If your house was sorted (I know but entertain me ) how long would it take to do a complete clean of your house top to bottom?
And how long do you spend on your house daily and weekly?
I feel like I am forever tidying and getting very little done never mind cleaning everything!
I do the basics and it seems like there is more when I look around, yes to be fair dh can’t do anything (he is at the house all day and cannot prepare anything for himself or help out at the moment) and the kids help with jobs they can (wiping and cleaning the floor and vacuuming) but it is driving me mad!
By essentials each day I mean clearing a patch on the side to prepare dinner, empty/reload dishwasher, wash some stuff, put washing on/hang out, tidying around, clearing sofas, putting clothes away.
Every couple of days I vacuum but find it hard to fit inanything that would be helpful like clearing the dining table or clearing the sides properly.
I really struggle with keeping the house clean. Right at this second in time I am sitting in my VERY TIDY lounge with not one toy on the floor and only one magazine beside me on the sofa. Everything else is what’s meant to be there. This is really rare and only like this because we did a complete blitz of the lounge at the weekend and it’s the one room I am determined to keep mess free. The rest of the house is how it normally is though. Today I have had approximately 5hours without the children while they were at school. In that time I cleared the dining table, emptied and reloaded the dishwasher (and washed up what doesn’t go in), put a load of washing in and hung it up after, cleared the clutter from the kitchen work surface and cleaned it, swept the floors, did an hour of my pregnancy yoga dvd and half an hour relaxation cd, tidied the children’s toys away, cooked soup, ate it…I think that was it. But I never seem to get time to do any real cleaning such as dusting etc - it’s always just getting through the day things. What I did today is the most I do in any one day. I work 3 mornings a week and then have to go and pick the children up so I spend most of my week getting to and from school/work. One day off is housework day and the other I normally go out shopping and then do the daily things before going to pick the children up.
I used to vacuum once a week (we have wood or laminate flooring throughout so I sweep every day) but now DH does that on a Saturday morning as I get really tight Braxton Hicks when I do it so now that is his job! x
IF, but that’s a v BIG If!! The house was completely sorted to start with I reckon to clean properly everywhere, that is hoovering, dusting, cleaning bathrooms and kitchen, mopping hard floors I reckon it would take me most of the day to do really nicely.
But I never ever spend that long on it, I am similar to you most days Sarah, empty/load dishwasher, wash other dishes, tidy kitchen, load of washing on and hung up to dry and the previous load put away if i’m being efficient (which is rare!), sweep the hard floors (rare too!) and tidy around generally (quite rare too) That actually sounds as if I do F all, which I probably do
In my fantasy world I would do a big proper clean once a week like my dear mum used to do and do the minimum each day. In reality I clean bathrooms either when people are due to visit or if they look awful. I do try to keep loos clean though and shine the kitchen sink cos it looks better! I change sheets on beds er, sometimes or when people are going to stay, as for things like cleaning windows, well….
Just waffling now
I did sweep today though, and do washing and will hang up later. Promise
Erm, I need to pick a moment when I have the strength (physical and emotional!), get the kids occupied doing an activity or out of the house, put on some lively music, reassure DH that it has to look worse before it looks better and then of course I need a following wind and a little bit of luck!
It doesn’t happen that often Oh, and a deadline helps, like someone coming to stay in our spare (junk) room!
I try and get as much as possible done in the morning after breakfast, washing in/on dryers, dishwasher emptied/refilled, wipe counters, recycling out etc.
Cat tray is cleaned out every night, floor swept every evening, dishwasher refilled etc…
And we spend a full morning or afternoon each weekend doing the bigger jobs like windows, upstairs hoovering and bathroom.
Too long :( I was determined to keep the new house really clean and tidy, and it seems to take forever and cuts into the time I’d like to be doing stuff with grace :( I’m really hoping that it’s pregnancy making me slow! I tackle one room each day of the week, except sabbath when we do nothing (and doesn’t the house look *shocking* on a sunday!). On the days when we do outside activities I try and keep it light - so mondays I change the beds and sort the dry washing and tidy the bedrooms, Thursdays I polish all the woodwork (it’s all old dark wood, and really does need doing) and tidy the lounge - those don’t take too long, but tuesdays and Wednesdays are kitchen and bathroom days, and they are hideous - it takes me nearly all day to get them properly clean, and grace hates it :( even the washing up just seems to take so long!
