Lazy cleaning guide | The Everything Cleaner

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I recently asked a local friend about what cleaning tasks she needs help with and I found an inspiring topic to enlighten our cleaning community on: Lazy Cleaning. Life often yields lemons but lemonade is a most refreshing drink to persuade one to enjoy a lazy day in the sun, so why can’t cleaning be a lazy undertaking that doesn’t overtax our synapses and still allows plenty of time for us to enjoy other, more favorable hobbies.

In my cleaning business, I specify a quick cleaning, or ‘lazy cleaning’, as a spiff. Spiffing households is a quick turnaround that doesn’t involve getting bogged down in the cleaning minutiae. So what is entailed in a spiff? Specifically, spiffing is small cleaning tasks that allow you to reset rooms to look like they have been cleaned without too much actual cleaning. When I spiff a client’s home, I ignore most of the wiping, focus on tidying up clutter, dishes, bedding, laundry and focus on the overall look of the room. If you are still slightly mystified by this, don’t worry, I will provide some specific examples. My video below shows a quick version but keep reading to get ALL the details for each room.

Example 1: The Living Room

Because the living room is the most used room in a household for entertaining and habituating, I insist on maintaining a presentable appearance at the end of every day so I have a beautiful greeting room to invite friends to enjoy time with or a fresh look when I wake up in the morning. I start with the living room because it’s the easiest room to reset as there are, or should be, less tasks to complete.

First, gather any dirty dishes and take them to the kitchen; DON’T start cleaning dishes yet, we will do this when we clean the kitchen. Second, gather any clothing and deposit it in the dirty laundry if needed or simply set it on the bed/closet area; DON’T put them away yet or start laundry, we aren't in that room yet so it's not the imperative mission at the moment. Still focusing on the living room, fold any blankets that are common use and stage them on the couch or other sitting furniture or a basket, wipe any crumbs from the seats, fluff and stage any pillows, and rearrange any items that add personality. I also remove any projects or unrelated objects that I have been working on to my office or proper situation. The final step is to vacuum the floor. Now, the living room is complete.

Once you have completed this room and seen how easy it can be to present a finished product with minimal effort, I sincerely hope this gives you elevated confidence to travel to the next area: the kitchen.

Example 2: The Kitchen

The kitchen is another high traffic area often visited throughout the day to make food, gather drinks, and dispose of trash. If you are having friends over, you will, plausibly, invite them to partake in snakes, drinks, or both while indulging in some pleasantries. The kitchen can often be equated to the hearth of a home as it is constructed to be inviting, warm, and nourishing for both residents and guests. If entertaining is not the goal of this room, spiffing the kitchen at night allows for a properly reconstituted set up for your morning coffee if nothing else.

First, start with the dishes you collected from other rooms (living room, bedrooms, office, etc.) and/or from any cuisine rendered throughout the day. Either place them in the dishwasher or hand wash them and allow them to dry on a drying rack. This removes most obstructions that allow for easier cleaning as we continue on throughout the kitchen. Second, wipe down the counters, don’t worry about moving appliances, simply wipe around them. If you have food containers out, replace them in their proper cabinet. Third, wipe down the stove top if it is a simple glass range. Gas range stove tops can be tricky but just remove the grates, wipe the enamel top, and replace the grates. Sometimes I flick off the large food bits from the grates onto the floor, but if it is burnt and requires scrubbing, don’t focus on it. Last, vacuum the floors. All done! See not so hard.

Example 3: The Bedroom

First, put away any clean clothes laying around or deposit dirty clothes into the appropriate receptacle. Second, gather any items that do not belong (dishes, trash, toys) and sort them to corresponding areas. Third, remake the bed and restage pillows, blankets, decorations. Fourth, vacuum the floor.

Lazy cleaning is my weekly fundamental for keeping a home under control.

Constructing these examples, I hope you see a pattern proceeding. I carry this stencil of cleaning, a cleaning order of operation simply, as a sketch that can apply to any room of any house. Your personal domicile can contain many memories and projects to enlighten your day, but ensuring you achieve a fulfilling catharsis of a clean home can be easy enough to fool your friends and family and still allow time to sit back and enjoy an ice cold glass of lemonade.