If you have a clean home but don't spend your life cleaning - what's your daily routine?

[valleybutt]

And no cleaner.

What's your daily / weekly "tick list" so to speak to keep the house nice and tidy without spending your life cleaning and doing laundry? I love a clean home and whilst I've come a long way to how it was a few years ago when I was getting to grips with having babies and so on its still not great.

I tried the team TOMM method but I didn't really get on with it and I'm hoping I can get some tips here.

What do you do from am to pm to keep the house nice, clean and running smoothly?

(And before anyone mentions partners - mine does what he can but works very very long hours and I'm only on PT currently furloughed so hoping to get organised).

[Wineisrequired]

Currently working from home with a teenage son in the house who seems to think we have a cleaner 😂 I try and do a big clean at the weekends as I have more time . I’m currently not being an Uber driver for my son and his mates . No real routine as work is a bit demanding at the mo. I do have a thing about the toilet and bathroom being clean so they probably get cleaned in the week as well.

[wellthatsunusual]

Clean everything as I go along. Wipe the worktops every time there is even the tiniest spill, that sort of things. Do all the dishes immediately after using them, or put them in the dishwasher.

Dirty clothes are put in the wash basket as soon as we take them off. Laundry is folded and put back in drawers and wardrobes as soon as it is dried, unless it's something that needs ironed, in which case it goes in the ironing basket (which is in a cupboard, so not cluttering up the house).

Don't ever set anything on chairs or sofas. Nothing at all except people ever gets put on a chair.

That's pretty much how we do it. Our house is always tidy, you can always sit down without moving something, the kitchen is clean but we really spend very little time cleaning and tidying.

[HugeAckmansWife]

No idea what the TOMM method is.. Also it depends on your version of 'clean'. My retired mum cleans her bathrooms and kitchen sink about a 3 times a week and probably thinks mine are awful but mine are clean as in hygienic, but not spotless permanently. I hoover once a week (and am training the tween children), wipe the kitchen surfaces at least once a day, most laundry done at the weekend so Sunday night it's all put away. But it's a home with one working adult and two kids so it's not going to be a show home

[Iseeyoulookingatme]

Like the previous poster said clean as you go. If I'm cooking I will put stuff away and clean at the same time. When ds is in the bath I clean the bathroom while chatting to him, obviously you can't do this with a baby but you can when they are older. I hoover twice a week. If there is a big mess then I clean it up straight away. I put on a load of washing every other day and put it away once it's dried so I never have massive piles of clothes. Make the bed as soon as I get up.

[CaramelCup]

I have a fairly clean/clutter free house:

-Clean showers/baths when you have one (not every time obviously)

• do washing regularly so it doesn’t build up and we don’t have hours of ironing to do at a time, or piles of clean clothes to put away.
  
• regularly go through drawers/kids clothes and take to charity shop or put in loft for younger DC. Just do one drawer or cupboard every so often.
  
• try to encourage everyone to notice things in the ‘wrong place’ what I mean is, if you walk past something that should be put away, tidy it. Regardless of whose item it is!
  

I think my main thing is tidying/cleaning Little and Often. Then it doesn’t feel like a big deal or a massive job.

I’ve got 3 Dc aged 11,8, 7months
Currently on mat leave. DH works full time and we have a business too. So life is busy!

[KateMAB]

Just clean as you go. Wipe down the shower and sinks as you use them, deal with things straight away don't just put them in a pile for later

[crimsonlake]

I live on my own and have been told many times I should not have much mess, wrong.
When my children were small and I was a sahm I usually spent the day after the weekend when they were back in school doing housework and I think I just kept on top of it. If I was having visitors I would find myself running around tidying.
These days I do very little and then usually have a blitz when it starts to annoy me.
I do however always make sure the bathroom is clean, as for the kitchen I have been known to not do the dishes at all during the week.
But then being single it only amounts to a sink full.
So, sorry no tips.

[Superstardjs]

I have quite low standards of 'clean' and would never encourage anyone looking too closely.
However, my house is usually very tidy, so it is much easier to clean. I don't like dishwashers so make sure my washing up is done and sink clean as that notices most in a kitchen. I put stuff away when it has been used and have very little out anyway. Kitchen sides are wiped regularly, bathroom as often as needed plus proper clean on weekend, hoover as needed plus once a week stairs/bedrooms. Stay on top of the washing. Big stuff gets done when I can be arsed, though fridge/freezer defrosted every summer and oven cleaned every January.

