Three Tips to Save Time on Household Chores
According to a recent American Time USA survey, the average US woman spends 17.8 hours per week on household duties. Men also do their part, spending a weekly average of 9.8 hours on household chores. There is no denying that these figures have significantly gone down over the past 40 years, but no matter how you look at it, housework still takes a considerable amount of time that could be better spent elsewhere.
Of course, we’re not talking about not any housework at all, but rather about how to minimize the amount of time spent on household duties and to optimize your quality of life by having more free time. Interested? Read on for a few interesting and time-saving tips.
Ironing made easier
Ironing is often called the most universally hated household task (and how else could you feel when faced with a pile of collared shirts that need to be ironed?). The problem with ironing is that we rarely have the best equipment within our reach. Having a good-quality ironing board and iron can make a world of a difference and significantly reduce the amount of time spent getting your clothes pressed. And while we are on the subject of getting a high-quality iron, consider investing in a steam iron. A few extra dollars will go a long way in terms of getting perfectly pressed clothes every time, and in virtually no time!
Laundry 101
Doing laundry is considered the most-time consuming household chore. If you want to reduce the amount of time spent doing laundry, the solution is pretty simple: only do full loads and wash your clothes less often (this means you can wear the same clothes more than once before throwing them in the washing machine!). Also, don’t “procrastinate” your clothes-sorting duties: have two hampers ready (one for whites and one for colored clothes) instead of throwing all your dirty laundry in the same basket. Hate folding and hanging clothes? Check out this video for some cool tips.
The right way to use cleaning products
Do you spray or pour cleaning products on surfaces and wipe them off or scrub right away? If you do, we can hardly blame you, as TV ads seem to be saying that cleaners work instantly when in fact they don’t. The truth is that you should never even need to scrub a surface. Next time you use a cleaning product, give it a few minutes to act while you work on something else, then go back, wipe it off, and you’ll be on your way to squeaky clean surfaces with minimal effort.
Another cleaning tip that is well worth keeping in mind is to try keeping surfaces clean on a daily basis. For example, pour a white vinegar and baking soda mix in your sinks and toilet bowl just before you go to bed and let it sit overnight. This will prevent buildup, which means that you will have to spend less time working on these areas during your set cleaning day.
Image by Kim MyoungSung, used under the Creative Commons license.