Have executive dysfunction or sensory sensitivities? This frugal housecleaning guide will make homemaking less stressful, both to your mind and to your senses.
The story.
Paper towels lined the porcelain sink. I grimaced in unhappy anticipation, then opened the bottle of bleach sitting on the counter. Trying not to breathe, I slowly poured the contents over the towels.
I hated bleach. Couldn’t stand the way it stung my eyes and my nostrils. No one had to tell me that stuff was toxic and bad to inhale; it was a no-brainer. But how else was I going to get the stains off the kitchen sink?
Tomorrow was move-out day, and I wasn’t sure if the apartment complex Powers That Be docked your deposit if you left a stained sink behind.
Wetting the last towel, I capped the bottle and rushed out of my apartment where I took a deep, cleansing breath. When I returned inside a little while later, I peeled back the towels to find the sink as white as it had been when I first moved in.
My new apartment had a stainless steel sink, and I looked forward never having to experience this cleaning job again.
If only someone had told me then about the power of baking soda…
Frugal housecleaning for neurodivergent women: the same, only different.
Saving money on housecleaning is basically the same regardless of your brain type. But people with ADHD usually despise having to do it. And as most women with ADHD or autism are also highly sensitive, we don’t do well with conventional cleaners.
We also often don’t do well with non-toxic store-bought cleaners, because they put a bigger hole in our financial situation than is comfortable.
We like to be frugal, because frugal means better money security, which leads to less stress.
On top of everything else, regardless of our type of neurodivergence our lack of executive function plus our propensity to hyperfocus means that a clean house is often a pipe dream.
And if you’re peri- or post-menopausal? Welcome on, because I know that half the time, you’re so tired that the mere thought of washing a few dishes makes you want to jump into the nearest volcano. You need these strategies, too!
I’m not perfect in the realm of frugal housecleaning, but I’ve learned a lot over the years. Allow me to share everything I know to help cleaning house be cheaper, simpler, and a lot less boring.
My first tip may seem long and laborious, but it’s the most important one, so hang in there. The tips that follow will fly by at a much greater speed.
Divide and conquer.
Let me talk to a particular type of woman for a second. She’s the kind who, once a month without fail, has a surge of desire and energy to clean and gets so hyperfocused on it that she gets the entire house sparkling and magazine cover-gorgeous in one day. If that’s you, go ahead and skip this section. The rest of us will try not to envy you.
Okay, moving on…
With this cleaning tip for neurodivergent women, I’m not including daily chores such as washing the dishes. We’ll get to those a bit later. Rather, I’m referring to housecleaning chores that are done a couple of times per month to a couple of times per week.
That understood, there are two ways to go about dividing and conquering your home for cleaning.
Option 1: Divide up your home.
This one is a great ADHD cleaning hack. In your mind, go through every room, hallway, and closet of your house. Think about how you can divide it into five more or less equal sections. For example, the master bedroom and bathroom could go together, as could the kitchen and dining room.
If you live in under 1,000 square feet, you may have fewer sections. If you live in over 2000 square feet, you may want to have more sections and schedule your cleaning over the space of two weeks rather than one in order to have some leisure time in your day (you’re welcome).
On a piece of paper, list each section of your home. Then assign each section one day of the week. A sixth day will be left for in case you skip cleaning on one of the five regular cleaning days. The seventh day is your day off cleaning (hooray!).
Option 2: Divide according to tasks.
My family lives in under 600 square feet, so it makes more sense for me to divide my cleaning by specific jobs rather than by house sections. But the size of the home doesn’t matter; you need to select which “divide and conquer” strategy suits you best.
With this one, consider all the different cleaning tasks that need to be done in a given month. They include (but aren’t limited to):
- Vacuuming,
- Dusting,
- Wiping off vertical surfaces (the front of the refrigerator, cabinets, etc.),
- Cleaning the oven,
- Wiping down the refrigerator shelves,
- Sweeping,
- Mopping,
- Scrubbing down the shower/bathtub, and
- Cleaning glass (mirrors and windows).
