What is your best advice on how to keep your house clean?

My house is always a mess, no matter how much I seem to clean it. I live alone, in a 2 bed one bath apartment with no pets. What is your best advice on how to keep a place clean? (Or at least not a complete 100% disaster 24/7)What is your best advice on how to keep your house clean?
I had the same issues as you my freind. I took some radical steps. First thing I did was go room to room, inch by inch and upon looking at everything in the room, asked, do I reallllllly need this? If the answer was no I either donated it, or tossed it out. When I got done with the house, I had about 13 bags of things to donate.





Once I got my house in order, I went to Bed/Bath/Beyond and went to town buying organizational items, containers %26amp; dividers. So far it has worked wonders.





Just live by the old addage, if you have not used it in a year, you don't really need it.





Good luck.What is your best advice on how to keep your house clean?
First thing you need to do is declutter. Go through your wardrobe, if you haven't worn it in 6 months, toss it. Unless it's summer clothing %26amp; you're in winter. Those shoes in the back with the mold on them, gone. If it's still good donate it to a charity. Now go through all your rooms. Doesn't have to be all at once. Do one room a week or whatever works for you %26amp; get rid of all the junk.





Secondly, make sure you put everything back when you're done with it. Make your bed when you get out of it, Don'y leave your hairbrush in the kitchen, things like that.





As a single guy you probably don't have a heap of laundry, do just one or 2 loads a week. Make sure you fold it all %26amp; put it away ASAP. Things like the floor, the shower %26amp; the toilet only need doing once a week.
Put things back into place after you use them. Bring out the cleaners once a week and keep it tidy inbetween.


Makes it less overwhelming.
Set a timer for 30 mintues or an hour. During that time, do nothing but clean house. Don't check email or answer the phone or stop to read a magazine you picked up. When the timer goes off - Stop! Do not go over time. If you go over time, you'll be less likely to do the exercise again.





Just repeat the exercise every other day, twice a week or whatever gets the job done. You'll be amazed at how much you can do in a limited time if you really work at it.
I prefer to keep the living areas picked up and free from clutter. Which means you can't just walk in and drop stuff wherever. It takes a committment to changing how you do things. Make sure you have a place to store everything and decide you will always put those things away. Also it is best to always keep the dishes clean. If you have a dishwasher, load the dirty dishes right after a meal. As for the usual cleaning, it's less of a chore when you have kept the area picked up. All your stuff is out of the way and you can quickly sweep/dust/toilets etc. Run the dishwasher or laundry while you are cleaning. It's a lot faster when you do it this way. And more organized.
get rid of the clutter, and keep it clean a little at a time
pay someone to clean it or


take about 20 minutes each evening to clean up
Just pick certain days of the week to do things in the house. Like every Monday and Thursday do laundry, and Tue and Friday pick up things and putting a small trash can in every room of the house works real good.(Of course i have two kids so i clean house 24/7)
The key is to be very organized and to get rid of the clutter, however, my best advice is to hire a good cleaning person and stop stressing over it. Life is too short!


If you can't afford to pay someone then barter for something that you can do for them in return.
Dear Unable To Keep Apartment Clean,


My Advice to you is make sure you have these items. Mop, bucket, many towels, water, broom, dust pan, and a vacume. Use the mop to mop the floor. Use the bucket to go with the mop of course. Use the towels to clean windows, tubs, etc. Use water to go with the bucket and mop. Use broom to sweep. Use dust pan to sweep up. Use vacume to Vacume. And if the mopping and washing with the towels doesn't work, get sponges and sponge away with a spray you can find in some stores called ';All Purpose Cleaner'; Unlucky for you, you might have to do these tasks everyday. Happy Cleaning!


Sincerely,


Helper
I think you need to have a look at this site. I have recommended it to many people and they all like it. It has suggestions for all kinds of household cleaning and organizing. See what you think. Good luck with getting your apartment sorted! :)
pick up and put things back as you use it.....if its dirty, clean it, throw junk mail out the minute it comes through the door....if you haven't used something in thirty days...then you probably will not miss is....SO throw it out.....and if you buy something new..then you have to throw something out.....don't let things pile up....clean as you go....clean everyday as if the pope was going to visit of worse..YOUR MOTHER.
I hate to say this, but for a while when I had 2 jobs and was in college (no time to clean!) I splurged and hired a couple of ladies to come clean my place every other week. What a treat!!!! It was worth every penny and a real luxury - plus they cleaned all the things I'd never think over (top of the fridge, anyone?). If you can afford it, maybe try it once a month. You'll find that you actually ';pick up'; before they get there :-)
Basically get in the habit of putting everything in its place, which means that is the 1st step, finding a place for everything. Then all you will need to do is a few basics weekly, i.e. vacuum, laundry, sweep, mop, dust. While cooking dinner clean up as you go.
Do a little each day. You will find your days are much easier if you clean after yourself right after you make a mess or do the dishes after you eat dinner. I have this same problem too. I hope you will get a clean house!!


If all else fails, find a girlfriend who loves to clean.
One of the best ways is to put everything back after you use it. Put dishes directly in the dishwasher. Put laundry away immediately after it is dry. Hang up towels after use. Throw papers away after reading. And of course, take out the garbage.
do a little bit each day...put things away after using them....vacuum every other day...and get rid of clutter...papers in the recycle bag next to the garbage bag...you'll be amazed at how much cleaner things will look.
Pick things up as you go along. If you see a pair of shoes out of place as you are walking into a room, take the time to put them where they belong.
Honestly, if you can swing it, a maid is worth it. They run about $50, and it's best to have them clean twice a month. It's a huge time saver! I always sweat the small stuff when it comes to cleaning. I never seem to get past the junk drawer. Having a person come do the toilets, tubs, moping, and dusting helps me immensely.