When it comes to keeping the house under control it really is all about maintenance. These are five things that I find need to be done every day or the house turns into chaos FAST.
Make the bed
There is something about a freshly made bed that sets the mindset for the day. Making the bed is a really simple way to instantly neaten the look of the room, not to mention the pleasure of climbing into a freshly made bed at night.
Make a habit of making the bed before you leave the house each day (or after breakfast if you are spending the day at home). I personally like to pull the sheets back and air it for a little while in the morning, and then make it after breakfast when I’m getting dressed.
Bathroom speed clean
With a house full of boys, I spend a fair amount of time cleaning the bathroom (or sending one of them to wipe up after themselves!) The bathroom is one area of our home that I really like to have clean at all times. I’ve found that by giving it a quick speed clean each evening I can keep it under control so that deeper cleaning of the shower, tiles and floor can be done in 10-15 minutes once a week. My bathroom speed clean technique takes three minutes. Do it!
Keep the sink clear
Start the day with a clean sink.
There is nothing worse than waking up and walking into the kitchen only to be faced with a sink full of dishes.
Make it a habit to wash up or stack the dishwasher before going to bed each night. You can then start the day fresh in the morning.
Do a load of laundry
A load a day keeps the washing away! We do a load of laundry pretty much every day. It goes into the washing machine in the evening and is on a timer to finish in the morning. It then gets hung out to dry during the day and comes back in at night.
If you can get into a good routine for doing the washing each day you won’t even find it gets out of control. One other handy tip is to fold the washing as you take it off the line. It is then ready to go straight away into wardrobes. No more mountains of washing to be folded! It’s also a great way to reduce your ironing!
Vacuum high traffic areas
Vacuum high traffic areas quickly with a handheld vacuum.
About three years ago my mother in law bought me a Dyson cordless stick vacuum for Christmas. She wasn’t trying to send me hints (I don’t think!) but she had noticed me drooling over her one for the past year.
Since then I’ve pretty much vacuumed our kitchen and living room daily. Best gift ever! Keep in mind that our house is small so this task takes me approximately 48 seconds, but it is honestly one of the best ways to keep the house looking tidy and under control. Make it a habit to give the high traffic areas of your home a quick vacuum daily.
If you don’t have a cordless vacuum I would highly recommend one. When I first got it I thought I’d still use my old “real” vacuum for weekly big cleaning but a few months later I ended up selling my other vacuum because the Dyson stick one did everything I needed. My mum now wants one to use as an everyday vacuum for pet hair around their house (you can read a review of pet vacuums here).
When Dyson offered me one of their brand new V6 Absolute cordless stick vacuums to review I was just a little bit excited. I was keen to see the comparison of the Dyson V6 Absolute vs the Dyson DC59 (which is what I currently own), so here are my thoughts!
Dyson V6 Absolute Review
All the goodies that come as part of the Dyson V6 Absolute
Dyson V6 Absolute vs Dyson DC59
I’ve been super happy with my Dyson DC59 up to this point, but I’m not one to decline a free vacuum. One of the key differences I noticed immediately was that the V6 Absolute came with two different cleaner head types, one which is similar the previous standard head and a new speciality head for hard floors. It was this one that I was most interested in because the majority of our flooring is bamboo.
Hard wood head attachment.
The thing about vacuuming floorboards is that if you go over a chunkier object (hello crumpled cereal I’m looking at you), then you often end up needing to go back over to get finer dust particles. I’d become pretty used to this and hadn’t really noticed until I tried the V6 Absolutes hard floor cleaning head.
Oh. My! It’s all kinds of awesome. No more doubling back over areas, it picks up everything in one swipe. So easy and so fast. I was sold pretty much as soon as I saw this feature. I previously couldn’t justify upgrading my Dyson but sorry DC59, you’ve been superseded.
No loss of suction when cleaning above head height.
The second cleaning head is designed for carpet (although it also works well on hard floors) and it has special bristles to get deep into the carpet. I cleaned once with my DC59 and then went over it with the V6 Absolute just to test it out. It did in fact pick up quite a lot more even though the carpet looked clean.
Perfect for the car or cleaning chairs and couches.
Key features of the Dyson V6 Absolute
- 20 minutes running time which is ideal for a quick run around and enough to do a small home or apartment completely.
- Simple, no mess emptying of the canister (it’s bagless of course). No dust flying everywhere like some bagless vacuums out there!
- Easy clean filter (just rinse, dry and put it back).
- Detachable cleaning wand so you can use it as a compact handheld for the car or use the longer wand to reach cobwebs and clean cornices.
- Super handy docking station. Attaches to the wall for charging and keeps it within easy reach.
- Handy accessories for cleaning hard to reach places (which all store conveniently in the docking station)
- 2 Year warranty (and they are super responsive at dealing with any issues in my experience)
Easy clean filter. Just rinse, dry and put back!
Is a Dyson V6 Absolute vacuum worth the money?
My first Dyson vacuum was bought for me as a gift. I would probably never have spent that kind of money on a vacuum myself before receiving it, but now having owned one I wouldn’t hesitate.
You’ve probably noticed that people who own Dyson vacuums rave about them and never want to change brands, and there really is a reason. They rock!
So yes, I really do think Dyson vacuums are worth the money. You do get what you pay for with vacuums and the quality and effectiveness is amazing. They also offer fabulous after sales support and warranties.
So there you go. It is no surprise that I love the Dyson V6 Absolute, I knew I would as soon as I saw it!
I’d love to know if you’ve got a cordless stick vacuum and what you think of it.
Does it make your life easier?
Do you use it more than your main vacuum (or has it become your main vacuum like mine!)
I was gifted this Dyson V6 Absolute for review. All opinions are my own 🙂
Looks very impressive. Sadly I just use an extendable dust-buster thing that I keep plugged in. The idea was that I’d use that on a regular basis and then just vacuum with my old vacuum cleaner every few weeks. Naturally it’s turned out I just use the dust-buster thing every couple of weeks (or before visitors!) instead!
I’m going to find out about the Dyson V6 tomorrow at a blogger event and I’m super excited because my current vacuum is so heavy and such a pain. I can’t wait to try a cordless one. Also I really need to get better at cleaning the kitchen sink before I go to bed because it always puts me in a bad mood in the morning waking up to a messy kitchen.
Hi, just found your website and I think it’s great. Great hints for the busy family.
Touching on your Dyson review, I just want to let you know that I totally agree with you. I too have the Dyson absolute v6 vac. But…. I also have purchased about 5 cordless before. When my kids have left home, I give them my old dyson and then I go and upgrade to a new one. I have one upstairs and one downstairs. Eeryone is happy!
They are the best machines. I also have a large barrel dyson, but I find I just grab te cordless and whizz around the house daily. Life is made a little easier!
Thanks Jennifer. Isn’t it just the best! I really love the new absolute, especially the hard floor tool. It makes such a huge difference. Once you go Dyson, you never go back do you.
#Waterloocarpetcleaningservices has been working with various client in Waterloo area and most of them have the same complaint in regards to the vacuum that they are using. This content is worth sharing and we do believe this would help them a lot on maintaining home cleanliness.
After reading your review of Dyson v6 I decided to buy it as fast as possible. I have ordered it from amazon and I just get Dyson V6 from 2 days ago. Happy with my new vacuum cleaner and your review is amazing.
So glad you are loving it!
Thanks, great tips! We love the Dyson V6 for pet hair on our hardwood floors.