Group the tasks into two or three in a way that makes sense to you, and that won’t overwhelm you. You might decide to clean the glass and vertical surfaces on one day, dust and vacuum on another, and so on.
Write down your decision on a piece of paper, and assign each set of tasks to a particular day.
Pick a time.
Once you’ve figured out how you want to divide up your cleaning tasks, decide when you’re going to do the cleaning each day. Select a time that won’t feel overwhelming; for example, right before you need to fix dinner probably isn’t the best time.
Create a permanent reminder.
Either create recurring reminders on your phone, and/or use your Home Command Center. Noting what you clean, when, on the calendar – as well as using sticky notes for each day – will better ensure you remember to get the job done.
While you’re at it, mark down the time(s) of day for doing dishes as well as which days to do laundry. Making reminders is one of the best low executive function cleaning tips I can give.
WHEW! Done with the first frugal housecleaning for neurodivergent woman hack. Let’s move on… but stick to the subject of scheduling for a moment.
Set a time for daily kitchen cleaning.
I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that a big reason many neurodivergent women get overwhelmed with housecleaning is that they don’t clean up the kitchen every evening. Dishes pile up and grime builds until cleaning the kitchen feels like a day-long job.
So, clean up the kitchen every evening after the last meal. RIGHT after. Before you sit down to scroll on your phone or bring up Netflix on your T.V, wash all the dishes and wipe down the counters, sink, and stove.
Don’t skip the stove. If you cook a lot, it gets nasty quickly.
Also, put away pots and pans and any other “big” clutter that’s accrued during the day.
Listen to music or podcasts while you work to help it go faster. Train yourself to see your evening relaxation as a reward for cleaning up the kitchen. Believe me, this job doesn’t take that long or that much work if you do it daily.
Eliminate most store-bought cleaners from your home.
If it smells nasty, it’s got something in it you shouldn’t be breathing. If you’re highly sensitive, it will also ramp up your anxiety over cleaning because it smells five times stronger to you than it does to most people. So you’ll either avoid the cleaning task altogether, or push yourself to get it done ASAP, strengthening the negative association with housecleaning you probably already have.
If you live in a large enough city, they probably provide some sort of chemical pickup service for a fee. Take advantage of it, as they’ll dispose of the chemicals in a manner safer than simply chucking it into a landfill.
Which cleaners should you buy? Dishwashing liquid, dishwasher soap, toilet cleansers, and possibly laundry detergent. I explain how to make your own homemade laundry detergent in my post about frugal homemaking. However, your energy may be too low or your anxiety around housecleaning too high for making your own laundry detergent to be a stress reducer. If so, buy a detergent that’s as inoffensive to your senses as possible.
Same for the other cleaners, though I’m not sure you can buy a toilet cleanser that is easy on the nose.
That leads me to…
A top tip for frugal housecleaning for the neurodivergent woman: make baking soda, castile soap, and vinegar your best friend.
Baking soda is great for getting caked-on bits and grease off of dishes or almost any surface (take care with varnished wood). It removes unwanted smells from items, as well.
Wherever you want to use baking soda to scrub something clean, wet it with water first.
Click here for a comprehensive list of baking soda uses.
What about vinegar? Mix up a one-to-one water-5% vinegar solution to use it instead of those nasty, mucus membrane-ripping chemical sanitizers. Use it to wipe down any surface. Add a drop of lemon oil to increase its germ-killing power.
Cleaning windows and mirrors with vinegar (again, a 1:1 ratio with water) causes fewer streaks than using just water. Wipe off with microfiber cloth, then wipe down with a squeegee so the glass will be as streak-free as possible.
If you absolutely can’t stand any of the conventional toilet bowl cleansers, use vinegar and baking soda. To clean a toilet with vinegar and baking soda, pour about 2 cups of vinegar into the bowl and let it sit for a minute. Then, add 1 cup of baking soda, wait for the fizzing to stop, scrub with a toilet brush, and flush after 30 minutes for a clean toilet. This method is even more effective if you turn off the water to the toilet and flush it before adding the “ingredients.” That way, there is less water in the bowl to dilute the vinegar.
