My Love/Hate Relationship with Housework

My mam's house is immaculate. She's the sort of person who washes her kitchen floor every day and vacuums the full house daily. Although her home is very welcoming and cosy, it wouldn't look out of place as a show home. Everything is ALWAYS clean & tidy and has it's place. I always remember as we were growing  up, even as teenagers she would re-make our beds for us every day so they were perfect. There is no way you would catch me doing that for my kids! We often joke that she doesn't know where she got her own children from as we are quite the opposite to how she is.

I would LOVE a tidy, clean house and in a lot of ways this is a lot more achievable now that my children are at school and I would never say my house was dirty or unkempt, it's just what I would describe as 'lived in'. Keeping the house clean and tidy is A LOT of work and effort and I am always looking for ways to make my life easier. I asked some of my friends for their best cleaning hacks :-

Top Cleaning Hacks from Real Mums

Line the bottom of oven trays with greaseproof paper - nothing sticks - Hollie 

Clearing a room is clockwise manner moving things that don't belong in the room to a basket or box and then emptying the basket in the right places once you've finished the room. This keeps me focussed on the room at hand! - Gemma

Break jobs down into manageable chunks and do a little each day - Helen

Have a duster/cloth handy in each room and clean little and often - Carly

Put pictures on toy boxes so kids are learning to tidy away in the right places on their own - Gemma

Don't have children or a husband seemed to be a popular tip and was recommended by at least 5 people! haha! Unfortunately, this is not viable. 

WOW I love all of these tips and feel better already. Thanks ladies! 

Introducing the Vax Air Lift Steerable Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner

My personal cleaning hack is to invest in decent equipment that actually does the job that it's supposed to. I don't know how many times I have been tempted by the latest gadget only to be let down by it's performance. I would also recommend you buy products that have features that do the jobs you need them to do. There's no point in buying something that is good for hard wood floors if your floor is carpeted.......

Check out my short video below where I discuss how my new Vax has made cleaning a lot easier and I go through a few of the vacuum cleaner's features:

Why Vax makes cleaning easier

It's easy to switch from hard floor to deep pile carpet with your foot - perfect as I move from my hallway (carpet) to front room (hard floor)

It's super easy to steer and is the UK's lightest lift-out corded cylinder meaning I can get the kids to vacuum their own bedrooms as I sit back and watch (hahaha)

This is the best part - as we like to call it - the 'Ghostbuster' action. You can detach the main cylinder from the body of the vacuum cleaner which makes vacuuming the stairs an absolute BREEZE.

The super long (10 metre) cord and detachable cylinder also make this vacuum perfect for vacuuming the car.

The suction is second-to-none. 

The hose easily reaches up to the ceiling meaning those nasty cobwebs are gone in a second and I can reach up to my light shades and curtain poles with ease - it's all part of my vacuuming routine now.

The range of tools make it easy to vacuum furniture and it any nooks and crannies. 

The Vax Air Lift Steerable Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner is currently available for just £249.99 via the Vax website and this includes a 6 year guarantee. What an absolute bargain! 

We were sent a Vax Air Lift Steerable Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner in return for an honest review. All thoughts and words are our own and I would never recommend something unless I was actually delighted with the product myself (and in this case I most certainly was, just ask my mam - haha)