This post has been sponsored by STAINMASTER™. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kyle and I just moved into our first home. We also just adopted our second puppy. Friends and family are constantly stopping by to see our new place and (more importantly) meet our little Nellie Nutmeg, and the southern girl in me doesn’t have the heart to say no. We’re crazy overwhelmed, and our house is just a little bit of a mess. I know no one’s judging, but it’s downright mortifying when there are giant balls of fur floating around everywhere and dirt is visible all over the furniture and linens. Also, we live in a small town, so we never really have more than a 15 or 20-minute heads up before any last-minute pop-ins. Needless to say, I’ve gotten pretty good at tidying in a pinch.

I know many other pet owners are in similar boats, so I’ve put together some of my best quick cleaning hacks for dog moms (and regular moms) in today’s post! If you have pets and need to clean your home in 15 minutes or less, here’s my tried-and-true 5-step process:

1. Hide the Clutter (3 Minutes)

They say preventing the mess is the best way to avoid the mess. While that’s true, it’s also nonsensical for dog moms. Dogs, specifically puppies, get into things. Unless you’re a professional dog watcher, you can’t monitor them 24/7, so cut yourself some slack. Snatch up everything off the floor and stash it somewhere out of sight. Our go-to is the mudroom. Decluttering will immediately make your home look more inviting and will clear the floors for swift sweeping and mopping. 

Also, focus on the rooms where guests will sit and congregate, like the kitchen and living room. As for the rest of the house, close any doors you don’t want opened.

2. Sweep and Mop Simultaneously (5 Minutes)

Sweeping and mopping are both important, albeit time-consuming, activities. Luckily, you can change the way you clean with a one-step solution for your hard surface floors. What does that even mean? When I’m in a time crunch, I don’t have time to sweep and mop separately. I also don’t have time to get into hard-to-reach areas, specifically in tight corners and underneath furniture where fur conspicuously accumulates, with a mop or vacuum. So, I started looking for the best way to clean hardwood floors with pets, and I ended up purchasing the STAINMASTER™ Sweep & Mop Kit at Walmart.

It has a flexible pole at the base of the mophead that helps you reach stubborn spaces, like under your appliances, couches, and bed where dirt likes to hide. It’s honestly the best mop for dog hair on hardwood floors that I’ve ever used, and it helps me tackle both the sweeping and mopping of our common areas (kitchen, living room, and dining room) in under 5 minutes.

The kit I purchased from my local Walmart includes the aforementioned flexible/lightweight/adjustable mop, which can extend to five feet long, plus a washable and reusable microfiber pad for cleaning hard surfaces. I also picked up some Stainmaster Sweep & Mop Wet Mopping Cloths, too, and they safely remove 3x more grime than water alone without using any harsh chemicals or damaging our wood floors. Plus, the Fresh Scent smells like clean linens, and I love it. Head to Walmart to check out Stainmaster’s entire line of floor cleaning products!

3. Polish the Floor with Socks On (3 Minutes)

Having guests walk into a house with wet floors is almost as embarrassing as having dirty floors. Plus, wet floors leave too much room for dirty paw and footprints. While wearing socks (to avoid creating more of a mess), quickly polish with the Stainmaster Sweep & Mop Microfiber Pad. It’s washable and reusable for both wet and dry cleaning. Plus, the flexible pole easily reaches underneath furniture and in tight corners.

4. Remove Dog Hair from Upholstery (3 Minutes)

Even though all my friends and family love Nala and Nellie, I don’t want to make them sit, or worse, sleep in their dog hair. To remove dog hair quickly, use a damp rubber glove or a squeegee on the upholstery. I’m telling you, it works like magic! You can use this method to get dog hair off car seats, pillows, rugs– you name it. If you don’t have either rubber gloves or a squeegee on hand, or if the upholstery is super delicate, use a lint roller to gently remove pet hair.

5. Freshen Up (1 Minute)

The final step of my quick cleaning routine is to spray fabric refresher spray all over, well, everything. Choose a fragrance that’s mild, pleasant, and, most importantly, refreshing, and it’ll go a long way. Also, I’ve started preemptively freshening up our laundry to mask odor on any bed and table linens. 

And there you have it. Follow these steps and your home will look clean and tidy in 15 minutes (or less)! No matter how little notice you’re given before company arrives, you’ll replace stress and sweat with fond happy memories of your friends, family, and fur babies.