Housekeeping-in-60-minutes for the Bachelor’s Pad

Well if you are living on your own or thinking of buying a property in Malta as you Bachelor’s pad, we’ve provided you some pre-buying ti

ps to prepare you on how you can make life easier for yourself in just 60 minutes a week.

Easy-peasy. Nothing to it. You can sit back, relax most nights, watch your favourite dvd’s, invite the boys over for a jamming session, sleep late, wake up late most weekends, wash all your shirts once a week and do your shopping only when the fridge is empty. Until…. one fine day you realise the room with a view has become a mess to view and you really need to clean up.

Here is the bachelor’s easy housekeeping-in-60-minutes regime that can get you out of the rut fast…

Switch off the computer, mobile phone and TV. Unhook the landline and don’t answer the front door for the next hour of your life.
Put a stop-watch on to beep within an hour.
Arm yourself with two synthetic chammy cloths – one for wiping furniture surfaces, one for the bathroom plus a sponge scrubber to soap down bathroom surfaces.
Bucket of water, mop, vacuum cleaner must be at hand as well as a large garbage bag.
Start from the bedroom. Window wide open –let some fresh air in. Stretch those sheets, fluff the pillows. Put the books and magazines in a pile.
Throw dirty clothes in a pile outside the room.
Hang or fold anything that is clean and put away. Close drawers, wardrobe doors.
Shake those curtains.
Wipe surfaces with the moist but well wrung chammy & rinse it often in clean water.
Vacuum carpets and window sill, vacuum under and around the bed, and in all the corners.
Next – the bathroom. Throw dirty clothes & towels in the laundry basket and whilst you’re at it, throw a load in the washing machine.
Vacuum floor, and carpet if any.
Spray bath, hand basin and loo with sanitary cleaner, scrub down briskly, taking care to constantly use enough water to rinse properly and dry out with the chammy.
Wipe all bottles and keep together in a basket. Put medicines in the medicine chest. Put clean towels in their place.
Mop the floor.
Kitchen next – wipe down all surfaces plus tables and chairs/stools– yes you can slide all crumbs on the floor.
Vacuum the floor and any carpets.
Put dirty dishes in the sink & wash them/stack them in dishwasher.
Scrub down the sink.
Throw away old newspapers, old food remains, empties.
Mop the floor.
Last is the living room. If you smoke – empty the ashtrays.
Open window/balcony wide and shake those curtains.
Remove throw from the couch and give it a shake out of the window. Fluff the pillows on the couch and vacuum it to remove crumbs, cigarette ash. Vacuum carpet.
Put books/magazines in a pile or on shelves, dvds in a stack.
Wipe surfaces, music equipment, TV screen

If you kept up the momentum, your stop-watch should beep around this time. Finish off and treat yourself to a beer – you’ve just completed your weekly cleaning marathon. One is going to have to experience living alone before they understand what value this article will give them. Many a time, bachelors make a U-turn and move back to their parents property in Malta because they could not grasp the art of cleaning up after themselves or setting up a system such as this – the other opportunity would be to employ a maid once a week if this is affordable.

Written by Marika Azzopardi

Marika Azzopardi is a freelance writer and journalist. A frequent contributor to national English language papers and magazines, she writes about a bevy of topics including art, people and life in general. She is also the author of children’s books and short stories, delving into adult fiction from time to time.