Cleaning up tricks: 3 secrets of people with clean apartments

They do exist: people with clean and tidy apartments. For real! Whether you announce yourself weeks in advance or stop by spontaneously – they simply always manage to present a perfect apartment. And we ask ourselves: How do they do that? And how do we do that? Here are three secrets that people with clean and tidy homes take to heart.

1. It is easier to clean in between than all at once

What is easier? Wipe quickly over the stove and the work surface after cooking – or only after days when everything has crumbled nicely? Sure, after cooking and eating comfortably (especially at a late hour) you don't feel like doing the dishes and cleaning everything. But: If you leave all the stuff, it only makes it worse and harder. And thanks to a phenomenon called procrastination, you end up pushing the annoying tasks for a long time before you can no longer do it. But if you do the washing up, mountains of laundry and other household chores little by little when they are in line, you don't pile up a mountain (with dirty laundry in the truest sense of the word) of seemingly unmanageable tasks. The same applies to putting away things that have a permanent place. If you tidy up in between and "on the go", you end up doing less and save time for the beautiful things in life. And suddenly the household is much easier to manage.

Pssst! With this clean-up rule, your apartment is always tidy.

2. More things = more things to clean

You can take that literally. If you have more stuff, you have to clean up and store more stuff – and clean more. Things in the kitchen in particular (especially those that are not stored in cupboards) collect dust and attract grease from splashes of grease. And if you want to wipe the work surface, you first have to free it from all the things that have gathered on it. The same applies to furniture: If you are traveling with a broom or vacuum cleaner, you first have to ensure that there are clear paths. Of course, this is not an invitation to throw all your things and furniture out of the apartment. But a critical look helps with the question: What do I really need? And what keeps me from keeping a room clean and tidy?

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3. A little cheating is allowed – and helps a lot

Even super-neat people don't always have the time and desire to do everything perfectly. But people with tidy apartments always create the illusion that everything is in perfect order and cleanliness with them. But that's mainly because they focus on the important rooms and corners. So that means they concentrate on the big picture – and only worry about the small corner or the corner behind the door later. So who is faced with the question "What am I going to start with?" Should leave the room and close their eyes for a moment. Then enter the room with your eyes open and pay attention to where you look first. Not under the sofa, but on the sofa. Not on the bookshelf, but on the shelf. First works off areas that can be seen and that catch the eye. If there is still time, take care of things that are not immediately apparent.

For emergencies: So you cheat your apartment clean in 15 minutes!