*Collaborative post
It’s fair to say that the larger the family, the bigger the mess you have to clean up. So, as the level of effort to clean increases, how do you keep up with it while not dedicating your entire life to just tidying the house?
Well, that’s what we’ll discuss below. Read on to find out some top tips for house cleaning when you live with a large family.
How Do You Keep a Clean House with a Large Family?
1. Write Lists!
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of lists when it comes to cleaning the house. For larger families, particularly with kids of varying ages, break down tasks into their simplest components.
For example, cleaning the bathroom involves cleaning the shower, bath, sink, toilet, and so on. Having tasks broken down in this way might mean that the whole room doesn’t get cleaned at once, but it does mean you can assign tasks as needed.
2. Let People Pick Cleaning Jobs
Where possible, let your kids pick the cleaning jobs they’re best at (or the ones they enjoy). Assign these jobs on a chart and get everyone to pitch in every week. You could always switch up some of the less desirable jobs, but even if kids only dust or empty bins, it’s taken some jobs off your list!
3. Have a Daily Routine
Get everyone to pitch in with their own daily tasks on top of weekly household chores. For example, everyone should make their bed and tidy away dirty laundry every day, as well as tidy up after themselves after each meal.
While these aren’t major cleaning jobs, they’re important in your home’s daily routine, and aren’t things you should be doing. Not only that, but they’re great jobs for teaching kids the importance of cleaning.
4. Make Sure Everything Has a Home
This tip is fairly self-explanatory. Make sure everything has a home so it can be easily put away by whoever is in charge of tidying up. If something doesn’t have an obvious home, set one up and make sure everyone knows it.
5. Establish a Laundry Schedule
Doing laundry for a large family involves a lot of work, most of which relies on all family members being on the ball. After all, there’s little point putting a load of washing on if stuff is still lying on your kids’ floors!
Have a weekly chart and, as much as possible, do the same type of washing on every day. This might be a coloured load on a Monday, bedsheets on a Tuesday, and so on. Ensure everyone knows what’s washed on which day, and get kids to put their washing in hampers the day before.
6. Use the 10-Minute Rule
While this won’t avoid the need for a deep cleaning day, the 10-minute cleaning rule is ideal for a quick tidy up. It’s pretty simple: assemble the family for 10 minutes of cleaning every day. The jobs may change depending on what needs doing, but the point is that everyone pitches in for 10 minutes.
This is why it helps to break down rooms into their cleaning jobs. In these 10 minutes, you could clean the toilets, for example, while your kids tidy up their toys. Be flexible with the jobs, and never let it last longer than 10 minutes.
7. Clean as You Go
This is another self-explanatory tip but it can make a massive difference. Tidy up as much as possible as you go along. For example, get the dishwasher filled after dinner, or get kids to put their washing in the hamper as they take it off.
Doing these small jobs helps to minimise clutter and means you can focus your cleaning efforts on actual cleaning!
8. Have Realistic Expectations
Having a big family means you’ll likely need to reassess your cleaning expectations if you’d like to keep your sanity. Try to accept that some mess is inevitable, and having a big family means that the house won’t stay looking spotless for very long (if at all!).
As long as everything is clean and the important spaces are hygienic, you’ve done everything you need to do.
Final Thoughts
Keeping a house clean with a big family comes down to 2 main points: organisation and delegation. Aim to get everyone involved with age-appropriate tasks, and hopefully, it won’t take your kids long to learn the value of cleanliness and the amount of work you actually do!