Fridays I do a general all-over clean and tidy, and my husband hoovers throughout as I hate the Hoover! He does all the heavy stuff too and quite likes polishing
I would love it to take at least a couple of hours less each day, but still look as tidy!
Change the beds! Can’t remember the last time I did it…and it has to be quite regularly otherwise my eczema gets bad. Must be time for a change lol.
Today, I cleaned my neighbours house (he did pay me lol) top to bottom including cleaning all kitchen surfaces/fridge/cooker, load dishwasher, stripped beds and washed two loads, one out and folded dry washing, polished and wiped down the leather sofa and chairs, cleaned mirrors and glass, vacuumed downstairs, upstairs and stairs and mopped kitchen and bathroom, made beds and tidied the linen cupboard, polished upstairs and cleaned the bathroom.
It took 3 1/2 hours and he has bugger all in his house (one man living on his own) BUT he is a smoker and has a dog (which I can really tell!).
I don’t think 3 1/2 hours solid work on my house would make a huge difference and maybe not a lasting one but I am trying to figure out how I can make it easier for me. I find it difficult as at home I have ds and dh to look after (dd at nursery every morning), before I left today I had to set up food, drinks and a succession of things to do but if I am at home I have to do more for them.
Diana I am so with you with the deadline thing, I have joked with dh before and said if he wants the house cleaned invite more people over
sarie
Sorry posted and didn’t see your replies Emi and Angie, you sound very organised Emi
If you ever get bored I have a house that may be a challenge lol.
That sound like a good idea Angie, maybe one room a day rather than tackling everything would be a good idea although I would have to do it on top of the other daily stuff of course, don’tthink it would be productive to ignore some things.
Does everyone only vacuum once a week? Our floor gets horrible after only a day and I normally try to leave it ad do it every other day but the crumbs and glitter and child food and ‘stuff’ eurgh!
Hmm, well, trying to imagine the house being sorted, and failing dismally at the first hurdle!
I stack/unstack the dishwasher, keep the surfaces clear and the table visible, sweep the kitchen floor and keep the bathroom clean and the beds made with no obvious piles of chaos in either our or DD1’s bedroom daily, spending, I should think, about two hours or so doing just that. Every few days, I have a quick piles-of-stuff bust - we end up with discarded clothing floating around hither and yon, and books and whatnot left about the place, and that probably adds another hour or so… I wish I could say we hoovered every week, but I’d be lying - our house is kind of a ‘choose to do something crafty or bake something’ joint, rather than a super-clean establishment…! We probably hoover once a fortnight, though it really should be more often, given my tendency to asthma (something which only joined us after moving here, to a cob house which we’re renovating…) And we change linen similarly.
I’m naturally a pretty tidy person, I fear - a childhood with two incredibly messy parents and a house which was really in pieces when it didn’t need to be contributed to a quite control-freaky approach to our house! So, over a week, probably about ten or twelve hours, I’d say, if not more.
My big demons are the laundry (will it never end?), DH’s tendency to ignore STUFF that needs doing and the eternal small bits and bobs which litter the house because of the children. But I’m generally OK with it all, despite feeling it is genuinely never-ending. I think it would take probably the best part of two days to sort thoroughly, mind, if we’re including things like dealing with the sodding mould our unrenovated rooms produce as soon as you look at them, and making things like skirting boards clean.
I am pretty organised otherwise my brain might cave in.
So all the kids toys are in open baskets so they can be litterally thrown where they belong. I try and have a place for everything so it can go back where it belongs easily. As for cleaning it takes me about 3 hrs to hoover the whole house clean two toilets mirrors, bath and shower and dust. i use on espray bottle of vinegar and a dash of washing up liquid that does everything and sprinkle with bicarb for bathroom. at night once the girls are in bed we have a quick run round then we can sit with a cup of tea and a biscuit and relax, i can’t relax in mess, also we don’t have a tv so that helps.
i think the key for us is to have a blitz every so often and make sure everything has a place and get rid of stuff that isn’t being used, oh and plenty of storage,
No idea how long it would take with the house sorted…but I am quite good at the basics at the moment, only due to nesting though!
I tend to fit it in when the girls are finishing eating as they eat slowly and I eat quickly.
