The “Clean and Treat” Method Will Change the Way You Clean
Apartment Therapy’s January Cure is a free 18-day program that’ll help you reset your home for the year ahead. Sign up here and get all assignments delivered to your inbox.
Deep cleaning your home can be so satisfying, but it’s also a lot of work. When you find yourself dragging your feet to clean, we think one of the best solutions is to incorporate a reward. We call it the “clean and treat” method at Apartment Therapy!
During the January Cure, we’ll have three major deep cleaning days, and they’ll all be on Fridays, so that you can not only employ the “clean and treat” method, but also decide how much you want to do and for how long you want to do it. You can choose to do it all on Friday or spread it out over the weekend. It’s your call!
Now, let’s dive into our first “clean and treat” day.
Day 3: Clean the floors and treat yourself.
We’re going to give our floors the complete cleaning rundown. You’ll vacuum and free all your rugs from debris, then get them out of the way, if possible, to clean underneath them. Then, you’ll vacuum or sweep and mop all your floors. Depending on the size of your space, you might want to tackle this room by room, day by day. Do what’s right and best for you.
Because this is a big task, don’t forget to work in a reward, whether you want it from the beginning to kick things off on a nice note or at the end as motivation. An Apartment Therapy tradition has been to get flowers, aka “Friday Flowers,” as a nice reminder of all the hard work you are doing at home. But you can certainly treat yourself to other things like a snack, drink, or pretty candle. It’s truly a great mood booster.
Congratulations on the first week of the Cure! We’ll see you on Monday!
PRO TIP: Take this time to upgrade your floor cleaning devices. Wet-dry vacuums have increased in popularity (like this one from Bissell, which one of our editors loved).
Share what your treat was in the comments below — include photos, too!
More ways to participate in the January Cure:
Sign up for email updates or SMS alerts
Visit the 2024 January Cure page and catch up on assignments
Download the January Cure calendar
Get organized with the 2023 Organization Awards
Check off that you’ve completed this task and track your overall January Cure progress here!
The Cure Program is a tradition here at Apartment Therapy — it happens every January, April, and September. Click here to learn more about the year-round program and when to sign up.
