My Best Cleaning Tip: Stuff Blitz

This post is in partnership with Grove Collaborative, which I’ve loved whole-heartedly for the last year. My only complaint is that they don’t come wipe down my counters for me. You can grab a free set of Mrs. Meyer’s products here from them!

A few weeks ago, I said to Bart, “These kitchen counters make it really hard to tell if they’re clean or not, so I always forget to wipe them down because I don’t notice that they’re dirty.”

There was kind of a long pause and then Bart said, “To be fair, you’ve never really wiped down the counters in any the houses we’ve lived in.”

I burst out laughing because he’s so right.

I’ve mentioned it before probably, but Bart is definitely a cleaner and I’m definitely a clearer.

He’s the one who cleans the bathroom mirrors off when they start getting grimy and makes sure the kitchen table is wiped down after a meal, but he’ll happily keep a stack of papers on his desk for months on end and he’s not bothered by a pile of cords on his bedside table or a heap of things on the kitchen counter.

Whereas I clearly don’t notice (completely-totally-invisible-who-would-even-notice) crumbs on the counter, but a couple of toys left on the fireplace make me bananas.

In our last house, I instituted a little cleaning trick I call “Stuff Blitz.”

On Saturday mornings, we usually spend 30-45 minutes cleaning up the house as a family, and while Bart cleans the bathrooms, the girls and I do a Stuff Blitz.

We go to every main room in the house (kitchen, living room, dining room, my office, the entryway) and gather up absolutely everything that doesn’t belong.

The girls love this part.

Then we dump all this stuff on the kitchen table and set a timer for about 10 minutes and then all of us work as fast as we can to put everything on the table where it actually belongs.

The girls aren’t AS wild about this part, but the race against the clock is fun and it is so liberating for me to have no odds and ends sitting on my kitchen counter, my desk, the coffee table, by the front door or on the edge of the bookshelf.

And if you’re more of a cleaner than a clearer (or if you’re like me, a clearer that would LIKE to be more of a cleaner), consider checking out Grove Collaborative.

Whether you’re looking for cleaning products that are better for your family or sunscreen or personal care items, they pretty much sell it all. Some of the products are from well-known brands like Mrs. Meyers’ or Method and they also sell their own line of products, which I’ve been super impressed by since I started using them a year ago.

And if you’re a new customer, they’ll send you the whole set of Mrs. Meyer’s products (hand soap, dish soap, and multi-surface spray) for free when you place your first order of $20.

(Might I recommend the Wool Dryer Balls & Essential Oil set? It’s $20.95 so it’ll just about perfectly meet that $20 minimum and they last forever and smell amazing).

I just am finishing up my set of Mrs. Meyer’s fall scents (by the way, some people told me they couldn’t stand the pumpkin scents, but I absolutely loved them) so I ordered a new set of hand soap, dish soap, and multi-surface spray in Lemon Verbena. And they have a bunch of other scents you can choose from too.

AND, they’ll throw in a free cleaning caddy and a set of Grove walnut scrubbers, plus free shipping.

If you’ve been thinking about trying Grove Collaborative, this is your chance (or if you just like free stuff, which. . .you know I do too!).

If you want to grab a free set, here’s how:

1. Sign up for Grove Collaborative here. You will receive the Mrs. Meyers’ free trio offer as soon as you sign up!
2. To receive this offer, your order needs to be a minimum of $20. Choose the combination of products and scents you love and receive your first box within a few days.
3. Ta-da! Click Finish & Pay and place your order.

And when they arrive make your spouse use them to clean the counters.

Come to think of it, that might actually be my best cleaning tip.