Back-to-school season is here in Northwest Arkansas, which means earlier mornings, packed lunches, backpacks by the door and schedules filling up fast.
For families in Bentonville, Rogers, Bella Vista, Centerton, Pea Ridge, Lowell and surrounding communities, this time of year can feel like going from summer mode to full speed almost overnight.
A clean and organized home won’t make the alarm clock ring any later, but it can make busy school mornings and weeknights a little easier.
The good news? You don’t need to deep clean your entire house.
These simple back-to-school cleaning tips focus on the areas that tend to get the most use once school starts.
Here are seven places worth tackling first.
1. Clean and Organize the Entryway
Your entryway is about to become one of the busiest areas in your home.
Backpacks, shoes, sports equipment, jackets and school supplies all seem to collect here.
Before the school routine gets going:
- Wipe down doors and door handles
- Vacuum or shake out entry rugs
- Sweep or mop the floor
- Remove shoes and jackets that no longer fit
- Create a designated spot for backpacks and lunch boxes
A little organization here can make getting out the door in the morning much easier.
2. Reset Your Kitchen Counters
During the school year, the kitchen often becomes command central.
Homework lands on the counter. Permission slips appear out of nowhere. Water bottles multiply overnight.
Clear away anything that doesn’t need to live on your counters, then wipe down the countertops, backsplash and cabinet handles.
If you have room, designate one small area for school papers and anything that needs a parent’s attention.
Because “I need this signed today” is much easier to handle when the paper isn’t hiding underneath three days of mail.
3. Clean Out the Refrigerator
You don’t need to completely empty your refrigerator and scrub every shelf.
This is a back-to-school reset, not a refrigerator renovation.
Throw away expired food, wipe up spills and organize the foods your family reaches for most often.
Consider making dedicated areas for:
- Lunch ingredients
- Grab-and-go breakfasts
- After-school snacks
- Water bottles and drinks
Keeping the refrigerator organized can make packing lunches and figuring out dinner a little less stressful.
4. Clean High-Touch Areas Around Your Home
Once school starts, kids are touching desks, playground equipment, shared supplies, door handles and plenty of other surfaces throughout the day.
That makes back-to-school season a good time to start regularly cleaning the high-touch surfaces in your home.
Pay extra attention to:
- Door handles
- Light switches
- Refrigerator handles
- Faucet handles
- Remote controls
- Frequently used bathroom surfaces
You don’t need to follow everyone around with disinfectant. Simply adding these areas to your regular house cleaning routine can help prevent everyday dirt and grime from building up.
5. Give the Bathrooms a Fresh Start
Busy school mornings and clean bathrooms don’t always get along.
Before everyone’s schedule gets hectic, give your bathrooms a good reset.
Clean the:
- Toilets
- Sinks and faucets
- Mirrors
- Counters
- Showers and tubs
- Bathroom floors
While you’re there, throw away empty bottles, wash the towels and restock anything your family uses every morning.
And yes, this is also your opportunity to investigate how toothpaste ended up three feet away from the toothbrush.
Some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved.
6. Reset the Bedrooms
Summer bedtimes are ending, and earlier school mornings are making their comeback.
A clean, comfortable bedroom can help make the transition back into a regular nighttime routine a little easier.
Wash the bedding, clear off nightstands, empty trash cans, dust surfaces and vacuum or mop the floors.
Back-to-school season is also a great time to go through children’s clothes and remove anything they’ve outgrown over the summer.
How children manage to grow an entire clothing size in approximately six minutes remains unclear.
7. Create a Simple School-Week Cleaning Routine
One of our favorite house cleaning tips for busy families is also one of the simplest:
Don’t create a cleaning routine that only works when you have plenty of time.
Create one that works on a random Wednesday when someone has practice, somebody forgot about a school project, dinner is running late and everyone is tired.
Choose a few small cleaning habits that make the biggest difference in your home.
You might:
- Run the dishwasher every night
- Wipe down the kitchen after dinner
- Do a 10-minute family pickup
- Start one load of laundry each morning
- Vacuum high-traffic areas a few times each week
Small routines are usually much easier to maintain than waiting until the entire house feels like it needs to be cleaned at once.
Your Home Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Feel Clean
Back-to-school season is already busy enough.
Your house is going to look lived in because people actually live there.
There will be shoes by the door. There will be crumbs. And at some point, someone will drop a backpack exactly where everyone else needs to walk.
That’s normal.
A back-to-school home reset isn’t about creating a perfect house. It’s about making your home easier to live in during one of the busiest times of the year.
Start with the rooms your family uses the most, build a few simple cleaning habits and give yourself some room to adjust as everyone settles into the new school-year routine.
Need Help Keeping Your Northwest Arkansas Home Clean?
If house cleaning is one thing you’d rather take off your weekly to-do list, we’re here to help. Visit our services page to see how.
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