Summer Home Reset: Clean Less, Enjoy More

 

Every summer, I find myself wanting the same thing.

More time.

More time for road trips.

More time for reading on the porch.

More time for coffee by the pool.

More time for dinner with friends.

More time enjoying my home instead of constantly cleaning it.

And over the years, I've learned that the secret isn't becoming a better cleaner.

It's creating systems that make cleaning easier.

This is my annual Summer Home Reset—the routine I use to get the house ready for the season so I can spend less time managing it and more time living in it.

Why I Choose EcoSense

Let's be honest.

Chores aren't exactly anyone's favorite part of summer.

The word itself feels a little heavy, doesn't it?

Laundry.

Bathrooms.

Floors.

Counters.

Dishes.

It's easy to think of cleaning as one more thing on an already long to-do list.

But over the years, I've started looking at homemaking differently.

Cleaning isn't really about having a perfect house.

It's about caring for the people who live inside it.

It's making sure my family has a comfortable place to gather.

It's creating a peaceful environment after a long day.

It's caring for the spaces where we cook, eat, rest, laugh, celebrate, and make memories.

In many ways, cleaning is an act of love.

That's one of the reasons I've used Melaleuca's EcoSense line for years.

I don't want to choose between a clean home and a healthy one.

I want products that work well, simplify my routines, and help me care for my family without filling my cabinets with dozens of harsh chemicals. EcoSense products are formulated with safer ingredients while still being effective cleaners, which aligns with how I want to care for my home.

Life is messy.

There are coffee spills.

Grass stains.

Dirty laundry.

Pet messes.

Craft projects.

Cooking disasters.

Summer adventures that somehow end up tracked across the floor.

And honestly, I think that's beautiful.

A lived-in home tells a story.

My goal isn't to eliminate the messes that come from living.

It's to have simple systems that make those messes easier to manage.

Because at the end of the day, I don't want to spend my summer cleaning.

I want to spend it reading books, sipping coffee by the pool, taking road trips, gathering with friends, and making memories.

My Rule #1: Clear the Clutter Before You Clean

Before I spray a single cleaner or wipe down a single counter, I do one thing first.

I grab a laundry basket, tote, or storage container.

Then I walk through the room and place everything that doesn't belong there into the basket.

Shoes that belong in the bedroom.

Mail that belongs in the office.

A coffee mug that somehow ended up on the nightstand.

A book that belongs on a shelf.

The goal isn't to organize those items right now.

The goal is simply to get them out of the room.

One of the biggest cleaning mistakes people make is getting distracted.

You pick up a towel in the living room.

You carry it to the bathroom.

While you're there, you notice toothpaste on the sink.

Then you start cleaning the sink.

Before you know it, thirty minutes have passed and the living room still isn't finished.

So here's my rule:

Stay in the room you're cleaning.

Put everything that belongs elsewhere into the basket.

Put everything else back in its proper place.

Finish the room.

Then move on.

You can deal with the basket later.

This simple habit makes cleaning faster and keeps me focused.

I Start With the Things That Work Hardest

Most people begin with closets or decor.

I start with appliances.

My refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, and microwave work overtime year-round, and if they're dirty, everything else feels harder to maintain.

A refrigerator cleanout is always first.

I toss expired food, wipe down shelves, reorganize condiments, and take inventory before summer grocery shopping starts.

Tough & Tender® is usually my go-to for wiping down the inside of the refrigerator, while Lemon Brite® helps soak removable shelves and drawers. For tougher messes, MelaMagic® comes in handy. The EcoSense handbook actually recommends a very similar approach.

Then I move on to the dishwasher and washing machine.

A couple of hours spent refreshing these workhorses saves me time and frustration for months.

My Goal Is Fewer Products, Not More

Years ago, I had a cabinet full of cleaners.

One for glass.

One for counters.

One for bathrooms.

One for floors.

One for stainless steel.

One for this.

One for that.

Now I keep things much simpler.

Most of my day-to-day cleaning comes down to a handful of products.

Tough & Tender®

If you've ever been to my house, you've probably seen a bottle of Tough & Tender under the sink.

Kitchen counters.

Tables.

Cabinets.

Light switches.

Bathroom surfaces.

It handles most of the daily messes that come with actually living in a home and is designed for use on a wide variety of surfaces.

Clear Power®

Summer sunshine somehow reveals every fingerprint and smudge.

Glass doors.

Bathroom mirrors.

Windows.

Stainless appliances.

A quick wipe-down instantly makes the house feel brighter and cleaner.

Sol-U-Guard Botanical®

I also like using Sol-U-Guard Botanical® on the high-touch surfaces around the house such as doorknobs, light switches, remote controls, and kitchen surfaces. The EcoSense handbook notes that it uses botanical ingredients and can sanitize and disinfect hard nonporous surfaces when used as directed.

The Bathroom Strategy That Saves Me the Most Time

If there's one room that can get out of control quickly, it's the bathroom.

My strategy is simple:

Deep clean first.

Maintain second.

Tub & Tile™ helps tackle the soap scum and hard water buildup that inevitably happens in Florida. Then I use No Work® after showers to help prevent buildup from forming in the first place.

The less buildup I allow, the less scrubbing I have to do later.

And that's really the theme of this entire home reset.

Preventing problems is easier than fixing them.

Why I Always Save the Kitchen for Last

I know some cleaning experts say to start with the kitchen.

I do the exact opposite.

The kitchen is always my final stop.

Why?

Because every single time I completely clean the kitchen first, life happens.

Someone wants a snack.

Someone makes coffee.

Lunch rolls around.

A dish appears in the sink.

A cutting board comes out.

And suddenly my perfectly clean kitchen isn't clean anymore.

So I save it for last.

By the time I've reset the bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, and laundry area, it's usually close to lunchtime anyway.

Then I can clean the kitchen once and be done.

It's one of those simple changes that saves frustration and prevents me from feeling like I'm cleaning the same room twice.

My Five-Minute Evening Reset

This may be the most important habit in my entire homemaking routine.

Before bed, I spend about five minutes resetting the house.

Not cleaning.

Resetting.

There's a difference.

I put away stray items.

Wipe down counters.

Start a load of laundry if needed.

Straighten pillows.

Clear the sink.

Five minutes isn't enough to deep clean anything.

But it is enough to prevent tomorrow from starting with yesterday's mess.

What I'm Really Trying to Create

At this stage of life, I'm not interested in having a perfect house.

I'm interested in having a welcoming one.

A home where friends can stop by.

A home where family gathers.

A home that supports the life happening inside it.

The purpose of my Summer Home Reset isn't spotless counters or perfectly organized cabinets.

It's creating a home that requires less attention.

Because the less time I spend worrying about cleaning, the more time I have for the things summer was meant for:

Coffee by the pool.

Fresh flowers on the table.

A good book.

An afternoon nap.

A spontaneous road trip.

A backyard dinner.

A conversation that lasts longer than planned.

That's the kind of summer I'm after.

And a simple home reset helps make room for it.