[hopsalong]

I dunno. I'm not sure there are too many shortcuts here, other than try to work with demonic energy and very fast while cleaning (as our amazing ex-cleaner used to). If you've got small children and you want a really clean house then you're going to be wiping the kitchen surfaces a lot more than once a day! I would think split up hard floors and carpets, hoover carpets twice a week, do hard floors with hoover and mop every other day. Divide rooms and areas up into low medium and high use. When we stopped having a cleaner I only cleaned the rooms we were in and hardly ever did the stairs, also focused only on most visible things. Cue to layer of crispy lint under the sofa cushions, loads of dust between each banister etc.

Also: delegate. Pretend there's a job that your partner's really good at and keep praising his mastery of it, your own relative incompetence... Eventually he will take it over.

[LubaLuca]

I hoover downstairs and up the stairs every day, which inevitably leads on to other things like clearing the unopened mail off the hallway table, putting shoes away properly, taking the things that are waiting to go upstairs off the bottom step, getting that cobweb in the corner that I noticed the evening before...

[BruceAndNosh]

Most "cleaning" actually consists of tidying and moving stuff so that you can clean.
So the more stuff that's in the way, the harder it is to clean and more importantly the harder it is to want to clean.
So minimalism (yep hard with kids) and "don't put it down, put it away" (yep very hard with kids)
I'm told I have an immaculate house but I really don't.
I actually rarely "do a clean" I just wipe stuff up as I go along. Robovac the floors. Mostly it's the occasional dust

[Mischance]

If it looks dirty/dusty I clean it. If it doesn't I don't.

Life is simply too short.

[ScaredOfDinosaurs]

We have a 2yo. The system is one person does bath and bedtime while the other cleans. That gives 45 mins to an hour of cleaning time per day. We take it in turns on who does which job.

It isn't perfect but it means we at least get an evening without washing up and toys everywhere before it goes to shit again the next day. It's also fair.

[MadameMiggeldy]

I try and minimise the toys out at any given time. Less to put away.
Steam mop.
Window vacuum.

[Elsielouise13]

Two adults working F/T in excess of 50 hours a week. One at home. DC x2 dogs x2 assorted other animals including horses x3

Have help with horses, cleaner retired 2 years ago and not replaced cos haven’t found anyone who fits yet/ actually recruiting is hard.

We try and tidy as we go but it’s almost impossible and if anyone told me they were visiting today I would have The Shame and probably not let them in.

My stables are, however, immaculate. At the moment ( for the last 12 months feels like) I cannot do the job I am doing plus spend the weekend exercising animals and then clean the house.

Bathrooms and kitchen hygienic enough.. everything else...



Something has to give.

[Cuppaand2biscuits]

You said you didn't get on with the TOMM method, I don't use it day to day but there are bits that have really stuck with me.
Be your future friend, be organised now so you see the benefit later. So take the dry washing, fold it into piles of which room it's going into, upstairs and put it straight away. Then it feels like one job, if you leave it in the basket it becomes 2 jobs because you need to put it away later.

Do a load of washing and kitchen worktops every day. Don't put things down, put them away. If something will take less than 5 minutes, just do it now, you would be surprised how many jobs do take less than 5 minutes.

[Ragwort]

I think it depends on your standards and what you consider 'clean'. I am amazed on Mumsnet when people say they need to vacuum every day or spend the weekend 'cleaning'.

Like others I just clean surfaces in the kitchen every couple of days, wipe down shower after use, scrub out bath, basins once a week, squirt a bit of beach down the toilets every couple of days (and clean seat etc). A bit of dusting when I can be bothered. Wash kitchen floor once a week Vacuum once a week fortnight. It's not immaculate but not dirty or grubby.

A lot of "cleaning" seems to be tidying up or cleaning up after pets, I don't allow clutter to accumulate and I choose not to have pets.

TOMM can work really well, what don't you about like it?

[Nonamesavail]

I started to note difference in clean and tidy. 2 different things. I have 4 kids, I've accepted my house WILL have toys out, clothes hung up, coats and bags in the hallway etc but thats OK. I focus on bathrooms and kitchen. Hoover downstairs everyday and I do the upstairs once or twice a week (generally not as bad upstairs). I clean toilets daily and make sure the sink is clear. My house is not immaculate but I wipe down doors daily cause of fingerprints etc and understand that clean doesn't have to be tidy. Especially when you have kids.

