During the winter, keeping a home clean can be an overwhelming challenge. For those who have young children running around, friends constantly coming over to visit, and playing, it can absolutely be frustrating.
You may vacuum the living room, the bedrooms, sweep and mop the floors, and do all of that every few days and nothing seems to matter. Every time you turn around there seems to be another mess to clean up, footprints outlined in dirt, and you begin seeing the condition of your carpeting decline rapidly.
There are ways you can help prepare your home for winter that will, in essence, help to keep it a bit cleaner throughout the season.
1. Create a mud room.
If you don’t have a mud room, create one. You don’t need a lot of space. All you need to do is create some type of artificial barrier a couple of feet inside the entry door of the house.
If you prefer to have this ‘mud room’ at the side or back door entrance, direct everyone to only come through that door until further notice. This is where they will remove their shoes, possibly their socks, coats, clothes, and hats. You want a nice, solid pad for the boots or shoes to collect the snow, ice, and slush and a rack for everything else.
2. Practice taking off shoes.
If you have children and/or a forgetful spouse, practice this routine before winter precipitation begins falling. Every time you return home, make it a drill. For younger children, you can play a game with it as well.
You can even practice having everyone remove their shoes even if you’re not going anywhere.
3. Keep walkways and the driveway clear of snow and ice.
When it snows a lot, it’s exhausting. You may have a snow thrower, shovel, or something else to help you keep these walkways clean, but if you leave any bit of snow or slush behind, that’s one more opportunity for dirt to get tracked inside your house.
What strategies do you employ to help keep your home cleaner during the winter?
