Do you ever get the feeling you exist purely to clean up after your family? The dusting, laundry and vacuuming seem to fill our days with no time for ourselves. We do seem to be spending more time scrubbing our kitchens and bathrooms than sitting down to a good meal or enjoying a bubble bath. If you are in desperate need of some ideas to cut down the cleaning, then read on.

Cleaning is essential to ensure we all remain healthy and germ-free. If the kids turn up in mucky clothes or with dirty possessions, we fear we’ll be in trouble for neglect! But kids will get dirty, and they will mess up pretty much everything we give them. These small items can be replaced cheaply, but when things in the home get too grimy to live with, it can be very expensive to get new ones.

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There are some ways to cut down. Making a habit of quickly wiping down every surface with those handy disposable disinfectant wipes is one way to keep on top it without the need to regularly deep clean. Your local supermarket probably stocks their own plus one or two of the big brands. They work out cheaper than a big bottle of the stuff plus the cloths, and a large pack should last a month.

Your soft furnishings and carpets will soak up stains and smells very easy. Pet hair clings to fabrics, and sticky finger marks from the kids are impossible to get out. If you don’t have easy-wipe leather sofas, invest in two large machine-washable blankets or throws so you can rotate them on laundry day. You may want to invest in giant bean bag furniture instead where you can customize your own bean bag covers. If the kids have had input to their design, they are more likely to look after them well.

Next time you replace your flooring, go for hardwood or laminate. Carpets are almost impossible to keep hygienic in a family home without a lot of time and effort on your part. Choose a machine-washable rug to keep areas soft for playing on. Hard floors can be easily vacuumed, and easily wiped down with wipes or a steam mop. This keeps them dust free and hygienic. If you are very short of time, invest in a robot vacuum cleaner to run round and pick up the worst of it. There are robot mops too!

Keep your walls painted rather than wallpapered, so they are easy to wipe or touch up with a sample paint pot. It is much easier to see when things are getting a little dirty on a painted wall. Get in the habit of doing a ‘wall round’ each weekend. This gives you a chance to inspect each wall surface for marks and keep your home sparkling clean before it becomes a big, heavy job. When you do come round to the seasonal big clean, there should be far less to scrub if you can spend just five minutes in each room every day.