You can’t begrudge children the freedom to run, play and explore. Unfortunately, they don’t just play with toys and games. After a rainy afternoon or a day raiding the toybox, the house looks like a toy shop has exploded.

As domestic cleaners, we’re used to dealing with the muck and mess that our beloved kids bring into each room. Here are some tips on how to get it sorted.

Bedtime is Tidy Up Time

Before bed, try to get the kids into the habit of tidying up before story time. Even if you let them trash the place in the day time, it’s a good idea to teach them to put everything back.

In their bedrooms, try having a once a week tidy – rainy days and Sunday afternoons are good opportunities for this. Explain that any toys left on the floor will have to go into the loft for a few weeks – this often gets them motivated to shift them!

Likewise, make sure your living space is clean and tidy in the evenings. It’s your house too, and you need space and time to chill out, without Sticklebricks and Lego under your feet. Invest in an Ottoman storage box, and make sure the toys get stored away in it each night.

Cleaning Stains

Babies, toddlers and children all create mess, and their escapades can stain furniture. If it’s not a cup of orange juice, it’s a bottle of milk, or a spaghetti bolognese dinner gone awry.

Stain management varies according to the type of surface, so always follow the manufacturer’s guidance first. As a guide, removing a stain quickly is generally more successful than leaving it to dry, so have a stain remover product in the cupboard and pounce on the mark quickly.

In terms of specific stains:

  • Remove ballpoint pen with baby wipes; crayon can be removed by rubbing soap over the marks
  • Formula milk comes away nicely with a soak in the sink; beware of Metanium nappy cream which is very difficult to remove
  • Wet blood stains should never be washed with hot water or they will set fast. If dried, use biological washing powder or laundry bleach as a prewash
  • Water based paints should come off easily if they are still wet, so put clothes straight into the wash after play. If they are dry, it’s much more difficult to remove marks completely
  • For more information on how to remove stains from a pale carpet, read our blog.

Organising and Tidying

Children’s bedrooms don’t have to be messy, although many certainly are. Use these tips to keep things in order.

  • Child-friendly storage is a must for toys. Choose low baskets for toddlers, and larger bins for young kids
  • Make tidying up fun: choose a silly song for tidying up time and harness your toddler’s natural desire to stack and sort
  • Launder baby clothes swiftly, and use soap on clothes stained with nappy ointment, poo or other tough stains
  • Ask your toddler to put their dirty clothes in the washing machine, or involve them in putting empty packets in the bin (not taking them out!)

Help Keeping Clean

It’s difficult to keep a clean home when you are constantly battling stains and mess. Let us help hoover, wipe and scrub your home so you have more time to play with the children. Contact Efficient Cleaning today and find out how inexpensive a helpful, local cleaner can be.