Let’s set the scene. You just got back home from an exhausting day at the office or running errands. Your legs are like jelly, your hair is a mess, and you want nothing more than to settle into the living room sofa and just become a part of the upholstery. You turn the key, twist the door handle and walk across the threshold, hoping to be greeted by a pleasant sight—only to be confronted by an upsetting spectacle.
Catastrophe. Disaster. Unwashed cutlery in the sink, a sticky countertop and worst of all, knickknacks and toys strewn across the floor. All of your weekend spring cleaning, out the door, just like that. You plop yourself on the sofa, not in contentment but defeat, and reminisce on those joyous times when your house was a sacred sanctum of order, harmony, and happiness. But don’t despair, all hope is not lost. Let’s see what advice these supermums have about not just cleaning your house but getting it to stay clean too.
Stress-Free Landry Days
Let’s be honest, who here actually loves doing laundry? Well, what if there was a way to make those weekend wash days less stressful? Supermum Iza Hamid has a few laundry hacks that’s guaranteed to help you get the washing done in no time. Here, she recommends some must-have laundry products. If your socks are always missing or mismatched, a sock hanger is a great accessory to keep them organised during washing. Add cotton balls with your laundry the next time you use your dryer to reduce drying time and static. To prevent colour bleeding and transfer between clothes, use colour absorber sheets during washing.
Baking Soda Is Your Best Friend
Need to prepare your house for special occasions? Well, this video by Aina Syafiqka will help you deodorise your home as you clean—with twice the benefit but half the effort. Now, what’s the secret ingredient to this cleaning hack, might you ask? Baking soda, of course! It’s every mum’s best friend. Mix floor wash with fabric softener and baking soda—guaranteed to make your floors sparkle! Want to deodorise your carpets and rugs? Mix 2 parts baking soda with 1 part fabric softener to create a powder. Pour into a salt shaker and sprinkle onto carpets and rugs, then vacuum any remaining residues. And speaking of fabric softeners, another cool trick we found is that wiping down your surfaces and floors with a mixture of fabric softener and water can effectively repel dust by reducing static. So that means less dust and less clean-up for you!
Easy-Clean Playroom
Cleaning is only half the battle won, but keeping your home clean is another thing altogether. Your little rugrats may be cute and innocent-looking, but they can sure leave a trail of disaster in their wake like a mini-Godzilla. Sure, it might be easier when you don’t have kids, but for mum of two Nur Hafizah, dedicating a special corner for her kids to play in is the first step to quarantining the chaos into a more manageable area. To minimise clean up, she uses plateholders for books and board games, compartment boxes to store puzzle pieces, storage boxes to keep toys tidy and hidden, layered tray and drawers to keep most used items, and rotating shelves to avoid clutter.
Live-Saving Kitchen Hacks
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♬ original sound – XVX – XVXThe kitchen is where the magic happens. It’s where you make all your favourite recipes and family meals, so it’s important to keep things neat and tidy. Besides, you can’t have the place looking messy for when nosy and judgmental guests arrive. Everything from your stove, fridge, sink and your pots and pans must be spotless, as if you just went through everything with a toothbrush. Fellow Malaysian supermum Dina Sallehuddin shares with us some essential tips to helping you do just that. Her tips include cleaning up as you go, having a place for everything, storing everything back in its place after using, utilising the oven as food storage and many more. Check out her post above to learn more of her kitchen hacks!
Stinky Fridge No More
What’s worse than a foul-smelling refrigerator? The stench of last year’s durian and last week’s tempoyak must still be lingering in the depths of your ice box. As a result, every time you eat ice cream now, you’re haunted by the ghosts of those long-gone food items. But fret not, because supermum Mariatul has some good tricks to deodorise your fridge. Some secret ingredients that can absorb the stink include oats, charcoal, coffee beans, tea bags, vanilla essence, pandan, and yes, bread! So, if you have some stale bread that you don’t know what to do with, just chuck it at the back of your fridge. It will absorb the stink right up!
Share Your Cleaning Hacks with Us!
So, now that we’ve shared with you these smart cleaning hacks from our local Malaysian supermums, it’s time for you to tell us your own secret tricks and tips that you use to keep your home sweet home spick and span. Sharing is caring; fill in this survey and we’ll share the results in a future article.
Hold up, there’s more: Once you finish answering the questions, you’ll get a free RM10 Motherhood voucher which you can spend at Motherhood.com.my! Here, you can find all the baby and parenting products that you could ever dream of. From baby bottles, bath items, books and bedding, to educational toys, clothes and diapers. Can’t wait to read all your answers, mummies. We look forward to you surprising us with your ingenuity and brilliance!
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