Cleaning During Quarantine: Step-by-Step Plan

During quarantine, we spend more time at home, so cleaning becomes more frequent. Experts recommend at least once a day to do a damp clean with cleaning products and ventilate the room. But that's not all: we have a list of important tasks to help you maintain order in your apartment.

Julia Malysheva — expert, chief architect of the capital repair service «Made»

Kitchen

Declutter the refrigerator

Essential for those who decided to stock up on provisions during quarantine and not go out. Do an inventory: get rid of expired products and move closer those you need to eat soon.

Store the remaining food separately — each type of product on its own shelf — so it stays fresh longer. Transfer leftover foods to the shelf at eye level — now you won't forget about them.

Clear the kitchen countertop

Keep only what you use daily. Put everything else into kitchen cabinets. Items of first necessity (coffee machine, kettle, sugar bowl) can be placed on trays — this makes it easier to keep the countertop clean.

Declutter the pantry

Sift bulk products into glass jars. To save on oil, close the bottle with a metal dispenser cap — they fit almost all types of bottles.

Do a 5-minute clean

Wipe down the countertop and wash the sink, sweep or vacuum under the dining table and near the work surface. This mini-cleaning can be done daily to maintain order.

Living Rooms

Stock up on toy containers

Striving for perfect order during quarantine makes no sense. Instead, prepare a couple of large boxes or containers where you can quickly gather all scattered toys at night. They will be shaken out again in the morning.

Declutter your desk

To make remote work more productive, get rid of unnecessary items on the desk. Sort through papers: instructions for household appliances are available online, and warranties may be expired, just like bills.

It's convenient to have a notebook for notes, writing supplies, and two trays for papers. One can hold important documents, while the other holds incoming papers that are periodically sorted (some go for recycling, others to the important documents tray).

Update your cleaning supplies

Cleaning products can be mixed based on simple ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and liquid soap.

Wash the window (inside and outside)

Cleaning one window takes about half an hour, but if you decide to wash all at once — it can take the whole day. Perhaps that's why we endlessly postpone this task, instead of washing one window a week.

We explained how to properly clean windows here.

Bathroom

Declutter your home medicine cabinet

Unfortunately, in our country there are no official collection points for expired medications, and simply throwing them away is dangerous: drugs may be found by homeless people or children, as well as animals.

Therefore, first pack the medicines in a bag or screw-top jar (tablets should be crushed into powder beforehand) and add something non-edible: cat litter, sand, old tea leaves. Important note: do not pour liquid medications down the drain — they will end up in water or soil.

Read more about how to properly declutter your medicine cabinet here.

And cosmetics

Remove from the bathroom products you use less than once a week. Get rid of unnecessary samples and expired cosmetics. Wipe the cosmetics case with a cotton pad soaked in chlorhexidine.

Change towels

Change hand towels daily or use paper towels.

Entrance Hall

Organize storage for outdoor shoes

Use trays — they help keep the floor clean: it's much easier to rinse a tray once a week than wash sand and dirt from under rows of boots.

Set aside a place for keys

Use a bowl or mini-basket (you can hang it on a hook if there are no shelves). If you always put keys in the same place, a habit will form and you won't lose them anymore.

Place disinfectant by the door

New times require new habits. Disinfectant in the entrance hall is useful when you come home from outside. It’s also handy to wipe door handles with it.

7 Useful Books to Help You Keep Your Home Tidy

1. For general cleaning inspiration, the bestseller by Mari Konno “The Magical Cleaning: Japanese Art of Tidying Your Home and Life”.

2. Practical guide to organizing different rooms can be found in the book by Julia Carlson and Margo Gurallnik “Remodelista. Cozy Home. Simple and Stylish Space Organization Ideas”.

3. You can learn how to choose, store, and cook various foods from Ewa Punsz in the book “Chef for Yourself: How to Cook Without Recipes”.

4. Looking at your apartment from a medical and safety perspective is helped by the book by Daria Sarkisyan “Wallpaper Killers, Poisonous Water, and Temptation Chair. How to Survive in Your Own Apartment”.

5. Decluttering your cosmetics cabinet is helped by the book by Adel Miftahova and Mashka Vorslav “Normal About Cosmetics: How to Sort Out Skincare and Makeup Without Going Crazy”.

6. Decluttering your wardrobe and learning how to rationally choose and store clothes is helped by the book by Anushka Riz “Smart Wardrobe. How to Express Your Individuality by Tidying Your Closet”.

7. Inspiration and care tips for plants can be found in the book by Igor Yosifovich and Judith de Graff “Urban Jungle. How to Create a Cozy Interior with Plants”.