What's your cleaning schedule? I need to sort mine out...

[CravingSunshine]

We just moved into a 4 bed and I can't believe how grubby the place gets. Every time I turn my head there's a new bit to clean whether it's dust or crumbs and I'm not even that anal although I do like it to be pretty tidy and clean. Just wondering how you folk plan your cleaning so that things keep ticking over?

[Doilooklikeatourist]

I don't have a set routine , however I generally start at the front and work back . If that makes sense !
We have on old farmhouse , so the front door comes into the kitchen , so I Hoover and mop kitchen , dining room and other downstairs room on Monday morning . Put washing on ( most days )
Hoover and tidy sitting room , this gets lots of use , so needs doing often .
Hoover landing and main bedroom once a week , and don't go into the children's rooms as they are teenagers and should sort they're own mess out .
I iron once a week , and get it all done then .
Clean windows (inside ) about every 3 weeks or so .
Dishes get put in dishwasher after use , pots washed and put away after use .
Dishwasher on after dinner and oven and kitchen surfaces wiped .
I can't bare ( bear ? ) an untidy kitchen first thing in the morning !
Conservatory once a week or so gets hoovered, mopped and crumbling windows gently dusted .
I like to have one day off housework a week .

[ethelb]

Monday - Bathroom
Tuesday - Bedroom
Wednesday - Kitchen
Thursday - Order groceries
Friday - Hoover and clean floors. Tidy living room.
Saturday - Gardening (mainly just weeding)

It works quite well.

[alittlebitshy]

I hate doing too much in one go - it stresses me out so I have it all spilt up.

Obviously laundry, washing up, loading dishwasher etc along with basic kitchen surfaces being wiped are done all through the week.

Monday: clean kitchen (moving canisters/kettle out etc - so more thorough than day to day). Mop kitchen floor and downstairs loo floor.
Tuesday: dust and hoover downstairs
Wednesday: dust and hoover upstairs
Thursday: clean bathrooms (3 loos, 5 basins incl the ones in 2 of the bedrooms), 1 shower, 1 bath; clean mirrors, change hand towels and bath mats....
Friday: mop hard floors (kitchen again, downstairs loo again and 2 bathrooms upstairs). I also use this day to sort any outstanding piles of laundry that have not bene put away earlier in the week and have a general tidy round.

My house is be no means immaculate - it is clean, not totally tidy - more cluttered than messy - but is is comparatively big as it has 5-6 bedrooms (vicarage) so a quick hoover is not as quick as in many homes. i wish it was!!

[CravingSunshine]

Thanks everyone! This is exactly what I'm after. I have two kids under 2 and the only time I get is during their synchronised nap after lunch.
Alittle your Thursday is a big clean up; how long does all that take? My issue is that I can't get much done on any particular day (I work from home during their nap and get paid an hourly rate so it's not a lot but helps) so I always seem to be finishing off various rooms at once. A bit disorganised for my liking. But maybe there's no way round it at this stage of parenting?
ethelb I like your programme but we have 9 rooms + garden so I'd never get a day off!

[alittlebitshy]

Doesn't take tooo long. Depends on how thorough I am being . Tbh if it slides for a week and something gets left it takes longer the next so it pays to keep on top of it even though it sometimes feels like an unending circle of drudgery.

[CravingSunshine]

Doi I like your front to back routine. I also heard about this site called Lady which I found quite amusing as well as helpful. I'm not a cleaning fanatic at all but want to get into a pattern and then forget about analysing it and spend more time drinking wine...

[fluffygal]

How do you get away with mopping your floor once a week? A lot of these jobs are ones which need doing every 2 days in my house (living room floor needs doing every day) otherwise it looks like no one has cleaned in a month!

[ethelb]

@fluffy gal I do the floors when I do the individual rooms too. DP helps out a bit in the week but will shove the hoover round once or twice at the weekend.

[alittlebitshy]

I often hoover in between if it looks like it needs it but sweeping the kitchen floor does the trick between mops (mon and fri). there are no shoes allowed in our house so i suspect that makes a difference in dirt levels...

I can't stand seeing fluff/bits on the carpet so will often do a quick zoom with the hoover in the hall/living rom if i feel stepford wife like the need .

