How To Clean A Messy House In One Hour

[Updated on June 16, 2020] Please welcome guest contributor, Anamika, as she teaches us How to Clean a Messy House Fast Like a Total Boss! You go, girl!

We live in a world that is not only busy but is very demanding of our time and attention. Sometimes, little chores in our lives get neglected—things like cleaning the house, for example.

In the past, people would usually devote their Sundays to housework, but now we don't have the same amount of free time as we used to. In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it is essential to learn how to clean a messy house fast!

Obviously, it would be nice to have a clean house and just keep it clean. That works well in theory, but in practice, it can be much harder to keep your house as clean as you like. This is especially true if you juggle work and kids.

If you're lucky enough to have the house to yourself, odds are you don't want to spend much time cleaning it. That is why it is crucial, no matter who you are, to learn how to clean a messy house fast!

Clean Your Messy House Like a Total Boss

Ever wondered what's the best and fastest way to clean a messy house?

These simple, yet actionable tips will refine your routine leaving more time for you!

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**Get a Handle on The Mess in Your House, Fast!**

Image of an extremely messy living room

It is important to be efficient when we have any task to take care of; and, that is especially true when it comes to cleaning the house. When you find a good way to clean your home quickly, you can turn it into a routine. This routine gets refined over time, taking less and less effort every time you do it. So, what's the best way to clean your house fast? Follow these tips…

Pick up trash

Hands in gloves cleaning up trash

The first step in how to clean a messy house fast is to pick up trash! Take a trash bag with you and walk around the house. Be sure to go through each room and pick up trash. You know how it can be, things pile up if you don't stay on top of them. Carrying a trash bag with you helps get rid of the non-essential items quickly. Try to stay focused on picking up trash; don't be compelled to do any cleaning just yet. This is just your "first pass" through the house.

Pick up dishes & cups

Hands in gloves washing a pile of dishes in sink

After you dispose of the trash, go through and round up any lose dishes or cups sitting around the house. Don't worry about cleaning them, just put them into the sink or dishwasher directly. This will help you consolidate the clutter into one area that you can deal with later.

Pick up laundry

Pile of dirty laundry in front of washing machine

Take a laundry basket and start picking up dirty laundry; do a sweep of the house and deposit the laundry in the laundry room. If you have time, you can even start a load of laundry in your washing machine while you're cleaning the other areas of the house. Just don't forget to put it into the dryer once it is done.

Pick up items & clutter

Cute toddler girl playing with colorful blocks, building an airplane in a sunny bedroom with a big window

Now that your laundry basket is empty, use it to pick up clutter and items that have been left out. If your laundry basket is still full, don't worry, you can use a box or basket to pick things up. It doesn't matter how you do it, just that you do it! You may want to start picking items up that you no longer need. If you have time, you can even start a donation box. If you need to clean quickly, don't worry so much about organizing; just pick everything up and store it in your box.

Move room by room

Top view of living room with large rug and beautiful fireplace

Once the initial pass-through is done, focus on doing a room-by-room clean up. Take a storage box with you (again) and pick up items that don't belong in that room, say, a kid's toy in the living room. Once you've picked up the clutter in that room, start straightening that room up. Make the bed if you need to or straighten up the couch. Once that room is complete, move onto the next and continue throughout the entire house.

Quickly dust each room

Woman in white apron dusting books

Once the rooms are picked up, use this opportunity to dust. Use a feather duster to make quick work of this task. It may be easier at this point to leave the kitchen for the last spot to clean. This gives you a spot to consolidate cleaning products and trash, too.

Vacuum each room

Close up of a man vacuuming the floor in the kitchen

Now that the dust has settled in each room from your dusting efforts and no obstacles are littering the floors (trash, toys, dishes, and clothes), the next step is to vacuum the entire house. Vacuum room by room and be sure to change out the vacuum bag or empty the chamber (depending on the type of vacuum cleaner you own).

