zone cleaning

By Emily.

Switching over to a more eco-friendly cleaning supply line-up has been on my list and so I was excited for the chance to swap out my usual chemical ridden products for more natural ones! Babyganics sent several products to try and I worked it into my normal week of cleaning. For the last year or so I’ve been doing zone cleaning and thought it might be fun to share how it’s going! I had to do it for the sake of my home, and here’s why: deep cleaning, oof. I can tidy with the best of them, but I found myself putting off getting a really deep clean for weeks at a time. There are a hundred excuses and reasons, but I’ll spare you and just share how the zone cleaning solution is going.spring cleaning week

So,  what is zone cleaning? Basically, you choose a day of the week for a certain task and you stick to that schedule over several months, every job has its day and knowing theis and I will get to it comforts me for some reason. Being overwhelmed tends to paralyze me into doing nothing instead of something, so zone cleaning has been all about taking a daunting list of tasks and making them more manageable. I noticed most people do their zone cleaning room by room. I do a mixture. Bedrooms I do in one swoop, but living spaces get split into specific tasks because they’re such big spaces. Mine is super simplified but I shared a few more tasks you might be looking to add to your own weeks at the end of this post! Over the course of several months I fine tuned what works for me based on my schedule and the inevitable lack of interest toward the end of the week (does this happen to anyone else?)

Monday: Wash the floors. I have to do this first thing in the week when I am motivated and refreshed or it will get pushed down the list. So, Monday it is! I sweep, vacuum, scrub, wash, polish ALL the floors in my house. We only have one room with carpet so it’s a pretty big job. SO thrilled to switch out my Pine-Sol for this. It works just as good!Zone Cleaning Tips

Tuesday: Master Bedroom. Our room gets pretty cluttered, fast. Clothes galore, and not necessarily ready to be washed. I am totally sold on this Stain & Odor Remover Spray for refreshing clothes that are getting re-hung. I love going through our closets, linens and beds spraying this one! So much better for you and the environment then the leading breezier brand. 😉 Zone Cleaning TipsSo, after I get all those clothes re-hung, its time to re-organize the closet, deep clean, change the sheets, and launder the duvet cover.Zone Cleaning Tips

Wednesday: Hayes’ Room. No school today and it tends to be a slower paced day, so we take the morning doing his room together. Getting toys back in their place, organizing, going through clothes that don’t fit, taking an inventory of what he needs, new sheets. All the boys toys are in this room so Cal picks up toys, too. Zone Cleaning TipsSince Hayes is assisting on this one, I love having these super safe wipes. They’re perfect for little helping hands! They don’t have to wrangle a spray bottle and can do it all with one little wipe. He has white walls, too, so we have lots to wipe usually!Zone Cleaning Tips

Thursday: Cal’s Room. Same deal, and this one gets a vacuum. These kids are growing like weeds so I am going through their closets often and putting outgrown pieces into storage.

Friday: Surfaces. This is one word that I know means basically everything not on the floor gets washed. Cupboards, walls, light switches, doors, baseboards, couches, rugs, wood surfaces get oiled. Like I said before I totally lose steam at the end of a long week. So today I basically walk around with a wet rag and it’s all very lazy looking and probably inefficient but I know myself and I can’t muster the oomph I have early in the week. This Multi-surface cleaner transitions perfectly from room to room, surface to surface. I have loved carrying one spray bottle around and getting all the different materials in my house clean!Zone Cleaning TipsI used it on so many things but was apprehensive about leather,Zone Cleaning Tipsand wood, and was totally impressed!Zone Cleaning Tips

Saturday: Bathrooms. We do these as family as our Saturday chore. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I just have a 3 and 5 year old and it’s working for us! I love how bathrooms are a small area with lots of different tasks. They learn how to do mirrors, floors, tub and tile, straightening and organizing, toilets and more.  Russ takes one kid to the master and I take one to the guest bath.

Daily: Obviously there a few things I do everyday. Sweeping, trash and recycling, dishes, the kitchen counters and sinks get a wipe down everyday. All these products got used daily (Tub and Tile worked wonders on my cement countertops!) and at first it’s strange that you can’t smell anything at all – they do have a citrus scent that is all-natural and amazing! – but when I thought of all the chemicals that go into giving cleaning products their “scent” I felt a lot better. Zone Cleaning Tips

Monthly: I clean out the fridge, clean the oven, the junk drawer, and other deep cleaning tasks that need attention. We do lots of projects outside together on weekends, too!

And here’s my secret to success: I use a pick-up and delivery laundry service (Washed for you locals!)  I send out about 40 pounds a week, except towels, sheets, and things that need to be air-dried. On Saturday I do one or two loads. I made it a point to have a few extra sets of sheets for all our beds so I can change the sheet one day and not worry about washing it for a few more. I can’t explain how not having to do my laundry has bettered my life. It was my LEAST favorite task of all tasks. I hate it so much. I wanted to own it, to dominate laundry and be good at it. But it owned me, week after week. So instead of hiring a cleaning lady like I was, I send the laundry out. It is my luxury and I love it!

Here are some other tasks you might want to work into your schedule, too!

Menu Planning, Grocery Shopping, Paying Bills and cleaning out mail, Clean Cars, Flip mattresses, Straighten books and movies, another thing I’m excited to try is scheduling all my appointments for a specific day of the week. Also, tasks that I can’t take kids to. Planning on a sitter or sending the kids to their grandparents is so much easier if there’s a set day that works for everyone!

Do you zone clean? If so, what works for you? What doesn’t work for you? I’m excited to hear, and fine-tune my own schedule!

6 Comments

  • Zoe Heyward
    April 22, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    I used to love reading your blog but now there are way too many sponsored posts! Would be nice to see more posts that aren’t just plugging another product and it seems you guys will pretty much promote anything which is also annoying – some of the big box brands you partner with don’t really seem to go with the style of the blog. The original stylish voice of your blog seems lost in one giant advert for things we don’t need.

    Reply
  • Virginia
    April 23, 2015 at 8:12 am

    Very nice plan! The Babyorganics seem to be very useful products! Thank you for the ideas! Greets, Sofa Cleaner Ltd.

    Reply
  • Anna
    April 24, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    Oh, how I hate cleaning! I’m converting to minimalism, because for years the clutter has been ruining my home and adding tension to my life. I’m curious: how much time do you spend cleaning each day, total? My goal is to get all housework down to 30 minutes/day, with an additional hour or two of deep cleaning and yard work on the weekends.

    Reply
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