Great tips.  I deplore cleaning and this should help get things in order just a bit faster!

I also hate dusting, especially since I have a lot of furniture with grooves and swirls, and I have a lot of books.  One thing that I have found that works really wells is a paint brush.  I purchased a three pack of soft bristled paintbrushes (the ones for trimming up walls and painting furniture).  All I do then is 'paint' my objects.  It works really well on blinds, book edges, bric-a-brac, and can really get into the grooves of carved furiture, baseboards, door tops, etc.  I'll then wipe down large, flat surfaces with those cheap white washclothes you can buy in bulk.

GREAT tips, thanks so much for posting this!

I worked briefly for someone who did commercial cleaning: shops, beauty shops, restaurants, etc. His speciality was floors and windows. What he cleaned windows with was a little Dawn, warm water, and a little ammonia. That's it. Of course he used a squeege, but...

The tip I taught him was how I clean the chrome and mirrors in my bathroom. When the room is steamy, take a chamois and wipe the steam off. The spots come up with the steam. No chemicals, no odor, no expense, and  quick!

Thanks for the tips!

Judith

Here's a random but great tip that I found: Eliminate refrigerator odors by pouring a little vanilla on a piece of cotton and placing it in the refrigerator or by placing a bowl filled with a few briquettes of charcoalin the back of the refrigerator.

I got this from here btw >>  http://www.guidetospringcleaning.com/   =)

Thank you badbadivy, lovely post!  I hate cleaning and I'm trying to get better about doing it regularly.  I have three cats and a dog, so I also have to combat the horror of pet hair ... which ideally means lots of vacuuming.

I have a question for you -- could you clarify what you would consider "deep cleaning" vs. not?  Seems like the above description is mostly "average cleaning" and I'm wondering how deep you'd go normally.

 Thanks!

Thanks for the cleaning tips! 

My favorite tips.We live in a 2 story home....4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs. As soon as I get up in the morning I make the bed. I clean my husbands bathroom...yes everyday...empty his wastbasket and take a clorox wipe to sink, stool, and baseboard. This leaves his bathroom clean and only takes about 2 minutes. Next repeat the same in my bathroom. By doing this every morning when I go downstairs to start my day I feel like I have already acomplished a great deal and can be "done" upstairs. Once a week I run the sweeper upstairs and dust. I do at least one load of laundry every day....that way I never have to get caught up and it is much easier on the septic system. For cob webs (I am very short 4'11") I put an old pillow case over the bristle part of a broom....you can dust all corners along the edge of the ceiling without a step stool even if you ar short like me.