From driverless cars to smart homes, technology is integrating into almost every aspect of our lives. We thought we’d look at some ways that technology – and mobile apps in particular – can help with the cleaning. There are a lot of great apps out there that can help with everything from scheduling to tips on the best way to clean the kitchen, but we thought we’d cover a broad range and hopefully find at least one that can be useful for everyone, from parents, to housemates, to those who just love to keep their homes clean.
For the home:
All the tips, tricks and tools you need to keep your home sparkling in one simple app. Brightnest is the app that helps you ‘hack’ the cleaning for your home. Tell it the kind of things you need help with when it comes to cleaning your house and it will send you personalised tips and ideas. Got a pet? It’ll send you the best ways to get unwanted stains and smells out of the carpets. Children? It’ll send you tips for helping keep their bedrooms clean and play areas organised. What makes this app so handy is that it also includes a scheduling function for your cleaning tasks as well as reminder notifications for when it’s time to put those tips into action. A quiz option where you can earn cleaning tips adds a fun twist to this useful app.
How much? FREE
Platform: iOS and Android
Want to know the best way to clean cat hair from the sofa? Brightnest has the answer!
For housemates:
Anyone who has lived with housemates knows that the cleaning rota can be a real bone of contention. Fairshare is the app that makes sure everyone does… well, their fair share. Rather than simply listing the tasks as is often the case on a cleaning rota (and we all know how often these are ignored!) Fairshare ‘gamifies’ cleaning by allowing housemates to earn points for the tasks they do. Simply decide on the cleaning tasks that need doing around the house and how many points each is worth. Then complete the tasks to rack up points against your housemates. Competing for points in this way means that unpopular jobs like cleaning the oven or the bathroom are more likely to get done – especially if housemates make the rewards appealing enough. The app also has functions to help organise group shopping lists and shared bills, making it the ideal tool for people living in close quarters.
Price: FREE
Platform: iOS
For parents:
Any parent knows that getting the kids to do their chores can be a real chore in itself. Chore Bank lets parents add extra motivation of completing chores by assigning a value (in money!) to each task. Part of the app’s appeal is that it introduces children to the idea of managing their own personal finances – it adds ‘real life’ features like interest rates on tasks done. But the real appeal is undoubtedly the impetus it gives children to complete their cleaning jobs – there is also a ‘consequences’ option for when tasks aren’t completed and a calendar to make sure all cleaning tasks are done on time.
Price £1.49
Platform: iOS
For everyone!
No doubt about it, the fridge is one of the places that most people would say causes the biggest headaches when it comes to cleaning the home. Can you say for sure there’s not a rotten cucumber or gone off yoghurt somewhere at the back of yours? Many people’s solution to this is to do a monthly deep clean and throw away all the items that haven’t quite made it to the table in time. But this clever little app might help avoid the need for this. As you add your items to your real fridge, enter them into your virtual fridge, along with the expiry dates. When the time comes that the food is about to go off, an alert will let you know. Less wasted food, and crucially, less time needed to clean the fridge! The app also has shopping list and recipe functions built in.
How much? £1.49
Platform: iOS.
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