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How to Clean and Style Bedrooms, Living Rooms, and More With Microfiber

How to Clean and Style Bedrooms, Living Rooms, and More With Microfiber

While living areas might not carry the reputation of being the most challenging zones to cleanse (after all, they don't demand the intense scrubbing associated with kitchens and bathrooms), for many, they can still be a serious source of dread and cleaning anxiety. For most people, the sheer enormity of the task, due to all the clutter and junk our consumerist society drives us all to accumulate, can make even the most skilled cleaners want to procrastinate sometimes.

Beyond the volume, living areas are also home to our most delicate and high-maintenance surfaces, from fine wood furniture to expensive TVs to irreplaceable art, dusting can feel like tiptoeing through landmines.

While the easy route would be to use this article to teach you how to Marie-Kondo-purge all your stuff, we're going to take the far more difficult but important approach of teaching you how to create calm and beauty within the clutter and chaos.

For professional cleaners and many home consumers, sometimes we have little to no say over how much stuff is in the space we have been tasked to clean, or even how it's organized. Even when it's your own home, sometimes spending thousands of $ on decorative organizing tools is out of the budget, or pairing down everyone's much-needed stuff is out of the question!

That's why we’re going to teach you the insider tricks the most seasoned professional cleaners use to create organization and beauty on the fly without adding time to their work. We'll also make sure you know how to clean even the most fragile and fussy of surfaces with ease.

The 6 Ss of Cleaning with Style

Professional cleaners have practically zero say over the number and organization of items within the spaces they are hired to clean (besides refusing the work outright). Even if they notice the client has too many nail polishes or toss pillows that they really aren't using, it's not their call.

As home consumers, while we might be tempted to Marie Kondo or Swedish Death all our family's possessions, the reality is that our family and even we might still need, or at least want, most of it!

Whether it's kid's toys and sports gear covering the family room or the grown-ups' shoes and skin care regimen cluttering the mudroom and dresser top, no one may be ready to say goodbye to it all just yet… and they don't have to thanks to the 6 Ss of Cleaning with Style!

The 6 Ss of Cleaning with Style are the principles professionals use to quickly and painlessly create the illusion of calm and order as they clean, increasing the beauty of their work and the size of their tips without bumping up the times of their cleans. The magic of the 6 Ss is once you learn them, they become instinctual and create no more effort than normal cleaning, but the difference in the appearance of your work is profound. The 6 Ss of Cleaning with Style are:

        1. Symmetry

        2. Size

        3. Smooth

        4. Shine

        5. Scent

        6. Special Touches

 

Symmetry

The human brain is instinctively attracted to and enjoys symmetrical things, like people's faces. Incorporating symmetry into object placement while cleaning takes advantage of this instinct and makes people find spaces more inviting and calm, even with the same number of items present. Placing items in even rows, triangle groupings, or even simply consistent clusters all work, so long as they have a pattern and a clear center point.

To add symmetry, just lift and wipe under items normally, but instead of carelessly plopping them back, place them deliberately in symmetrical patterns. With practice, your brain will immediately know which types of groupings and patterns work best for different objects like makeup, magazines, spices, papers, and so on, so you'll automatically start putting things down attractively.

Size

Size is Symmetry's sister because they are extremely related and spend a lot of time together. The same part of the brain that enjoys symmetry and patterns also loves gradation in size, like tallest to smallest or vice versa. Lining up things in a row by height, like the signal bars on your smartphone, immediately makes that row look more pleasing and ordered than random highs and lows.

Whether it's toss pillows on a couch or toiletries on a makeup vanity, ordering items tallest to smallest from back to front, along with a symmetrical pattern, ensures everything can be seen and fires up all the cells in the brain that say this place is clean and organized. Even if the toiletries in the group have nothing to do with each other and the cleaner threw them together in 20 seconds as she wiped the table, that makeup display goes from embarrassing to Instagram-worthy without having to Marie Kondo a single tube.

Smooth

Smooth is Symmetry's cousin, as they are also related, but see each other less often. When cleaning and organizing soft surfaces, symmetry is still key, but smoothness is what seals the deal. If you make a bed all rumpled, it doesn't matter the order in which the pillows are placed. If you asked a group of consumers to look at two couches that were vacuumed with equal thoroughness, but one had the toss pillows, blankets, and cushions placed in order, folded, and smoothed, nine out of 10 would rate the smooth couch as cleaner.

This trick is critical to making even worn-out furniture pieces go from drab to fab with minimal extra effort. In some cases, smoothing can even be taken up an additional notch by creating patterns as you smooth! Swiping zigzags into microsuede chairs and couches as you vacuum and wipe them off, vacuuming Ws into carpets as work takes minimal extra time or effort but makes everything feel cleaner, newer, and more orderly!

Scent & Shine

Scent and Shine are our other set of sisters! These are the two principles we use to take advantage of another hardwired human instinct, the way humans instinctively identify cleanliness. In our caveman days, long before ATP testing swabs, the only way we had to tell if food or surfaces were safe enough for us to touch and eat as if it smelled pleasant and looked free of dirt. As a result, we've learned an almost instinctual association between fresh smell, shine, and cleanliness.

Even though they aren't the truest measure (you can smear polish on dirty surfaces and force them to shine, or spray dirty old cars with new car fragrance), they’re critical to making people feel comfortable in the spaces you are cleaning. Simply put, even if you scrub till the cows come home, if it smells stale and nothing shines, people will subconsciously feel like the space is dirtier than it is.

