Keeping it clean between visits, room by room

A fortnightly visit does the heavy lifting. What happens in between decides whether the house feels clean on day twelve. None of this takes longer than a kettle.

Kitchen, every evening

Wipe the worktops, empty the sink, run the dishwasher. A sink left full is what makes a kitchen feel dirty the next morning, not the floor.

Bathroom, after the last shower

Squeegee the screen. Thirty seconds, and limescale never gets a hold. Once a week, a quick wipe of the basin and taps.

Living room, before bed

Cushions back, blanket folded, anything that belongs upstairs taken upstairs. This is the room guests see and the one that shows mess fastest.

Bedroom, in the morning

Make the bed. A made bed makes the rest of the room look tidier than it is, which is the whole trick.

Floors, twice a week

A quick run of the vacuum along the hallway and the kitchen, where grit comes in. The rest can wait for the team.

What to leave

The oven, the skirting, the inside of anything, the top of anything. That is what the plan is for. The point of having help is not doing it all yourself; it is doing the ten minutes that keep it feeling done.