| By :
Nick Vassilev
Sometimes, you just can't be bothered doing any in-depth home cleaning, even though today is your day set aside for giving the house a good go-over. You could, of course, hire a professional cleaner to come in and do the dirty work for you once a week. Or you could do the bare minimum and cheat. It's amazing how much better the whole house looks if you try these few simple tips. But remember - these are cheats for when you're pushed for time, too tired or facing a crisis. (They're also good to bear in mind if you have visitors coming at short notice and you haven't cleaned for a while). You will need to give the house a proper clean at some stage and keep doing it frequently. This is basic hygiene so you don't continually come down with foul infections and bugs. * An old piece of advice from old fashioned housekeepers is that the whole house looks better if the kitchen floor is clean. Five minutes of vacuuming in the kitchen and in the main living area gets rid of the worst dirt on the carpet. If you have a loose rug on top of the carpet or hard floor, don't bother vacuuming underneath it this time (you will have to do this if you are cleaning house properly). * Making the bed makes the bedroom look instantly tidier, even if the floor has odds and ends over it. Tuck the sheets in nicely, pull up the covers (a duvet or continental quilt makes things easier) and arrange the pillows straight and it lifts the whole tone of the room. * To give the bathroom sink a quick go-over, grab any stray face flannels and hand towels. Use these dry to buff the taps (and to remove the worst toothpaste splatters from the mirror) and wipe up the worst of the soap scum. Then put out a fresh hand towel to replace the dirty one you just used. * Use damp loo paper to wipe the worst off the toilet seat (get it damp in the basin, not the toilet - this is about cheating not about slovenliness). Those little blocks that you drop into the toilet tank which turn the water blue and wash as you flush may not be the best in the way of natural cleaners but they hide a multitude of sins. * To get the inevitable odds and ends that children (and more mature people) drop around the house tidy and out of the way, grab an empty washing basket and shove any stray item into it. Stick this basket in an out-of-the way corner or in a bedroom to get it out of sight. Then sort out everything once the visitors have gone, you have more energy or the crisis is over. * Borrow a cleaning tip from a ten-year-old if you have a lot of stuff not put away: shove the lot under the bed or in the cupboard to be sorted out later. Parents of ten-year-olds take note about where to check during a room inspection. * Avoid major clean-ups in a rush by cleaning little and often. A little bit of mess of the type that builds up in a few days is forgivable. Major mess that has been left untouched for weeks or even months is always disgusting.
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