As a single male, living alone, Diamond Home Supports’ South Lincolnshire area manager, Tim Stoodley, is no stranger to the trials of male cleaning. Here he outlines all the time saving tips he’s built up over a decade of single living.
I’m a man, that means I like things simple, easy and trouble-free and any life-hacks that allow me to make my life just that bit easier, are always a winner with me. We’re known to be simple creatures after all.
The biggest shock of my adult life was moving into my own flat, after the initial excitement and weeks of takeaways subsided, the novelty quickly wore-off and dust started to settle. Quite literally. Mummy was no longer around to change the beds or hoover the floor and a weird black mould was developing in my bathroom. It became apparent that the cleaning fairies were in fact, a lie, and that this ship was going to need some man-loving if it was to be whipped into shape.
As a twenty-something, time is of the essence for me and over the years, through my work with Diamond Home Support and some self-creation, I’ve developed six top tips to help any single man (or woman) breeze through their cleaning routine. Effort is still required, but these hacks might just save a little bit of elbow grease.
1) Paper towels are your microwaves best friend! As a singleton, your microwave will be the main source of nutrients and it’s important therefore, that it is kept clean. One little trick I learnt quite quickly was to place 10 kitchen tissues in a stack on top of the turntable. Every time you use the microwave, you remove a kitchen tissue. This protects the turntable and keeps it clean and gives you ten whole nights of ready meals before it needs a proper clean.
2) Use your bathroom extractor fan or crack open a window when you’re showering. Bathroom mould is a pain-in-the-rear to get rid of. Prevention is most definitely the best way to help this cause, and ventilation is often overlooked as a mould-preventing tool. Two seconds opening a window will save hours of scrubbing and expensive mould-removers.
3) Find your getting hard-water stains in your toilet bowl? The solution to a spotless ceramic throne is easy. Once a month, simply pour down a bit of distilled white vinegar (available in most supermarkets). Leave it overnight and flush! The power of this magical chemical is not to be underrated.
4) Yucky spills and stains make emptying the bins and thankless and disgusting task. The simple solution here? Buy a box of tumble dryer sheets, place a couple in the bottom of the bin and hey presto! The sheets will suck up any nasty smells and liquids and are conveniently already placed in the bin ready to be thrown out.
5) Use an extension lead when vacuuming. It sounds simple, yet nobody does it! If you find you have to keep unplugging and plugging in the vacuum as you move from room-to-room, why not just run an extension lead behind your hoover?! Simple, but effective time-saving ninja skills.
6) Decide how long you’re going to spend cleaning before you start. Next, divide your time into chunks – 15 minutes to vacuum and perhaps the same again at the sink, and so on. Now that you have a timed target, you’ll find you work that bit harder. Also, if you absolutely hate a job – cleaning the bathroom, for example – knowing you’re going to spend just 10 minutes in there may make you feel less bothered about tackling it.
You can check our more time-saving skills on the Diamond Home Support, South Lincolnshire Facebook page – facebook.com/diamondhomesupportsouthlincs, or on Twitter @DHSSouthLincs, or web page http://diamondhomesupport.com/local-offices/south-lincolnshire/