So, after breakfast I get washing in, out and away.
After lunch I do dishes, put the dinner on and have a clean round the kitchen.
After dinner I do anything that glaringly needs doing, Chris does dinner dishes.
I do the bathroom while the girls are in the bath, hoovering, a main tidy and beds get done on a Sunday while the girls watch a DVD.
That lot seems to keep us ticking over reasonably clean and tidy all week, we set aside the occasional Saturday for jobs that are any bigger than that.
Yep we only vacuum once a week. It is minging by the end of the week LOL! Full clean of our house would take at least all day I reckon. Ours is a bit bigger than yours but I still think to properly clean a house takes a day. However due to HE kids ours is a tip as I never get anything done! If I’ve stuck the washing on, everyone’s fed and clean and I’ve fed the cat I think I’m doing well I try and tell myself that you’ll never lie on your death bed wishing you’d dusted more
If your house was sorted (I know but entertain me ) how long would it take to do a complete clean of your house top to bottom? [/quote
Probably a couple of days if we’re talking top of kitchen cupboards, changing beds, decobwebbing and deep cleaning the bathroom etc
And how long do you spend on your house daily and weekly?
I try to spend an hour a day but that doesn’t always happen - To be honest I feel like I’m fire fighting most of the time. I get one room done really nicely but instead of keeping it looking good I have to move onto other areas. Our main problem is too much stuff hence my on going decluttering. It’s never ending isn’t it?
Agree that not having a TV helps - we have a quick evening whip-round after the girls are in bed too, and I like to make it easy enough for us to chuck things in the dishwasher last thing, so that the morning doesn’t show us the Somme…!
I also find it hard to relax in mess, so have to tread a careful balance between tidying to keep the house running and myself sane, and just ignoring it for the sake of doing things with DD1 (this afternoon being a prime example: house REALLY needs hoovering, but we spent the afternoon painting watercolour paper for lanterns instead).
Well I have sparkling windows today as I spent an hour with ds spraying them and me cleaning - which means that everything else in the house looks like a bomb has hit and I’ve only just finished hanging washing up (in the lounge, which is a huge mess in itself!) at 9pm.
I have to hoover every other day too - sometimes every day if we have visitors, our carpets show up everything and mess just seems to be attracted to our house. I realised a while back that doing one thing obsessively made me feel in control and like I was doing really well, so I change the bedding every weekend (ours and one child, I rotate ds’s and dd’s - less people sleep in their beds!) first thing in the morning on whichever day we’re not going out. I put on the new, put the old in the washing machine and feel organised by 9am - once a week, it’s a nice feeling! I do like getting things done early - people are less tetchy so the children entertain themselves for a while and I usually get the dishwasher done, hoover/tidy and wish I could be bothered to clean the bathrooms… I go through phases with it all but our new house is masses easier to clean than our old one, which never looked tidy even though I spent all day every day trying to make it look ok.
I LOVE the toy basket system we have in the lounge - the children can put away their own toys because everything has it’s own place. That said, our garage is full of things we can’t fit into the house and I’m dreading them being given loads more things at Christmas…
I could have written your post exactly. I would love to have more time to make the house look lovely, it always feels nicer. But, we have masses of stuff and a lot we want to do - today we did painting and cooking for birthdays that are coming up so I didn’t have time to do much else - tidying the table for dinner just involves moving projects to another surface and then back again afterwards! I try to adopt the attitude of the previous poster who said life’s too short to wish you’d spent more time cleaning, but it does drive me mad sometimes!
In an ideal world, we’d do a bit each day…tackling a room at a time (we live in a small cottage, 1 bathroom, kitchen, dining room, lounge and 4 beds, but all rooms are small). We try and do it first thing, along with any food prep for the day such as putting dinner in the slow cooker. This works for us as the moment because by dinner/tea time I’m zonked and don’t want to start chopping veg.
However, at the moment we’re having a bit of a clear out and it seems that all we’re managing to do is tidy…I too cant settle if there’s mess everywhere.
My mum has a habit of commenting on the state of my housekeeping when she comes round, so I adopted the outlook that I have too much living to do to worry about hoovering everyday…even more so now DS is with us and we HE.
Sometimes when it all gets too much its best to go out..fresh air and fresh perspective
) how long would it take to do a complete clean of your house top to bottom? 
