbs that may have fallen you will get with the broom! (I made the mistake of doing the floors first at the house I babysit, after I had to crawl around with the dustpan and broom and get the stuff I dropped when doing the counters :-/). (If you have a garbage with a top, clean that too. We have a white garbage, and it gets dirty very easily! I just use a paper towel and cleaner! ).

2. Clean the mircowave if you have one. This is another thing I almost never do, and it’s not very nice, so again, don’t be like me! ;-

3. Pick up and sweep/vacuum the floor. Make sure not to do any mopping until that is done!

4. Mop – Another thing I never do, (Mom does the mopping ) however, generally, depending on what your family thinks, this only needs to be done once in a while. Maybe make this a monthly thing.

5. Also, washing windows and stuff like that might be something you either do weekly or monthly. (This one would go for all the rooms! ).

The Bathroom -

1. Pick up the floor. Put ponytail things in the right drawers, and clothes in the hamper (or bedrooms).

2. Clean out tub/shower, and shut curtain.

3. Wash toilet. (And make sure to wash your hands when you are done!!!! ).

4. Wash counter, sink, faucet and faucet handles, door handles, and light switches. (Helps keeps germs away! Do this especially if people have colds or other sicknesses!).

5. Change hand towels, and straighten bath towels.

6. Wash mirror, and garbage lid.

7. Sweep floor, and mop when needed.

Your Bedroom -

I find that my bedroom often gets messy because I am so busy cleaning the rest of the house, but I think that if we followed a few simple, every day rules, our bedrooms would stay clean very easily!

1. Make bed.

2. Pick up clothes and put away or put in hamper.

3. Clean off surfaces of things like crafts, paper, and other things.

4. Don’t like night drink cups collect!! (My really bad habit! ).

5. Pick up floor, and vacuum as needed.

6. Make sure not to just throw things in the closet!!! That makes a BIG mess, and is harder to clean up then just taking the time to put things in neatly and in the correct places!

7. Straighten anything that is out for people to see, and make things look nice and neat! (i.e. bookshelves, piles of letters, school books, etc! ).

Well, I hope this post was helpful to you!!!! If you are someone who hates cleaning (or just get sorta sick of it like me! ), try doing things like listening to your favorite music, wearing a cute apron (even if you don’t NEED too), singing, making up stories (ya know, pretend you are Cinderella, or a slave who was stolen from your country, or a maid somewhere! ). I especially like cleaning when no one is home so that I can listen to music and stuff, but sometimes this is not possible (MOST times I should say) so just do what you can to make your cleaning time more fun! (And don’t forget, you can pretend to be a maid in your HEAD! No one has to know!!! Hehe!).

God bless!