[OxanaVorontsova]

Put stuff away instead of dumping it
Wipe surfaces as we go
Hoover a couple of times a week
Dust and bathrooms once a week
Washing as needed, put it away as soon as it’s dry
I probably have a kitchen blitz once every month/half term too

[Ulelia]

Clean as you go is a good tip, as in, especially washing dishes as you go when cooking.
My robot vacuum cleaner has literally saved me an hour a day (parquet floors which showed every speck of dust, I would sweep and often mop entire space daily).
Then I divide the house up and do a room a day. Usually:
Sunday - kitchen proper clean, mopping floor, wiling cupboards where necessary, oven etc. When done weekly takes an hour max.
Monday main bedroom. Dust, robovac, swiff with floor cleaning product. Any big jobs like bedding change or sort out our clothes for summer/winter done then.
Tuesday: hallways and dining room. Dust, windows and polish where needed. 30 mums max.
Wednesday: bedroom 2. As above.
Thursday: lounge-hoover sofa, dust, floors, windows. 45 mins max.
Friday: bathroom. Everything. 45 mins max.
Saturday: spare room. 20 mins max.
Doing it weekly means the times above are really max, often it's half that time. And if I have time, I get two rooms done on one day, then have a day off the next day.
I also never go to bed without pottering round and tidying generally first. It helps me wind down and means when you get up in the morning you don't look around thinking of all the things that need cleaning that day.

[lomojojo]

I don't have excess stuff, which is most of why houses are hard to keep clean and tidy. But I DO have lots of cleaning machines: a dishwasher, a robot hoover, washing machine, dryer, steam mop. They really help.

I have a morning and evening routine attached to getting up and going to bed, and in the main this keeps everything together.

Morning:
Get up and start breakfast. 2mins
Unload dishwasher while kettle boils. 2mins
Put wash on. 2mins
Put robot hoover on (and therefore zip around picking stuff up) 2mins
Get clothes out of the dryer and put them away when I go upstairs to get washed and dressed. ...10mins (this one is my nemesis)

Evening while locking up:
Load dishwasher and start it going. 2mins
Wipe down kitchen. 1min
Put any wet clothes in the dryer if I've failed to do so already. 1min
Sometimes I also steam mop myself out of the kitchen. 3mins

Then the rest of the time I just use these rules:

If it's dirty clean it.
If it's broken mend it.
Don't put it down, put it away.
Never leave a room empty handed.

I'm not perfect at this -- stuff I often leave for ages include: the stair carpets, bathroom tiles, clean clothes stacked on bedroom chair. But in general that along with donating a bag of stuff once a month means I have the sort of house that other people say is very clean and tidy.

[Ulelia]

Also, I haven't ironed anything for about five years. Buy clothes that don't need it, and hang shirts in the bathroom so they steam (or buy a steam, I'm considering one once my DP returns to the office which has a smarter dresscode than his previous one.

[sunsetorange]

I have a young child, who's only 14 months so I try and have a dash around when he's eating. So in the morning, whilst he's having breakfast, I will put a wash on, sweep the kitchen floor and wipe the sides down. When DS is finished, will let him watch 10 mins of baby tv on my ipad and I will clear up after breakfast. I put the plates/bowls we have used away straight after they've been washed and dried.

I do the toilet every day - only takes a few minutes but I think really makes a difference! And I give the bath and sink a quick anti bac. I only hoover a few times a week and I do that in the evenings when my partner is back from work.

And we have throws over the sofas - means I can just chuck them in the washing machine every so often rather than having to clean the sofas etc. Tbh, i think it is quicker generally to do a little bit every day rather than allowing to build up and having to do a big clean on the weekends. I understand not everyone has the time to do it like this though!

[itssquidstella]

I do a big clean of the kitchen and bathroom (including mopping floors) once a week. Kitchen surfaces, hob and sink get cleaned daily after we've cooked dinner, though, and bathroom sink gets wiped down every time I use it so the tiles don't get watermarked. The floor gets swept with a dustpan and brush as and when it needs it.

DH hoovers and dusts once a week.

[user159]

For us it's just routine. I'm a very tidy person so that helps! Washing is put away as soon as dry, dirty straight into basket. Beds made as soon as we get up.
I dust, clean the bathrooms and mop the floors every week - seems to make it a reasonably quick job as it never gets proper dirty. Clean and tidy kitchen after dinner each night, dishwasher on and hoover downstairs every day - 2 year old and a cat make a lot of mess! Since I've been wfh I've been doing these jobs in my lunch break so my day off and the weekends we just do any washing and it doesn't feel like a big task.