I get all of my housework done in my sleep - people think I'm lazy but don't knock it until you try it. Follow these steps and you can wake up to a clean home too

By DANIELLE AMATO - LIFESTYLE AND CONSUMER REVIEWS WRITER

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I’ll admit it. Even though I test cleaning appliances for a living, I don't enjoy cleaning or doing any household chores at all. Unfortunately, they still need to be done and I do enjoy having a somewhat clean and tidy home.

That’s why over the years, I’ve built up a routine that lets me put in the least amount of effort for the biggest result. Is my home as spotless as I’d like? Absolutely not - but I think I’ve found a happy medium that allows me to clean the biggest things quickly without sacrificing what little free time I have in the evenings and at weekends.

My biggest secret? I do a lot of my ‘cleaning’ overnight and in the evenings, while I’m asleep or simply when I’m doing other things. Some of it is about setting a good routine up but sometimes a couple of little hacks can help you shave time off your cleaning routine.

Here, I round up my top tips and products that will help you clean smarter, not harder and help you keep your house tidy with the minimal amount of effort.

Utilising my robot vacuum

Even though I dislike cleaning, I’m very lucky to have both a cordless vacuum cleaner and robot vacuum. While I don’t mind the occasional whip round with the cordless, I’m always happier when my partner does it.

The robot is my secret weapon though, because not only does it offer a hands-free cleaning experience, it also allows me to schedule my cleans. This means I can let it loose overnight, where it will potter around until it runs out of battery (or until it’s done its mapped route), then take itself back to its station to recharge.

I have the Karcher RC 5, which is a mid-range robot with camera, mapping and scheduling capabilities. It's fairly quiet when running (robot vacuums in general are), particularly in eco mode. This means I can still sleep peacefully while it does its thing downstairs.

Tackling the toilets (and drains)

Another smelly job that I love to do overnight is cleaning my toilets and doing a bit of drain maintenance. These are the jobs that actually require you to leave the products working for a while, so what better time to do them than overnight?

I have three bathrooms in my house, so finding the time to clean them all properly, especially as someone who doesn’t enjoy it, is a pain. That’s why once a week before bed, I will go around the house and lightly bleach each toilet, ready to be flushed in the morning. It’s surprisingly effective even with a little bleach and leaves the bowls sparkling.

I also use this time to distribute drain unblocker where needed. We have a very hair heavy household, meaning our shower drains need a little more TLC than I like, but doing this job and leaving it to work overnight has been a gamechanger.

Banishing bathroom limescale

Limescale makes everything look 10 times dirtier than it actually is - and getting rid of it isn’t always a quick fix either. If you’ve left it to build up in the bathroom a little longer than you care to admit, my trick could help.

Rather than caking my built-in sink plugs and taps in strong cleaning sprays like Viakal, I take a piece of kitchen paper or thin rag and soak it in cleaning vinegar. I’ll then wrap this around my plugs and taps and leave it for a few hours or overnight and then by morning, they’re limescale-free.

A word of warning though, don’t do this to your taps, showers or plugs if they have a coating, as too much exposure to strong acids can strip the paint.

Washing the washing machine (and dishwasher)

The final cleaning job I like to take care of overnight is the dreaded washing machine and dishwasher clean. While some parts need more hands-on intervention, I tend to save these for when I’m doing a deep clean of the house.

More regularly though, I will stick my washing machine and dishwasher on for their internal cleans overnight when I’m not using them (preferably not at the same time). My personal favourite cleaners are Finish original scent cleaner, Dr Beckmann's deep clean dishwasher cleaner and Dettol washing machine cleaner.

 What you should avoid cleaning overnight

While leaving certain things to wash and soak overnight there are definitely some things you should leave for supervised cleaning.

The first of these is your air fryer - while it might be tempting to spray your airfryer down with an all purpose cleaner and leave it to soak overnight, it should be avoided. Some cleaners are quite harsh and leaving them on your air fryer too long can strip back and damage the non-stick coating.

Anything cast iron. No matter how badly you’ve ruined your dinner, that crispy, burnt-on food shouldn’t be left soaking overnight. It will cause your cast iron to rust and you’ll be mourning the loss of your dinner AND the pan.

In a similar vein, you should avoid soaking any wooden chopping boards and crockery in harsh kitchen sprays. Woods can warp with prolonged exposure to damp and coatings on your favourites plates can become damaged without proper care.