Cleaning During Quarantine: Step-by-Step Plan

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

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

Kitchen

Declutter the refrigerator

Relevant for those who decided to stock up on provisions during quarantine and avoid going out. Conduct an inventory: get rid of expired products and move the ones you need to eat soon closer.

Store remaining food separately — each type of product on its own shelf — this will keep it fresh longer. Transfer leftovers 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 in kitchen cabinets. Essential items (coffee machine, kettle, sugar bowl) can be placed on trays — this makes it easier to keep the countertop clean.

Declutter the pantry

Pour powdered products into glass jars. To use oil more economically, close the bottle with a metal dispenser cap — they fit almost all types of bottles.

Do a five-minute clean

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

Living Rooms

Stock up on toy containers

Striving for perfect order during quarantine doesn't make sense. Instead, prepare a couple of large boxes or containers where you can quickly gather all scattered toys in the evening. They will be shaken back out in the morning anyway.

Declutter your desk

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

It’s convenient to have a notebook for notes, writing supplies, and two trays for paper. One tray can hold important documents, and the other — incoming papers that are periodically sorted (some go for recycling, and the rest are moved to the tray with important documents).

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 do them 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 wash windows here.

Bathroom

Declutter the home medicine cabinet

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

Therefore, first pack the medications in a bag or screw-top jar (tablets are better crushed into powder beforehand) and add something non-edible inside: 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 the 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 area with a cotton swab dipped in chlorhexidine.

Change towels

Change hand towels daily or use paper towels.

Entryway

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 to wash sand and dirt from under rows of boots.

Designate 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’ll stop losing them.

Place hand sanitizer by the door

New times require new habits. Hand sanitizer in the entryway will come in handy when you return home from the street. It’s also useful for wiping door handles.

7 Useful Books That Will Help You Keep Your Home Tidy

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

2. Practical guide to organizing different rooms can be found in the book by Julia Carlson and Margo Guralnick «Remodelista. Cozy Home. Simple and Stylish Ideas for Space Organization».

3. Learn how to choose, store, and cook various foods from Ewa Puntsh in the book «Chef for Yourself: How to Cook Without Recipes».

4. See your apartment from a medical and safety perspective in the book by Daria Sarkisyan «Wallpaper Killers, Poisonous Water, and the Temptation Chair: How to Survive in Your Own Apartment».

5. For reviewing your cosmetics, refer to the book by Adel Miftahova and Masha Vorslav «Normal About Cosmetics: How to Navigate Skincare and Makeup Without Going Crazy».

6. Learn how to declutter your wardrobe and choose and store clothes rationally in the book by Anushka Riz «Smart Wardrobe: How to Express Your Individuality While Tidying Up Your Closet».

7. Find inspiration and tips for plant care in the book by Igor Yosifovich and Judith de Graaf «Urban Jungle. How to Create a Cozy Interior with Plants».