10 Tips for Powerful Cleaning #NewYearsClean

**Full Disclosure: This is a compensated post, but all opinions are my own.

Yesterday I needed to clean house to get ready for a New Year’s Eve party but I bit off way more than I could handle.  I had piles of ‘keep, toss, sell’ all over my house just hours before friends were scheduled to arrive.  It wasn’t pretty!  I still have more to do, but it’ll be done before 1/15!  You see, I don’t like to deep clean in the spring – I like to get it done in January so that it’s taken care of!

This morning a 25-person “Mr. Clean Team” led by “The Accidental Housewife” Julie Edelman was on hand to usher in a clean 2014. Their efforts assisted the massive clean-up by the Times Square Alliance and the DSNY who used 22 trucks, 24 mechanical sweepers and 37 backpack blowers to clear an estimated 40 to 50 tons of confetti, party hats and other materials from the 2013 celebration.

I wouldn’t want to clean up all that mess, but Julie has given us a list of tips to make our everyday cleaning a little easier!

Julie Edelman, The Accidental Housewife: 
Top 10 Tips to Save Time, Money and Your Sanity in 2014

1. TACKLE HIGH TRAFFIC ZONES FIRST: Divide your home into MUST DO and CAN DO LATER zones. The must do’s are bathrooms, kitchen and bedrooms which are bacteria, allergy (dust mites) and germ magnets AND should be cleaned regularly. Can do later zones are areas such as family rooms, guest bedrooms, and hallways.

2. MAINTAIN YOUR SANITY, START SMALL: As Oscar Wilde said “Man (and woman!) was made for something better then disturbing dirt.” So put cleaning your home in perspective and don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Start with the smallest room in your home, and work your way to the largest room in order to streamline your cleaning process.

3. SPREAD OUT CHORES THAT BORE: Once you’ve tidied up, make a weekly TAH–DO LIST (as in The Accidental Housewife!) to keep rooms clean enough. If you follow up on little cleaning projects each week, you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and squeaky clean home, and manicures, all year long.

4. BLEND CHORES THAT BORE INTO EVERYDAY ACIVITIES: Housework can be boring, so staying focused while doing it can be a chore. ‘Blend’ i.e. ‘work’ tasks into everyday activities and routines. Next time you’re chatting on the phone with your BF or mom, chat while cleaning countertops, door handles and sinks.

5. SAVE YOUR NRG: Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle can handle anything, especially if it can clean up Times Square after New Year’s Eve! Save your elbow grease and simply squirt a drop of the powerful new formula onto countertops, appliances and more to clean up after your own New Year’s Eve party.

6. STREAMLINE YOUR CLEANING TOOLS WITH MULTI-TASKERS: There’s no need to have countless cleaning products clogging cabinets. Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle can be used directly on tough dirt or used as a dilute to handle big or small messes on hard surfaces such as tables, countertops, sinks, stoves and even floors.

7. TAKE THE GUESS WORK OUT OF ‘HOW MUCH’: Thanks to its innovative one-dose cap, Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle delivers the perfect amount of cleaning gel with every squeeze – that can be applied directly to surfaces or diluted in water as a cleaning solution. Similar to tasks like dishwashing and laundry, buy single, pre-measured packets. This will certainly help you prevent wasting product and in the end, also save you money!

8. DANCE WITH DUST BUNNIES: No one said that you have to make cleaning a chore, so put on those
headphones or crank up the music and dance with your vacuum as you suck up those dust bunnies or wash your floor! It will also turn your cleaning routines into a workout, so you’ll be multi-tasking once again – cleaning and toning your bod!

9. ENLIST PINT-SIZED HELPERS: If you have young kids, they are perfect for helping with kid-friendly home-keeping chores like vacuuming and laundry. If you don’t have any children, I’m sure friends and family who do will be happy to lend out theirs so they can enjoy an hour or two of free time!

10. GIVE YOURSELF AN i.O.ME! Don’t wait for your birthday or Mother’s Day. Give yourself a ‘me day’ or at least a few ‘me’ hours. You’ll be amazed how it will give you a new perspective on that next load of laundry waiting for you!

The new Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle multi-purpose, multi-surface cleaner has 2.5* times more power in every drop, delivering superior cleaning performance in a compact bottle.  With its auto-stop cap feature, Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle delivers the right amount of cleaning gel with one squeeze – free of mess.  It penetrates dirt, fights grease and lifts stains with less going to waste.  Liquid Muscle can be used on a variety of surfaces, including sealed floors, tables, countertops, sinks, stovetops and more.

Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle is available at grocery retail, home improvement, and mass merchandise stores nationwide starting January 2014. More information on the entire Mr. Clean product line can be found at www.mrclean.com or www.facebook.com/mrclean.

Varieties available:

• Crisp Lemon
• Febreze® Meadows & Rain
• Gain® Original Fresh Scent
• Mr. Clean® Liquid Muscle with the Grease Fighting Power of Dawn®

Which of the ten cleaning tips is your favorite?