It’s Friday evening. You’re knackered from a meeting marathon at the office and head straight for the couch. You’re mindlessly swiping through the dating app of your choice when: match! And they ask you for a drink! In one hour! What’s the best way to speed clean your home in 30 minutes, just in case you have a pajama party later on?
Or:
It’s Friday evening. You’re feeling cream crackered from the week as you walk in the front door. All you’re looking forward to now is donning your joggers, cracking a bottle of wine, and watching the final episode of Squid Game on Netflix. But then your wife texts. She’s on her way home from work, too, and she’s bringing two colleagues with her. Could you quickly clean up before they roll in?
Or:
It’s Friday evening. You finally got the kids to bed and just want to scroll the ole ‘gram while you soak in a hot bath. Then your friend from up North calls. They’re in town unexpectedly. Could they stay the night at your place? They’ll be over in 30 minutes.
Yikes!
Whatever your situation is, here’s your battle plan for doing a blitz tidy-up to clean your home fast when you’re seriously short on time.
Grab Your Supplies – 1 Minute
For your speed cleaning session, you’re going to need a garbage bag, your hoover, toilet cleaner, and some wet wipes or glass cleaner and a rag.
We’re going in for the quick wins now. Ready? Let’s speed clean your home in 30 minutes!
Kitchen – 7 Minutes
Load all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher pronto.
Wipe the countertops, cooker, and kitchen table.
If you don’t have a dishwasher, fill the sink with warm water and detergent and get everything in there to soak while you’re wiping down your surfaces.
Leave the dirty dishes to soak while you move on to the next steps. You can either casually come back to the sink of dishes at the end of our blitz tidy-up, and when you guests walk in say something like “hey! one sec! just getting the dinner dishes cleaned up here, c’mon in!”
Or, if you’re on your way out to a date, leave ’em soaking until the morning. I promise that if your date does come home with you, they’re not interested in inspecting your kitchen. 🤓
Bathroom or Guest Toilet – 5 Minutes
You’ve no time for a deep cleaning right now, so you just want to give the toilet your guests are going to be using a superficial shine.
Drop some toilet cleaner into the bowl and let it sit for a minute or two. In the meantime, use one of your wet wipes or your glass cleaner to give the faucet and sink a quick wipe down.
Next, use a fresh wet wipe or your glass cleaner to wipe the seat of the toilet inside and out. Once that is done, you can go to town with your toilet brush on the actual toilet bowl. Rinse when you’re done.
If we had time, you could pat yourself on the back for being such a cleaning wizz, but we don’t. This is speed clean your home in 30 minutes. On to the next room, soldier!
Make the Bed – 2 Minutes
If you didn’t make the bed this morning for whatever reason, jump on that now.
Making the bed is a huge singular win in terms of making the bedroom space look tidier and larger. Going forward, try to incorporate this easy step into your daily household routine every morning.
I’ll stop scolding you now. Just make the bed!
Collect the Garbage – 5 Minutes
Does your place look like a tornado just ran through it? Now it’s your turn to whirl.
Dash through your main traffic areas with a garbage bag in hand. Sitting room, bathroom, home office space, bedroom, entrance, countertop and table surfaces, dining area, etc. Toss all those tissues, newspapers, junk mail, and takeaway containers into your bin. Grab the waste from the kitchen, too, and take it all out.
Tidy the Sitting Area – 1 Minute
You’re sure to wind up in the sitting room later on when you have company, so straighten the cushions, fold any throws, and use the palm of your hand to wipe any crumbs from the seating area.
Don’t worry about the floor. We’re going to plow through here shortly with the hoover!
Clothes, Laundry, Shoes – 3 Minutes
Collect all the dirty dish towels, hand towels from the guest toilet, all the clothes on the chair or floor of your bedroom, and toss them into the hamper. Lay out a clean hand towel in the bath for your guest.
If you have any clean clothes lying about, gather them up and place them in your closet as is. You can fold and organise them tomorrow!
Gather up all the extra pairs of shoes lying about the entryway, too, and put them in your shoe cabinet or closet.
Hoover the Floors – 6 Minutes
Almost done! Grab your vacuum cleaner and run it through your main traffic areas: entrance, bathroom or guest toilet, kitchen, bedroom and around the couch area.
Since you already removed all the waste and clothing from your floors, this final round of hoovering will really make the place look immensely tidier.
You Made It, Almost
Whew! There you have it. A straightforward 30-minute strategy for speed cleaning your home in critical situations. You’re feeling better already, amiright? That’s the positive mental effect cleaning and decluttering can have!
If you’re expecting guests, you might want to check yourself in the mirror, brush your teeth, change your shirt. If you still have dirty dishes soaking in the sink, you can start working on them now while you wait for the doorbell to ring.
What Are Your Best Tips to Speed Clean Your Home In 30 Minutes?
Obviously, you would normally need more time than this cheatsheet for most areas of the house. But if you have less than half an hour before guests come over or something else is going on and there are still piles of stuff in your living room or on kitchen countertops, this battle plan should help get things under control quickly!
If you have any speed cleaning tips to share, please leave them in the comment section below. I’d love to hear about your best tricks for getting organised quickly and efficiently.
Finally, if your blitz cleaning session left you feeling motivated to do more decluttering and tidying, but you’re not quite sure where to start, download my A–Z decluttering checklist. You can work through it without any time constraints, as quickly or slowly as you like.
Happy cleaning!
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