You’re off at work all day and there are no kids at home to mess up the house.  It’s just you and the little mess you make.  How hard can it be to clean the house?

Well, that was what you thought until you looked at it, knowing that you only have 15 minutes before that special bloke arrives.

Don’t worry.  15 minutes is plenty.  Here’s what you do.

1. Arm yourself with your tile and grout cleaner, fire away at all the areas that need it; the shower, the vanity, the kitchen sink and let it sit for a bit.

2. A dash of toilet cleaner around the bowl is next, then step away and attend to the piles of stuff; letters and bills etc that have piled up on the end of the kitchen bench. Find a spot for them. Even if it’s a box labelled “Filing” that you’ll get around to soon!

3. With the surfaces free don your dusting glove (make sure you have one of these life savers) and walk around, room by room, running your dusting hand over all the surfaces.

4. Next up is the damp cloth for wiping down dirt and grease … and if you’d like to speed the process up, and work one room at a time, put your dusting cloth in one hand and your wiping cloth in the other! This saves you going back to rooms you’ve already been through.

5. Whack the kettle on, take your bathroom armoury with you and wipe down the surfaces that you sprayed earlier. Having the spray sit on them grotty areas gives it time to do its job – and makes cleaning it much easier and quicker.

6. A quick wipe down and brush of the toilet, run a mop over the floor and a vac over the carpeted areas and you’re done … perfect timing as the kettle has just clicked off.

Easy peasy.

15 minutes down, house clean, kettle boiled and man at the door.  Perfect.

PS A friend of mine sprays Mr Sheen in the air just before her guests arrive –  house may be dusty but it smells like it’s clean! Any tricks up your sleeve?