Them talking about the things that you would do either after
dinner or before bed. I'm Ronnie and you're listening
to clean with me, the podcast where I walk you through
cleaning your house step by step.
Thanks for joining me in this episode.
I'm going to talk you through a quick evening routine.
Maybe you're listening to this after dinner or maybe you're
listening to this before bed, but there are certain things
that you can do in the evening to set yourself up for a a
better day tomorrow. OK.
And while you're gearing up for your cleaning session, maybe you
want to put on a pair of flip flops or slides in case there
are crumbs or sticky spots in your kitchen floor.
You know, while you're just getting up, getting your shoes
on. I will go over what we're going
to work on. We're going to be washing your
dishes, scrubbing out the sink. We're going to clear and wipe
your countertops and stove top. We're going to do a 5 minute
pickup of your house. We're going to put away one load
of clean laundry to kind of keep that laundry cycle going, and
then we're going to talk about possibly laying out your clothes
for tomorrow or laying out someone else's clothes for
tomorrow. We'll spend a couple minutes at
the end talking about that, but the first thing I want you to do
now that you've got your shoes on, if you needed them, is to
gather up any stray dishes from around the house.
Maybe there's a coffee mug on a night stand, or a bowl and a
spoon on a coffee table, or a plate and a fork in someones
bedroom, or on a kitchen table or dining room table.
I'm sure you have that rule where people are supposed to
clear their dishes and silverware and rinse them off
and at least place them in the sink if they're not supposed to
put it completely into the dishwasher.
I mean, some people have a system where they're putting
things into the dishwasher throughout the day, running it
at the end. Others want people to hand wash
as they go. And then kind of that more
lenient rule, if you're the primary person who does dishes,
is to at least have them take the dishes to the sink, rinse
them off and leave them in the sink for you.
Anyway, gather those dishes up and start washing them.
And I realize that you may need to put away some clean dishes
before you start washing in the morning episode I did recently
and in a lot of episodes for that matter, I encourage you in
the mornings to empty your drying rack and empty your
dishwasher. That kind of separates putting
away the clean dry dishes from washing dishes so that you don't
have kind of a an overwhelming task to do it once.
But let's face it, sometimes there are dishes in the drying
rack, dishes in the dishwasher and we need to put away those
clean items first so that we can wash dishes.
Another time that you can be emptying your drying rack and
dishwasher is when you're cooking because oftentimes there
are waiting periods where you're preheating the oven or waiting
for water to boil or waiting for something to brown on one side
before you flip it over. It's best to stay in the kitchen
so that you don't burn your food or you know, you want to
supervise what you're cooking. When possible, utilize that time
where you're hanging out in the kitchen to kind of get ahead.
OK, But I realize you may be listening to this after dinner
or later in the evening and you didn't necessarily do that and
you have clean stuff to put away quickly get that stuff put away
when you're hand washing and you have an empty drying rack or
pad. Some people put things out on a
pad or towel, but you have an empty spot for the clean dishes.
It goes a lot faster because you're not having to slow down
and think about where to place that freshly washed dish.
So let's get all the clean stuff put away and then start washing
your dishes, whatever that means for you.
Maybe you have some difficult items that you need to pre rinse
and fill up with hot water and liquid dish soap and get those
soaking, like a pot or a pan or even a forgotten mug with a
coffee ring in the bottom or whatever.
Get any difficult items soaking and then start washing the easy
stuff. That could mean pre rinsing
items and putting them into the dishwasher, or it could mean
starting that first sink load where you're washing your
glasses and silverware by hand and then if the water gets dirty
so to speak, you you drain that, refill the sink again.
You know as needed you're going to be changing the water when
hand washing. And typically after the glasses
and silverware, I move on to the plates and bowls, although
sometimes I leave the silverware just submerged for a little
while while I wash the plates and bowls.
If there's stuff kind of dried on the silverware.
You want to work smarter, not harder.
So you want to soak the things that need to be soaked while
you're washing the easy items. And then you come back to the
difficult items that we were either sitting on the counter
full of water or submerged. You want to end with those
items. OK, maybe you're putting
everything that fits into the dishwasher and then hand washing
the rest. Or maybe you are doing a few
sink loads and changing the water periodically and doing
dishes in the evening can be a challenge.
