New Year's Resolutions for a Clean House

With 2022 ending and 2023 beginning, it’s time to start thinking about goals for the coming year. Striving to keep your home cleaner is a great new year’s resolution to set for 2023. After all, cleanliness can make a big impact both in terms of the health of your family and how comfortable your home is. 

For many people, a new year cleaning resolution may seem daunting. There is so much to do that it can be hard to know how to turn that goal into a plan of action. With this post, we hope to make that easier. Read on to discover some of our best cleaning tips for the new year, so you can succeed with your resolution. 

Build Up to a Total Clean

Trying to make major changes to your cleaning routine all at once can set you up for failure, so don’t try to have a totally clean house on New Year’s Day. Instead, make a list of all of the New Year’s cleaning chores you’re hoping to perform more regularly. 

Using a calendar or your mobile device, assign each task to a certain time frame. For example, if you have 12 tasks, make one the focus of each month. Got 25? Break it down into two-week periods. When you reach the appointed time on the calendar, add the new cleaning goal while continuing with the old ones. By the time you reach the end of 2023, your new year cleaning regimen will be second nature. 

Create a Cleaning Routine

With most things in life, you have a routine. You work on certain days. You get up at a certain time. You drive your kids to appointments or run errands according to a schedule. All of this makes it possible for you to accomplish everything that you need to do more easily. 

Cleaning can be done the same way. Pencil in time on your daily agenda to tackle specific tasks. After New Year’s, wash clothes on one, two or three days of the week at certain times. Wash the dishes right after dinner. Wipe off counters right before you go to bed. You can schedule chores in a way that makes sense to you. Just commit to following through with your schedule every day. 

Develop a Chore Chart

If you live with other people, get everyone involved in your new year cleanup goal. Have a house meeting and decide who will do what. Then, create a daily or weekly chore chart that outlines what everyone will do. Even young children can participate by putting their toys away and cleaning their rooms. Older kids can be given additional chores like taking out the trash, wiping off counters, folding laundry and drying dishes. 

Add an incentive to keep everyone motivated. With roommates or your spouse, you can try putting a jar in the kitchen and say that whoever misses a chore has to pay a penalty like $0.50, $1 or $5. When you all do your chores successfully over a set period, you can use the money to buy pizza to celebrate. For children, allowance systems often work well. Assign a value to each chore, or establish a weekly amount contingent on every chore being completed on time. 

Start with Storage

Clutter accumulates when you don’t have good storage and organization systems in place. Start the new year off right by cleaning out your closets, storage bins, pantries, cabinets, baskets, bookshelves and other storage furniture and containers. Donate items or list them on third-party resale platforms to sell. Recycle things that can’t be used by anyone else whenever possible. 

Doing a major purge of expired and unused items can have a powerful effect on your mind and spirit. It’s a symbolic way to show that you’re starting a new chapter. Plus, you’ll celebrate the new year with much more room to stash clutter. Cleaning out all those nooks and crannies in your home will also make it simpler for you to perform tasks like wiping off shelves, sweeping and running the vacuum cleaner. 

Invest in Proper Cleaning Products

You can’t tackle cleaning jobs without the right products and tools on hand. What you’ll need may vary, but generally, most homes should have all of the following: 

Natural and Gentle Cleaning Wonders

Many cleaning jobs can be tackled without harsh chemicals. Baking soda and vinegar are useful for many DIY cleaning tasks. Also, many types of materials can be cleaned simply with mild dish soap. Consider buying these three key products in bulk, so you have them available for many tasks. 

A Go-to Multi-Surface Cleaner

Find an all-purpose or multi-surface cleaner that you like and stock up. These products can be used to wipe down counters and tables, clean bathroom vanities, wipe up sinks, spot clean floors and more. When selecting your go-to cleaning product, consider sprays and wipes. If you opt for sprays, pick up some reusable, machine-washable cleaning cloths, so you can save money by not using paper towels. 

Floor-Cleaning Tools and Appliances

Floor care is essential for a clean home, so you’ll need tools or appliances to tackle cleaning regularly. Every home can benefit from a vacuum cleaner for picking up debris. For hard surfaces, you can use a wet or dry mop. Having a broom and dustpan on hand can also make spot cleaning simpler. If you have room in your budget, a robotic vacuum can automate floor care and give you one less job to do. 

Natural Odor Eliminators

Battle unpleasant smells throughout the new year with Fresh Wave Odor-Eliminating Products. Our lineup of gels, candles, sprays, laundry boosters, vacuum beads, pods and packs and pet care products can help keep every part of your home smelling fresh. Because our products are plant-powered and free of toxic chemicals, you can use them with confidence. Check out the Fresh Wave odor-eliminating lineup today and get set for 2023.