Clean the bathroom

Person wearing gloves cleaning bathroom faucet

Wipe down the sinks and counters with a disinfecting cleaner and use glass cleaner on the mirrors, if needed. Clean the shower or bathtub with a spray. Sometimes you can even spray this down and let it work while you clean another place in the house, then come back and rinse. Clean the toilet using a toilet bowl product that dissolves without any actual work. Let it bubble up in the toilet, then flush. Hold off on mopping the floor while you are cleaning the bathroom. Save this task for the very end after you've cleaned the kitchen and then mop both the bathroom and kitchen at the same time.

Clean the kitchen

Person wearing gloves holding spray bottle in kitchen

By now, you've moved through the entire house. It is time to clean the kitchen! To start, put away all clean dishes or empty the dishwasher if it is clean. Pick up any loose items on the counter like stacks of mail or bills. Once things are put away, work on cleaning the dirty dishes, or loading the dishwasher. With the counters clear, you can wipe them down with a disinfecting counter-safe cleaner. Wipe down the stovetop and the microwave. Now get out your mop or steam cleaner and clean the kitchen floor and the bathroom floor.

Pint It - Pinterest sharing graphic

Now You Know How to Clean Your House Like a Boss

There you have it – how to quickly clean a house like a total boss! I want my home clean, don't you? Follow these simple cleaning tips and you'll be cleaning your house quickly and effortlessly. The best part? If you have kids, you can even get them in on the task. Having your kids help will not only show them responsibility but help you clean the house even faster.

Carole here – thanks, Anamika, for the get tips! I appreciate the great job you did in writing this post. Your tips are so on-point and manageable to all of us with busy lives.

Readers: will you do me a favor? Will you share this post on social media? The way to get Anamika's amazing tips out there is to share, right? In addition to the Pinterest graphics in this post above and at the top of the post, I've created many more and thought I'd give you options! After all, why not pin several different pins to Pinterest to remind you to visit this post again? Anyway, here are the other graphics for your pinning pleasure…

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a cat lover! I have a beautiful Snowshoe Siamese cat, a boy named Coco, and he graces many articles throughout this blog. For all you cat lovers out there, you can Meet Coco here and get a Coco overload! So when I stumbled across this photo of a cat giving a woman a high-five, I had to use it! Not only is it adorable, but to me, it symbolizes a job well done. And isn't that what cleaning a messy house fast all about, a job well-done?

I love this girl's teal blue hair! One of these days I'm going to have the courage to do this – dye my hair blue! Anyway, her leisurely stance suggests to me that she has time to spare, so she knows how to clean a messy house fast!

And this last pinnable image is more of a traditional representation of cleaning a messy house. So you have choices! But who says you have to choose only one of these choices to your Pinterest boards? Not me! Pin them all, if you want to, and thanks for pinning and sharing!

Don't forget to get the free printable checklist of housecleaning tips by signing up to receive my newsletter in your inbox. Look for the sign-up boxes either near the top of this post or at the bottom of this post.

And, I have exciting news to share – I've written a series of eBooks about cleaning and organizing so check out the eBook bundle either through the link below or here on the menu bar! My ebook, 5 Tips for a More Organized Life, shares tried-and-true tips that have worked for me for more than 20 years. My other cleaning and organizing ebook, Everyday Habits for Keeping a Neat & Tidy Home, is a more in-depth book that shares everyday habits that are easy to adopt that result in big payoffs over time. And my third book, Clutter Busters Bootcamp: A Guide to Rightsizing Your Home, shows you how to declutter your home room-by-room. And if you buy all three, you'll get a great discount! Thanks so much; I appreciate each and every one of you!

Finally, if you need a list of cleaning supplies and cleaning equipment, check out my post 42 Cleaning Supplies and Cleaning Equipment in Your Home. And, for an in-depth article on cleaning floors, The Ultimate Floor Cleaning Guide is an excellent resource!

Here's Anamika's mini-bio…

Anamika - Head Shot Author Bio:
Anamika is wife to "an amazing husband" and mother of a beautiful baby girl. She blogs at Betrendsetter.com about health, beauty, and hairstyles for women. She can be reached here: Pinterest.