03:25 01-12-2025

8 unconventional cleaning and decluttering methods

Generated by DALL·E

Discover 8 unconventional cleaning and decluttering methods - from FlyLady and KonMari to mini-cleans and beer cleaning - to simplify your home without burnout.

Modern life is about lightening the load and stepping away from deep cleans that once devoured entire weekends. In their place come unconventional tactics—simple, sometimes quirky, yet effective. They help tame the chaos and bring order home without stress or self-sacrifice, making tidying feel far more human.

Leo Babauta’s mini-clean: step by step

American blogger Leo Babauta, the creator of Zen Habits, suggests skipping heroics and working gradually. The core idea is to tidy as you go: see it, handle it. To avoid overload, he recommends tackling small patches—no bigger than what your arms could encircle. Each spot gets about ten minutes.

When sorting, Babauta divides items into three piles: keep, discard, and think about it. The last pile goes into a box for six months; if you don’t need anything from it, let it go. The real payoff is that the home starts to clear without the feeling of a marathon or the drag of fatigue. It’s disarmingly doable.

FlyLady: breaking a big job into parts

Homemaker Marla Cilley devised FlyLady in the late 1990s, and it quickly grew into an international movement. Her principle is to skip weekly scrub-it-all Saturdays and give cleaning 15 minutes a day. The home is divided into five zones. Each zone gets a week of attention, and short routines keep the baseline in check. One tradition is to keep the kitchen sink consistently clean.

The timer is FlyLady’s main tool. When it rings, you stop. The method teaches you not to wear yourself out and to value free time. Stopping on the bell feels surprisingly liberating.

The burning house method: keep only what matters

American writer Allison Hodgson lived through a fire that took almost everything. That experience made her rethink her relationship with stuff. Her practice is simple: imagine what you would take with you in an emergency. The rest is ballast.

The approach helps you notice the items your eye no longer lingers on. It’s especially effective after a vacation, when your view of home feels fresher. That thought experiment cuts through sentiment.

KonMari: order as therapy

Japanese author Marie Kondo, known for The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, urges you to look for joy in things. Hold each item and ask yourself whether it sparks pleasant feelings; if it doesn’t, its time has passed. KonMari works not room by room but by category: clothes, papers, books. Everything is gathered from different rooms into one large pile, then the keepers are chosen. The method ends with the famous vertical storage—even clothes are folded into neat rectangles. The ritual turns decluttering into a decision you can feel, not just think.

Fumio Sasaki’s Japanese minimalism: only what you can carry

Writer Fumio Sasaki speaks about minimalism with blunt honesty. He believes modern life is hampered by too many things, and clearing space helps clear the mind. His principle is simple: don’t buy what you don’t need, and own only what you could take with you at once. The philosophy spread in the West too, where the number 15 became popular among followers—enough large items, they say, for a comfortable life. The austerity is striking, yet the clarity is appealing.

The three circles: a system for those who tire quickly

An online description outlines a method from a woman for whom large workloads are hard because of health. She divides tasks into three circles: daily, weekly, and everything else. Start with the minimum from the first circle. If you have the energy, move to the second, then the third. The beauty is that it removes guilt: what isn’t done today calmly shifts to tomorrow. A humane pace tends to last longer than any rigid schedule.

'Anonymous lazybones': everything in its place

American Sandra Felton struggled with household chaos for a long time until she once lost her dissertation among the piles. Her system rests on three rules: every thing should have its place, it should be returned there immediately, and anything that takes up to 30 seconds is done on the spot.

For decluttering, this approach uses three schemes:

• 'Mount Vermont' — unhurried sorting with boxes;
• 'Vesuvius' — the same, but within a strict time limit;
• 'Rushmore' — dividing responsibilities among family members.

Beer cleaning: a controversial but popular approach

Columnist Nancy Mitchell once heard that an acquaintance ironed with a beer. She tried pairing the drink with dishwashing—and the task got lighter. A small dose of alcohol helps you relax and switch gears, while your hands do the familiar work. The key rule is moderation, so cleaning stays cleaning rather than turning into a bar story. Not for everyone, but the psychology checks out.