I get that like a lot of times you're tired.
Maybe you've been standing around a lot while cooking and
then you overindulge and you feel kind of full and you just
want to like plop down. I mean, it's OK to let your food
settle before doing dishes, but just keep in mind the sooner you
do dishes, the easier it is to do them.
You know, if you just kind of force yourself to get up right
after dinner and wash those dishes, it's going to be easier
than if the stuff cools down more more and dries on more and
just be working on your dishes while I talk.
Often times I will transfer food from the skillet into a glass
casserole dish that has a lid and use that as the serving dish
and then also the storage container.
And you might be thinking what? We just eat it out of the pan so
we don't dirty anything. My method's better, OK?
And the reason I say that is because when you transfer the
food while it's still hot into the serving dish slash storage
container, which is one in the same, that allows you to wash
that skillet or that pot, whatever you cook the food in
while it's still, the food is still hot.
It's just going to be easier to wash the dishes while
everything's still hot. It's going to come right off.
This will make more sense if you routinely make enough food to
have leftovers. We try to do that because we
don't want to run out of food where somebody's still hungry,
they go back for seconds and there's nothing left.
So to prevent that, we're making enough food to have leftovers.
And then it's always nice to either reheat all the same stuff
and, you know, have the exact same dinner the next day, or if
there's only a little bit of leftovers, maybe reheat it for
lunch. You know, sometimes I put
leftovers in a container, take it to work, microwave it on the
days where I'm working at the school.
OK. Or sometimes we incorporate it
into breakfast. I mean, there's nothing like
heating up some enchiladas and then frying some eggs to plop on
top and having that for breakfast.
Anybody else? Anyway, my point is, if you do
make large amounts of food and store the leftovers, figuring
out a dish that will work as a serving dish and container for
leftovers and then doing that transfer while the food is still
hot will make it so much easier. And especially if you dread like
scrubbing pots and pans or leaving things to soak, getting
into this cycle where there's always something soaking the
serving dish method can be kind of a game changer.
But I realize if there are just two of you and you're making
small portions and you've just got it down to a science how
much food to make, and you're not really generating leftovers,
maybe you just wait until after dinner to wash the pots and pans
that are empty because you made the exact right amount of food.
I get that. But either way, I really want
you to try to get into the habit of doing your dishes soon after
dinner. And maybe you do have the
routine where you get the kids to bed and you're kind of a
night owl and you clean the kitchen later.
That's fine too. There might be more scrubbing
involved, but that that's fine too.
What I really want you to do is get down to dish 0 before going
to bed. It is such a game changer and I
feel like a lot of you probably need to work on that because
people in a state of overwhelm often wake up to a messy kitchen
and dirty dishes. And it's such an important habit
to change. You know, get out of the habit
of not washing every single or, or maybe you are washing every
single dish every 24 hours. Maybe that was kind of your
first baby step on your housekeeping journey was to get
down to dish 0 every 24 hours. The next thing is getting it to
where it's happening before you go to bed, because it's always
better to have your dishes done before you go to bed than doing
them the next morning. You don't want roaches, do you?
And I'm not trying to sound preachy or anything, it's just
my job to motivate you and give you some reasons behind what
we're doing. OK, the next thing I want you to
do is clear and wipe down your counters.
Maybe you left some seasonings out or you have some scraps
from, you know, prepping, Like you've got a cutting board and
some vegetable ends and whatnot. We feed that stuff to the
chickens. Do what you do with that kind of
stuff. But I want you to clear off your
countertops, OK? There could be packaging, food
packaging. There could be seasoning that
needs to be put away. There could be items that belong
in a different room of the house.
Maybe there's that one countertop or that kitchen
island where people kind of walk in and plot things.
Let's get that stuff put away. Basically, you want to get your
countertops completely cleared off, and you don't want to store
a lot on the countertops, but there are things you're going to
have out. Your coffee maker, your toaster,
your blender. It depends on, you know, what
you're into. But I want you to grab some
spray once you've cleared it off.
Spray down your countertops and stove tops.
