Keeping Your Home Clean With Kids At Home – JLee’s Carpet and Floor Cleaners
Are your kids at home and making a mess (when aren’t they?!) I think we all know the feeling. How do you keep their messes under control? Here are some tips from the professionals at JLees Carpet and Floors, your locally owned steam cleaning team!
Keeping Your House Clean with Kids at Home…It Can Be Done!
People often ask how to keep their home clean when their kids are at home. These days, the kids are home way more often than we are used to. Toys, food, dirt, and grass have taken over your home. Those are some of the things you can see. Now imagine all the things you can’t see, dust mites, skin oils, germs. It’s starting to feel a little hopeless isn’t it? But don’t worry! There is hope! And no, I don’t mean you have to lock the kids outside. I’m here to help with some more practical tips for keeping your house clean, even while the kids are home.
House Rules
First and foremost, you need a few easy house rules the kids can follow. It’s important to keep them simple and not have too many because, let’s face it, kids. Rules such as no shoes in the house, only cups with lids allowed outside of the kitchen, having a designated eating area are just a few examples. For me, the designated eating area can be a little tricky. We love to have pizza and movie night sometimes in the living room. But this has a simple fix, a blanket. Spread out an old blanket on the floor or couch, wherever the little one plans to sit, and this will protect your floors from the dreaded pizza sauce and grape soda stains.
Clean Stains ASAP
If by chance the sneaky, tiny human does slip up and spill, it’s OK. You have the power of stain removers. But be warned, these only work well if you treat the stain as soon as you see it. If you ignore the Kool-Aid spill on your carpet for a week, stain removers will probably be a waste of your time and you’ll need an expert. If you see it, treat it.
“I’ve had my floors done multiple times and personally by the owners of this company. We keep coming back to them because it feels like they take care of us as people, not just customers. We had some tough stains we couldn’t get out, driving us crazy. Matt was able to explain the scientific reasons behind the stains and how the cleanings work which made me feel like I was in competent hands. I’ve had my carpets cleaned by several other businesses in town and NONE of them seemed to apply that level of knowledge. They aren’t just running a vacuum over the rugs, they are taking a smart approach to keeping them in good shape for a long time!”
Be Proactive
Create a cleaning schedule and try to stick to it. I know, life happens, kids happen, but if you want to have clean floors, it’s going to take a little work. If you are walking on your floors and your feet are sticking to them, I’d say it’s been too long since you’ve mopped. Floors get sticky when you have kids. It’s just a fact. I’m not sure how, I probably don’t even want to know. I think the person that invented the mop probably had a lot of kids. Make sure you are also dusting your floors at least weekly (more if you have a larger family).
- House Rules are a must!
- Clean stains ASAP
- Be proactive
- Door mats save the day
- Teamwork makes everything easier
Door Mats Save the Day
Is there really any way to stop the dirt, grass and leaves from getting into your house in the first place? Well, I’d say it’s a challenge, but having dual door mats can help. Consider putting door mats on both sides of your doors. Exterior mats are rough and can grab the bigger items like chunks of dirt, grass and leaves before entering the house. The interior rug is soft, and kids can wipe their feet a little more to loosen up any remaining dirt. An inexpensive solution right at your door.
Teamwork
Teamwork makes the dreamwork right? The good news is you have a great team right in your own home. Having your kids help with keeping your floors clean is a benefit for so many reasons. First, you don’t have to do it all yourself, hooray! Second, kids, especially the younger ones, LOVE to help dust, mop or vacuum floors. I’m pretty sure that’s why there is such a market for toy vacuums and mops. They live for this stuff, but they usually want the real deal. Of course, they won’t get every piece of dirt or dust so you will have to go behind them, but they will lessen the load for sure. The main reason I love for my kids to help with the cleaning? They don’t like it. I know, I know, mean mom alert. But they really don’t like it. This usually works in my favor though. By pitching in and seeing how much work it takes to clean, and realizing they’d rather be anywhere else, they are a little more conscious of making the mess in the first place. More often than not, the older kids will clean up after themselves right away because they don’t want to spend their Saturday morning mopping. The younger ones? I’m still working on that.
Keeping your house clean takes work, especially if you have kids. But it’s not impossible and believe it or not, it can be fun with the right attitude and a little help from your crew. Every so often I do suggest calling in a professional to really deep clean your floors and upholstery. While you can certainly clean the stuff on the surface, a professional has the ability to clean the stuff you can’t see. It’s worth the investment and you can take that week off to reward yourself and your crew with a special treat. Outdoors…where it’s nice and safe from stains.