We’ve all heard the well circulated saying on the internet– that “cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating a Tim Tam!” Well right now across Australia, there are millions of parents living this saying as we all do our part in the fight against the Coronavirus and bunker down at home!

Having our children, partner and fur babies at home 24-7 has its positive points. There’s a whole stack of family bonding going on as we spend quality time together cooking, gardening and playing board games. On the flip side, the dirt, mess and clutter of life can build up a lot quicker when your house is bustling with people. You may also find yourself bending your once rock-solid rules in these trying circumstances, especially if you’re also working from home. Eating gooey chocolate hot cross buns on the couch or finger painting on the kitchen table, are no longer banned activities if they lead to 30 minutes of parental peace.

We’ve collated our 4 top tips on how to clean your house when it’s overflowing with family and they’re not going anywhere in the near future!

1) Do a daily clutter cleanse

It’s much quicker and easier to dust, vacuum and mop when you’re starting with a blank canvas. When it comes to clutter creation, our children are world-leading experts, so we need a simple technique to encourage them to pick up their toys and belongings from the floor. At the end of each day, try giving your children a 5-minute (or more) timeframe to ‘clutter bust’ and pick up any mess they’ve left on the floor. If the kids aren’t cooperative, pop any items that haven’t been picked up (and that could be a lot) into an empty wash basket. Then make up a rule that suits your family. Eg, your child needs to complete a chore per item to get them back. OR the items are confiscated for 1 day or 1 week. This tried and tested method works best on primary school aged children and tends to encourage daily clean ups and decluttering. Get some more ideas about this method here.

2) Stay on top of washing

Now that you’re home every day, it’s a good time to change up your clothes washing routine. Pre-isolation, if you left your washing and folding to pile up so it could all be done at the weekend, now’s the time to change that routine so you wash as soon as you have a full load. During breaks in the day, dry it, fold it and pack it away as soon as it’s off the line or out of the drier. Having your washing under control leads to less clutter and mess and relaxing weekends.

3) Clean the house in segments

If you’re home every day, you don’t need to clean the house from top to bottom in one hit. Do it in segments and use creative ways to ‘clear the room’ of children. For example, tackling the bedrooms is easier when the kids are set up to watch a 2-hour movie in the living room or Skyping with their grandparents. When cleaning the living area, give the kids a reason to be excited to be in their bedrooms – eg, move the dining chairs into their rooms, give them some blankets, cushions and a torch and let them build cubbies. This will provide at least one hour of entertainment. Get creative and cleaning becomes easier!

4) Teach your children new life skills

When we’re busy with work, school and social outings, we don’t always get the time to teach our children essential skills. We tend to get them to do basic tasks, like setting the table and tidying their rooms because we don’t have the time to teach them the harder household tasks. Now that most of us are housebound, find a new job around the house that interests your child and spend 10 minutes patiently teaching them how to do it. For example, cleaning the inside of windows with a mild cleaning spray and soft rag can be a fun job for a 9 year old. Other tasks that children may find appealing include vacuuming (start with an area rug or their bedroom carpet ), matching and folding socks and watering the outdoor plants. It’s important that the jobs are age appropriate and suited to the child’s skill level. Including your children in domestic duties can provide them with a confidence boost, as they’ve learnt something new and are contributing to the household.

Keeping your house clean and tidy during social isolation is possible and is made a lot easier with many helping hands. Now may also be the perfect time to tackle those jobs we put off when life is busy, like cleaning the outside windows, de-cobwebbing the eaves and even deep cleaning our carpets and upholstery. Discover how you can deep clean carpets at an affordable price by hiring the Britex Deep Cleaner. Britex Deep Cleaners are DIY carpet cleaning machines with professional cleaning results.

For more Britex cleaning tips, including some household natural cleaning remedies, or tips for a germ free home visit our blog page or check out our stain removal video series for how-to videos to remove daily household carpet stains.

Britex tip: Did you know that using a Britex Carpet Cleaner with Britex Cleaning Solutions in a high traffic office area, has proven to reduce the bacterial load by up to 99.95%. We know that bacteria can act as a host to a range of viruses and nasties, so the less of it in our carpet, the better.

 All Britex products are available at the Britex hire stand in Bunnings Warehouse, Woolworths, selected Coles, IGA, Mitre 10 and Home Hardware Stores.

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