There’s nothing worse than standing in the centre of a messy house and not knowing where to start, especially if you have 20 minutes or so. Your efforts feel rushed and a little pointless.
How much can you really do to your home when you have a deadline? Turns out, more than you’d think. To help make the most of your time, I’ve pulled together the best ways to speed-clean your home in just 20 minutes, so you get that same tidy result, without sacrificing a whole weekend.
Give it a declutter swoop
Grab an empty box to collect anything that isn’t where it should be. You’re going to make three sweeps of your home; once to pick up and relocate items, a second time to collect any rubbish and a third time to pick up items you’re happy to declutter without a second thought.
Remember, you only have 20 minutes in total, so you should only clear the surface level clutter and not think too hard on it. Once you’re done, the box can be left by the front door, ready to take to the charity shop on your next outing.
Prioritise what needs cleaning
20 minutes is all you have, and you need to be realistic about what you can achieve in that time. So make a mental list of the areas that bother you the most and focus your efforts on those. It could be the kitchen sink, the coat mountain by the door or the floordrobe in your bedroom.
Consider what frustrates you the most about how your home is now and use that to guide you in your priorities. We’ve given some guidance on a few hot spots below to get you started.
Focus on toys
Toys get strewn across the floors during playtime and can make an otherwise immaculate home look like chaos. Spending 20 minutes sorting these out prevents tripping hazards and gives you a sense of order.
Each category of toy should have a dedicated space in a drawer or container (ideally transparent and labelled so your child knows where to find it again). Make a quick swoop of the playroom to collect everything and return it to its place. It’s a good idea to have your child with you as you do this to show them what goes where.
Any toys on display should be rotated regularly to make sure what's left out is played with. A donation box is handy for any that aren’t played with anymore (another reason for having your child there as you tidy away).
Tackle the coat mountain
There’s likely a stack of shoes and coats nearby your front door, where they’ve been kicked or shrugged off and forgotten about. Use your 20 minutes to sort through these so your home feels organised as soon as you walk in.
Every space on the shoe rack and every coat hook should be reserved for those you wear daily. Anything else needs to go back in the wardrobe. If you still have sandals and sun hats from summer, those should be replaced with any boots you have in storage so they’re ready when needed.
If children’s coats tend to get tossed on the stairs, you can always install a couple of their own hooks lower down so they can reach them.
Organise the fridge
The fridge often gets skipped when we do our usual cleaning routine. But it can soon fill up with near-empty jam jars, mouldy cheeses and forgotten sauce sachets, so it’s worth giving it 20-minutes or so for a full refresh.
Start by removing and tossing anything that’s not going to be eaten. Near-empty sauces can be decanted into your fresh bottles, while sauce sachets can be moved to the dinner table if they’re still in date and you’re determined to use them. These generally contain enough preservatives that they don’t need to be chilled!
Wipe down shelves and drawers with soapy water and rinse with a fresh cloth. Place foods that are ready-to-eat on the top shelf, dairy items in the middle and meats and fish on the bottom shelf. Placing a small ramekin filled with bicarb at the back can help to deodorise your fridge for up to three months.
Make it a game
There’s no reason you can’t get a helping hand when it comes to your cleaning – you can recruit your children to take part! Simply give everyone a damp microfibre cloth and set a timer for 10 minutes. Whoever comes back with the dirtiest cloth wins!
You need to monitor them throughout the game to make sure they’re not going anywhere they shouldn’t or at risk of damaging anything – but this is a brilliant way to get children involved.
Don’t hold yourself to high expectations
You only have 20 minutes to make a difference, so your home is never going to look spotless by the end. Rather than getting angry at yourself for not doing more, appreciate your efforts and consider what you’ve achieved.
Ask yourself: would you do something differently next time? Or are there other areas you feel you should focus on? You can repeat your 20-minute spritz as often as needed and hone it to get the best result. By doing regular mini 20-minute cleans, you can save yourself from the big clean at the weekend that we often dread.
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