The Tidy Toss Cleaning Method Explained And The Best Way To Use It In Your Home

Our busy schedules make it difficult to keep our homes spotless. Maybe you have a full-time job, a couple of kids, and a side gig you squeeze in on the weekends. Or maybe you have an internship, go to school, and have weekly hobbies you devote time to. Whatever the situation, everyone's pressed for time, which is why most of us look for minimal cleaning hacks to keep our homes tidy. While indulging in a deep clean is satisfying, realistically you can only do that once every few months. Instead, cleaning shortcuts will keep clutter at bay and your home manageable. And one of those shortcuts is the tidy toss cleaning method.

Made popular by organizer Holly Blakey, the method involves "tossing" items into a basket and calling it a day. Rather than painstakingly folding, rolling, or organizing the items, you throw them into a container and store them out of sight. This helps you save time and, since it's so effortless, increases the likelihood of cleaning throughout the week. Intrigued? Here is a deeper look into how to incorporate the tidy toss method and in which rooms it will work best.

Organizer Holly Blakey shared the tidy toss method with the world when she posted it on her Instagram. To pull it off, you need a system of opaque baskets in the areas you wish to organize. They cannot be clear, mesh, or acrylic since they will show the clutter inside. Instead, you want them to be completely opaque so you can throw your items in without folding or aligning them. To use the method, all you have to do is throw designated items into their designated bins. While this might seem super easy, some planning is needed beforehand in order to set the foundation for this method. 

First, identify which rooms you have trouble keeping tidy. Does your bedroom look messy? Is the mudroom constantly in disarray? Is your toddler's closet complete mayhem? Once you figure out which rooms need the most help, narrow down which items are the hardest to keep tidy. Are your sandals constantly littering your closet floor? Or do hats and gloves get strewn across the entryway? Maybe it's your vast skincare collection that always ends up scattered across the counter. Lastly, invest in boxes and containers big enough to easily house your collection. For example, if you have at least 10 pairs of sandals, you will need an extra large container rather than a medium-sized one. This will allow you to fit everything comfortably, making it easier to sift through when you need an item.

Some areas are better suited for the tidy toss method than others. The first place to implement this technique is in various closets in your house, from your bedroom to your nursery. Identify which items don't need to be folded or organized for you to use them, and then transfer them into bins. In your bedroom, this could be everything from hats to undershirts to home sweatpants. In a kid's room, it could be everything from onesies to headbands to blankets. Doing this will make it easier to clean even when you don't have the time to. "My closet stays tidy because I don't spend the time doing unnecessary organizing ... I end up tidying because it's NOT a lot of work," Blakey wrote in her Instagram post.

You can also do this in certain parts of the kitchen, such as the pantry or select drawers. Rather than wasting time decanting or organizing pantry items into neat rows, you can throw them into bins. For example, everything from chip bags to oatmeal packets to pasta variety packs can be thrown into opaque containers. The same can be done for messy elements in your cupboards. Do you have a ton of travel mugs that are always a mess on your shelves? Throw them into a basket instead. Are your storage container lids always a mess, no matter how often you try to organize them? Admit defeat and corral them in a small basket.