Scrub them. Sometimes you need to use an A
sponge with an abrasive side and do some scrubbing before you do
just the wiping. OK, you might be using liquid
dish soap and an abrasive sponge to clean your stovetop, your
countertops, and scrub out your sink and the faucet and the area
behind the faucet. Do that scrubbing and then after
that, you might want to just get your favorite cleaning spray and
spray the surfaces and wipe them off OK, either with a clean damp
cloth or paper towel, whatever you use.
But I want you to shine up those countertops, the sink and the
stove top. And I realized there are deeper
cleaning tasks to be done in your kitchen, scrubbing your
cabinets and things like that. But this is just a quick evening
routine. You're tired, I get that your
main cleaning session probably takes place at a different time
of day. If not, you can listen to one of
my Whole House episodes at night if you're just a total night
cleaner. By the way, those who support
the show financially by becoming a paid subscriber unlock tons of
Whole House episodes. And you can do that through
Apple Podcasts, which is the purple app on your iPhone or
other Apple device. You can do that on Spotify.
A lot of people like that because they're already
listening to music on Spotify. That way they can listen to all
their audio content in one place or you can access those bonus
episodes on on Patreon. For more information on how to
subscribe to bonus content, you can also visit my website,
cleanwithmepodcast.com. But if you're listening on Apple
or Spotify, the option to unlock those subscription only episodes
is probably already being advertised to you.
You know, more episodes, more variety in episodes, longer
episodes, etcetera. If your kitchen's floor is a
mess, you might want to sweep or mop at this point.
Or you might just want to do a little bit of a spot treatment.
Maybe you just need to sweep under the table where people
ate, or next to the stove, or next to where you were using
your cutting board and do a little bit of spot sweeping and
dust panning there. There's going to be more time to
sweep and mop later, but if there's an area with crumbs,
quickly sweep that into a dust pan.
We're not going to spend a lot of time on this because this is
not a deep cleaning session. It's just a routine for the
evening to set you up for a successful day of cleaning.
Tomorrow I want you to wake up in a good mood with a
presentable house and the time and energy to do some deep
cleaning either in the morning, afternoon or early evening
tomorrow. But this is more of a late
evening routine because I'm talking about the things that
you would do either after dinner or before bed.
So the next thing I want you to do is a quick 5 minute pickup.
Now maybe you already picked up your entryway and front room.
If if it's your habit to kind of straighten up those outer areas,
maybe before your spouse gets home or before you pick up the
kids. We all have these self-imposed
deadlines, these events that kind of punctuate our day.
So it could be that you've already picked up those areas
and you need to do the pickup somewhere else.
Like, maybe your bedroom's out of control, but most likely
there is some clutter in those outer areas, your front room,
your entryway, maybe a family room toward the back of the
house if you have two living areas because people have been
living in those areas all evening.
So maybe even if you did straighten up your house before
people started to get home, now it's getting cluttered again.
And I don't want you to go to bed with a messy house.
Obviously, doing the dishes is more important for sanitary
reasons. You know, you don't want
nocturnal bugs to start multiplying in your kitchen.
OK, but the reason we want to tidy up the house before bed is
to remove the the visual clutter that's going to make you feel a
little bit down and depressed if you see it the next morning.
I'm trying to prevent that feeling.
There's just such a wonderful feeling when you head to the
kitchen for that morning beverage, whether it's coffee,
tea, juice, and your house is generally picked up and your
kitchen's under control. Dishes are done, surfaces are
wiped down. It it's such an amazing feeling
and it's going to help you stay ahead on your housework.
So hopefully you're just going through your house right now,
picking up whether it's straightening your front
entrance, living areas, hallways, you know, clearing
your couches, your end table, coffee table, or maybe picking
up some laundry from a bathroom floor somewhere.
A, you know, dirty towel or clothes someone dropped or
putting your shoes in the closet and picking up your own bedroom
floor. The goal is just to rush through
your house and remove that visual clutter so that you don't
wake up to that the next day. And let's face it, the first
room you wake up to is your bedroom, so don't forget to pick
up your bedroom. Of course, if your bedroom is
out of control and you've got more time and energy, listen to
a bedroom cleaning episode. After this.