[alittlebitshy]

and i feel like i follow the kids around with the dustpan and brush when they are eating (in the kitchen).

[DewDr0p]

I follow this plan:

Monday - clean kitchen (also wash clothes)
Tuesday - change beds, dust and hoover upstairs (wash bedding)
Wednesday - clean bathrooms (wash towels)
Thursday - bins/recycling, dust and hoover downstairs (wash delicates)
Friday - sweep and mop hard floors (wash school uniform)

I obv have low standards cause I consider hoovering once a week quite good Obv the kitchen gets wiped down each day and I chuck bleach down the toilets once or twice during the week too.

[indiechick]

Work full time, so only clean on a Sat and Sun, do an hour or so each day. House not spotless but not bad. I think being out all day five days a week helps, holidays I seem to end up sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor every day.

[Doilooklikeatourist]

//www.theorganisedhousewife.com.au
I found this one recently , similar to flylady , but not so many count your blessings !

[Flisspaps]

HomeRoutine app on my phone.

Monday - bedrooms
Tuesday -hall and stairs
Wednesday - bathroom and utility room
Thursday - kitchen and dining room
Friday - living room
Saturday - nothing
Sunday - car, garden and ironing.

Every day basic jobs get ignored done - dishwasher loading/unloading, washing machine on, kitchen sides wiped and floor mopped, that sort of thing. I get a gold star for every job that's done.

[OptimisticPessimist]

HomeRoutine app like flisspaps.

Everyday I do things like a quick tidy of the living room, wipe kitchen benches, mop the kitchen floor. Every evening I wash, dry and put away all the clothes that were worn that day so the washing doesn't build up. Every couple of days I wash whites and cloths/tea towels/the mop head (microfibre thing). I do all that as I go along.

I also do a room a day - usually in the afternoon. I start at the back of the house and move round in a circle, I do it this way because the hoover moves with me and usually stays in the room that was done that day (iyswim?) so it means I don't double back on myself.

Monday - Living Room - proper tidy up, hoover, hoover under sofas and sofa cushions, dust, clean tv etc.

Tuesday - Kitchen - proper cleaning of benches (moving the bread bin etc), wipe shelves, move the table to mop, clean out fridge, clean sink.

Wednesday - Hall/Stairs/Landing - tidy, dust the bookshelf in the hallway, hoover. I also hoover the living room before I do the hall, clean the toilet, change the cat litter and wash my towels and the face cloths.

Thursday - DD's room. Tidy, change bed, tidy her drawers, hoover. Wash her bed clothes.

Friday - My room. Tidy, hoover, change bed. Wash bed clothes.

Saturday - DSes' room. Tidy, tidy their drawers, change beds, hoover. Wash bed clothes. I bring the hoover back downstairs and hoover the living room.

Sunday - Bathroom. Wipe all the surfaces, clean sink/bath, clean toilet, wash floor. Change cat litter. Wash all the towels. Also get the boys to tidy their toys away because they'll have pulled them all out over the weekend and if they don't then I can't get to the wardrobe for school clothes through the week.

Once I'm in the routine it doesn't take long each day, but when I slip out of it it does take longer to get things back on track. When that happens I do the bare minimum and build it back up.

[CravingSunshine]

flisspaps I'm curious. What do you do with your accrued gold stars? I just got the app thanks.
Thanks for all the ideas, everyone.

[Flisspaps]

Craving I sit there and feel smug - they get wiped off at midnight so I have to start collecting them all over again!

[CravingSunshine]

Oh that's disappointing Fiss I thought you'd collect them and send yourself off on a well deserved pamper treat whilst someone else in the family does a day's cleaning!

[Notcybermum]

Craving is the app good?

[CravingSunshine]

I'm getting to grips. What's good is the zone cleaning idea which is also on Fly Lady.net. With that system you never set yourself an unrealistic amount of work on any one day. And it means that, say, the bedrooms get dusted and hoovered only on a Monday (and that's all I do then) so I can ignore them for the rest of the week. The way my 'zones' work though I'm not getting any 'me' time! Someone needs to invent an app for that!

[Flisspaps]

Craving that's how the HR app works. The first week was awful as my house was a tip - but the second week, it took me about 30 minutes a day (and I was at home with a mucky toddler) so had the rest of the time spare