Taking the time to treat couches, carpets, and drapes with fabric or linen spray and selecting pleasant-smelling cleaners is a minimal investment for a major reward. Taking an extra second to buff out streaks on at least a few focal point items like a coffee table or big mirror can make the entire room around it feel cleaner.

Special Touches

Special touches are usually only reserved for the most experienced professional cleaners, and it is only the Jedi Master Levels among them that truly appreciate how powerful they can be. Special touches on the surface are very simple.


They aren’t actually cleaning anything so much as artistically presenting the cleaned space back to the client, so they feel that the cleaner cares about their happiness and sees them as “special”. Folding the end of the toilet paper roll into a triangle or fancy flower, folding hand towels into swans, and tucking a child’s beloved teddy bear into their freshly made bed so it appears to be napping, are all examples of “special touches.”  

These special touch tricks make cleaners seem more skilled, their spaces feel more well cared for, and their tips skyrocket. Proof of the power of this tool is easily found in the vacation industry. Even if you have never been on a cruise or to a fancy hotel, you are probably aware that folding towels into swans and toilet paper into triangles is part of the experience because it is those images that make their way onto vacation review sites and people’s Instagram of their trip. Regardless of how many hours the cleaner spent scrubbing their room, it’s towel monkey everyone remembers years later!

Whether you clean professionally or for your family, this trick can transform your cleaning experience and your results. To be honest, there’s such a feeling of joy and pride that comes from cleaning for people you care for and seeing their faces light up when they notice a touch you added to make them feel special, which can help motivate you through even some of the toughest cleans. For the person on the receiving end, special touches light up all the right dopamine receptors in their brain, making one cramped and tattered space feel cozy and well-loved.

Special touches refocus the consumer's gaze, making them less focused on every last stray hair or missed dust bunny, and instead allow them to take in the overall beauty of their freshly cleaned space. If you have picky customers or family members who never seem to be satisfied, you might be surprised that the answer is rarely scrubbing harder and instead making them “feel” cleaner, which has far more to do with the 6Ss than any soap or towel.

Make Everything Easier with Microfiber

Whether it’s wiping off streaky glass coffee tables or dusting the most delicate of figurines, there isn’t a cleaning task in living areas that isn’t made easier with microfiber. Microfiber’s tiny fibers trap and lock in dirt and germs in a way that cotton rags and feather dusters can only dream of. In fact, microfiber can actually remove 99.5% of dirt and germs with just water, making it the gentles, greenest, chemical-free way to clean even your fussiest of living area surfaces.

Professionals and home consumers often waste countless hours testing and searching for the right specialty cleaners to care for their fine wood furniture or marble dresser tops. Or to finally find the glass cleaner that will leave their coffee table and big TV streak-free, when really the problem was never their chemical—it was the towel! Even your most delicate surfaces, the ones your heart races to even touch, are usually just a matter of switching to the right microfiber tool to take them from monstrous to mild!

Microfiber All-Purpose Towel

If you can only get one towel to clean your whole living area, this is the one to get. It slides and glides over furniture, buffs out streaks, and holds on to an incredible amount of grime, making it the perfect go-to for tables, chairs, counters, and more. Check price

Microfiber Glass Towels

Every mirror or coffee table you’ve ever struggled with is about to become a two-second breeze. Just wipe them clean with the all-purpose towel and water, followed by buffing them dry with the Glass Towel. The Glass Towel has a special knit weave that keeps it from making lint and removes surface residue for a streak-free, lint-free finish that Windex only wishes it could make! Check price

Microfiber Polish Towels

Your fine wood furniture will finally get the royal treatment it deserves. This ultra-plush towel feels like a teddy bear and cleans like a dream, buffing incredible shine into anything from furniture to car finish! If you love the warm glow of polish, you can apply it with this towel and take your shine factor off the charts. Check price

Microfiber High Duster

Fearful of dusting your ceiling fans and light fixtures?! The Microfiber High Duster attaches to our extension pole, letting you wet clean or dry dust crown molding, fan blades, light fixtures, and more! Unlike your feather duster, these dusters can be washed hundreds of times for truly clean results. Check price

Microfiber Mini Duster

From figurines to winter scenes, the mini duster can care for all your most delicate sculptures, crystals, and collectibles with ease. The super soft chenille fingers conform to even the most intricate of designs, lifting off dirt without damage. Unlike your feather duster, these dusters can be washed hundreds of times for truly clean results! Check price

Finishing Touches & Final Thoughts

 
In the hustle and bustle of modern living, our spaces should not just be clean, but they should radiate warmth, personality, and style. Through the transformative magic of the 6 Ss of Cleaning with Style and the unparalleled cleaning prowess of microfiber, we can achieve living areas that are not only tidy but also effortlessly elegant.

We've delved deep into the art of optimizing our living areas, turning potential cleaning nightmares into pleasant, streamlined experiences. And the best part? This is just the beginning.

As we've seen, microfiber is an unsung hero in the cleaning world. But what if we told you that its power extends even further than you might imagine?

Come back Tuesday, because in our next article, "Dusting Decoded: Using Microfiber for Furniture, TVs, Cobwebs and Fans," we’ll break down how this versatile tool can tackle the trickiest of dusting tasks. Discover how to give your furniture the care it deserves, keep your electronics dust-free, and master the art of reaching those challenging spots.

Let’s continue this journey to a cleaner, more stylish home together!

Deep Clean Hard Floors, Effortlessly.


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