You don't have to Scroll down very far to find an episode
that's all about cleaning the bedroom.
Once you're done picking up clutter, your bonus task, if you
will, is putting away one load of clean laundry.
Maybe earlier today you made your bed and you pulled a load
out of the dryer and plopped it on your bed.
You're going to want to fold and put away that one load of
laundry before bed tonight. Or maybe you put it on the
couch. Or maybe you have a folding
table. Wherever you keep clean laundry,
maybe it's still in your dryer. This could be a time to fold and
put away that laundry. Now, I realize you might do your
laundry once or twice a week and this isn't the day for it.
If that's the case, just keep focusing on tidying up, OK?
I realize that some of you need more time to pick up, and you've
expressed that whether you're picking up after toddlers or
pets or even your spouse, you might just need more time to
pick up. OK.
But for a lot of you, it only took a few minutes to pick up
the house. And folding and putting away
that load of laundry can kind of can help you stay on top of
laundry. Because if you start a load in
the morning and then you switch the load either at lunchtime or
early evening into the dryer, that just leaves folding it and
putting it away in the evening. So the evening is a great time
to fold and put away one load, especially if you're kind of
doing the one load a day. And one load a day doesn't
necessarily mean seven days a week.
It could be four or five days a week.
But if you do one load of laundry from start to finish on
most days, you're not going to be overwhelmed with mount wash
more or mount fold more. So keep working on either
picking up or putting away clean laundry.
While you're finishing up, I wanted to mention laying out
clothes for the next day. This is not always needed if
you're the type of person whose wardrobe is well organized.
Like you have your clothes in the correct drawers, you've got
things hanging up and it's easy for you to open your drawers and
open your closet and get dressed in the morning.
This this might not be for you, but if you find yourself
scrambling and you have to be somewhere in the morning,
whether it's getting kids to school or getting yourself to
work or helping somebody else get ready for work.
If your mornings are stressful and sometimes finding something
to wear or finding something for your kid to wear is slowing you
down, please consider laying out clothes the night before.
I've talked about this in another episode, but sometimes
for kids, it can be fun to have them clean their room and then
assemble a person on the floor out of the clothing, like, you
know, the shirt, pants, socks, you know, kind of assemble this
fake man, if you will, on the floor.
And it's just kind of a fun thing for young children, but
older kids might just set some folded clothes on a chair, you
know, if they seem to experience decision fatigue in the morning
and, you know, or, or you tell them to make sure they do their
laundry and then they don't. And then in the morning, well, I
thought I'd have something to wear, but I don't and I haven't
done my laundry. You can eliminate all that by
having them lay out their clothes.
OK. So that might apply to somebody.
And also, when I used to work out in the morning, I like to be
able to open my eyes and see my workout clothes just ready, like
within my line of vision. Because then there was just
something psychological where I told myself I really just need
to like, wash my face, brush my teeth, put my hair in a ponytail
and then put on those clothes. They're already there.
I don't have to think about what I'm going to wear or hunt
anything down. The outfit's ready, and that was
kind of motivating for me. So there are a lot of reasons to
lay your clothes out the night before.
Another situation was when my kids were little and I had like
five kids living with me at a time.
And it was like, you know, 1 was a baby, one was a toddler, it
was nursing, you know, all the things.
Aturday nights, I laid out all the clothes for church.
And that made that, you know, go a little more smoothly.
Anyway, I hope you got a lot done during this episode.
There will be another bonus episode coming out soon, but the
reason I skipped one I've been traveling.
My son just graduated from Marine boot camp, so we went
down to Southern California for Family Day and his graduation.
It was an exciting time. And then I was going to make a
bonus episode this morning, but I was helping my daughter move
into her new apartment. And then we get there thinking
it's move in ready, someone comes to the door and says that
they still have to paint. So then we had to come back here
and I had my little grandbabies here and I wasn't going to
record with kids chattering in the background.
Just like you, I've got a lot on my plate.
But there will be a new bonus episode coming out soon.
Thank you for your patience regarding that.
Special thanks to my financial supporters.
But even just listening to the show helps me.
I appreciate each and everyone of you.
And as always, happy cleaning. I'll talk to you soon.