The caveat to replacing conventional cleaners with vinegar is that though diluted 5% vinegar isn’t toxic, it can still be too strong for super-sensitive noses. In that case, just use a gentle dishwashing liquid, or liquid castile soap. Rinse off the soap after you wipe down the surface you’re cleaning.
Speaking of castile soap: liquid or bar, it’s devoid of any potentially toxic or offensive ingredients. Use it as you would any other kind of soap. Save more money with housecleaning by diluting it (or any other soap) further than is usually recommended. It will still get the job done.
There are other natural, inexpensive cleaners, but these are the basic natural cleaners for HSPs (highly sensitive people).
Keep a rag bag on hand.
I use a couple of sponges for specific jobs, mostly keeping the kitchen clean. But for tasks like dusting, washing the floor, wiping down vertical surfaces, and scrubbing the shower, rags made from old underwear, washcloths, or cut-up T-shirts do perfectly fine.
To prevent hoarding old material, fill only one plastic shopping bag with rags. Only put something else in when a rag becomes too worn to be of good use.
Also, keep one or two old bath towels with your cleaning supplies for big messes.
Prep entertainment in advance.
Just before your clean-up time, get some music or a favorite podcast ready. Turn it on while you work. The chore will go a lot faster and be much less boring.
The exception is if you know entertainment will distract you to the point that you end up doing a half-*ssed job. In that case, promise yourself a small reward for finishing the day’s cleaning.
And carry through with it.
Vacuum in increments.
I hate vacuuming. That’s why we don’t have any carpet or rugs in our current home.
There’s a good chance it’s not your favorite task, either because of the noise or the tediousness of the task.
And you can’t listen to anything while you’re vacuuming.
In that case, consider vacuuming in fits and starts. You might vacuum one room or half a room, do something else for a few minutes, then return to vacuuming.
Keep all cleaning supplies in one place.
This is a frugal housecleaning tip because it prevents the loss of items and loss of time looking for things.
If you really want to make housecleaning miserable, spend fifteen minutes just trying to locate the bucket and sponge.
Train family members to put dirty laundry in the laundry basket/bag every morning.
‘Nuff said there. Related to that…
Delegate.
Do you have other people living in your house over the age of six who are hale and hearty? Train them to do as many of the tasks as you’re willing to hand over.
Post a chore schedule for the various family members, rotating each member through the different chores so nobody gets bored. You might have a “family cleaning time” two to three times a week during which you play upbeat music as everyone goes about their tasks.
Clean and tidy at the same time.
This may or may not work for you, depending on how much time you want to spend on household chores. But if you spend only five minutes a day tidying up one small area of your home, tacking on your daily cleaning to the time frame won’t make it overwhelming for most of us.
Placing the tidying and housecleaning chore on the schedule together means one less thing to remember, as well as getting the boring stuff out of the way all at once so you can go on to the fun stuff.
My ultimate tip for frugal housecleaning for the neurodivergent woman.
So you’ve taken care of your sensory sensitivities (and health) by getting rid of most chemical cleaners. You have a cleaning schedule to support your executive function. You’re going to save money on cleaning by DIY-ing much of it. You’ve dialed in all of these ADHD cleaning hacks.
But one day, you wake up, and the very thought of making a simple breakfast makes you want to curl into a fetal position on the floor. Your anxiety is unaccountably through the roof, or your get-up-and-go has got up and went.
It happens the next day. Then the next.
An entire week goes by, and you’re lucky if you get the dishes done every other day.
Listen to me.
It. Is. TOTALLY. OKAY.
The dust will still be there when you’re ready to tackle life again. The dust mites won’t take over. The housecleaning police aren’t coming because they don’t exist (just maybe don’t let your mother-in-law in your home during this period).
When your brain is off (I mean, more than usual, LOL), your priority is to take care of yourself, not fret over dust bunnies and fingerprints on the mirror.
In the meantime, you now have a toolbox of ideas to turn to once your brain finds better balance. And the ideas should make your life simpler, less stressful, and even more fulfilling because you now have more time to do the things you love.
