To think people are getting scruffier?

Holes in doors ☹️ clearly domestic abuse, I'd be calling social services and the police to let them know, if could be part of a bigger picture.

I used to help survey social housing back in 2006-2008. Asbestos surveys in fact. So every room was surveyed. Bearing in mind, the houses are pretty identical building wise, it's definitely the people that live in them that make the difference. Saw some lovely places and some dreadful places with faecal matter smeared up the walls. From animals. Most of stinky places had the latest TV, etc. Occupants could easily afford cigarettes and alcohol but not cleaning products evidently.

With regard to musty smelling clothes people these days seem to have an aversion to hanging clothes on the line to dry. Loads of people never used to have tumble dryers so hung the washing out, my mum has never had a tumble dryer and lives in rainy Wales, but looks at the weather forecast and hangs her washing out to dry all year round. Obviously she has to sometimes dry things indoors but mainly hangs them out.
Also these days people don't seem to iron their clothes much, when you iron clothes which are a bit damp it dries them out so they don't need to hang on the airer so long to dry. Combi boilers also mean that often people don't have airing cupboards which are very useful for helping to dry things properly, I had a new boiler, chose not to have a combi and kept my loft tanks and airing cupboard for that reason.
Very many people rarely open their windows these days either which must surely add to the mustiness and damp when drying clothes indoors. I have noticed that lots of my neighbours hardly ever open their windows, their houses must be so stale. I keep my upstairs windows open all year round, and if I'm drying clothes on an airer I open it in that room too, they are dry overnight so no mustiness.

Covid didn't change my showering habits. I've always showered every other day unless I've felt particularly sweaty. Even then I don't smell.

I've never stopped showering every day, despite WFH since Covid. 🤷‍♀️

Covid lockdown and WFH turned a lot of people into total slobs. Stop going to the office every day, so stop showering every day…slippery slope.

Anyone who thinks this is a new phenomenon never lived in student or other shared accommodation in the 80s! (Oh, those filthy rugby gloves in the kitchen sink!)

It's possible that the pandemic made some people scruffier, because they didn't have to worry about keeping their house fit for visitors; while others became more hygiene-conscious, 'cos germs.

I don't think there's a huge correlation between dressing smartly and keeping a clean house. Many people I know, including myself, prefer comfort to smart clothes (I don't mean going around in pjs), but still prefer our home not to be a tip.

Yes and I am one of them you should see me on the nursery run. However I do like to have a few days of deep cleaning the house but it always ends up in the same state and the cycle repeats

Pretty much everyone can boil a kettle and have a wash at the sink, if they can't afford to heat loads of water. And showers are very water and energy efficient. I think lots of people are just making excuses for being slovenly.
Skanky people have always existed - I don't believe it's worse now than it used to be. Even wfh, the majority of people are hygienic and will still shower etc, because that is what's natural to them.

If people appear less 'dressed up' it's because comfortable leisure wear is now a thing, whereas in the past people wore 'proper' clothes. But there's a difference between being a bit too casual or scruffy and being actually dirty and stinking!

Society used to have expectations around keeping communal areas clean in blocks of flats etc. It was respectful to other people living around you and it was part of tenancy agreements when my mum was young. You could be evicted if you didn't keep your house in good order. It was a bit ott back then but we could do with a return to some of the societal expectation around respecting communal spaces. Slobs now don't have any societal pressure and just dump their shit anywhere. It doesn't help that councils don't do weekly bin collections anymore either.

Re drying clothes - a dehumidifier is the absolute best thing I've bought for my house - it dries laundry and keeps the house dry and condensation free.

The rest of the house is clean and I frequently wash floors and surfaces etc (renter) but my bedroom is a tip.

I have to admit that I get a bit depressed by it but I can't put it off much longer so I'll do that next week.

Trying to clear elderly relative's place this week in a different location so that takes priority for now. It sort of makes you realise how much crap we accumulate.

No one is saying people who rent have less tidy and clean houses. But if I was selling my house I would have a good tidy up of every room. If my landlord was selling then people looking round would have to take the house as it happened to be that day.

Again this was my experience of a working class estate. May have been different if I was from a middle class family, but I was just saying that people have always been a bit grubby and a lot of my friends had theone bath a week rule as kids, and not all of them were living in poverty either.

My own kids shower everyday as I cringe now that we didn't bathe much as kids.

I'm not particularly keen on being around people that stink, but there can be a whole number of reasons why they might stink and I can't tell why by looking at someone. Some people are on medication that can make them sweat a lot, and they are really self conscious about it because they know people are judgemental. They do shower daily, but they worry it isn't enough.

This is my experience living in a small space due to rental costs in my local area. Getting toys out in a small space looks different in a large open plan space. Quicky very cluttered. Of course there is more surface area to clean in a larger space, but in a smaller space you need to clean those spaces constantly as it rarely stays clean for long and no spare room to bung your clutter or laundry in. You have to deal with it right away or it is just there in your face all of the time. I think it is a but of a myth that large house = more cleaning. Totally depends on your circumstances and who lives there/if you have kids. My flat would be very easy to keep tidy if it was just me living in it.

I agree
It's an odd assumption that renters are slobs that don't take pride in where they live
It's insulting too

The “don’t judge” society that we live in today has made it so some people feel it is totally acceptable to live in a junk yard and not bother washing. Look at all the parents that wear their PJs on the school run- there is no need and it would not have happened 20 years ago.

A home should look lived in but there is no need for dishes piled high and piss stained bathrooms. This is nothing to do with poverty or time short- it is lazy. If you keep on top of the small jobs, they don’t become big jobs.

I have friends at either end of the grub scale. One couple with two children who both work full time, one of the parents often still working online at 9pm. Their house is always clean, lived in but clean. Another couple with 3 older kids, stay at home mum and dad that has been on gardening leave for the last six months and their house is always in disarray. Dirty bathrooms (ie poo stained toilets and rogue pubes) and kitchen always looks like they have just cooked a 3 course meal for an entire army. It is most definitely nothing to do with poverty as they are both fairly affluent and the time rich couple are the ones living in a messy home. They just don’t care.

Each to their own, I say.

Having worked as a district nurse for several years, it's not always dog poo I'm afraid.

Continence issues and mental ill health are brutal.

Sure, I think we all know what ocd is, and how it can manifest.

I wonder if social media/ smartphones has changed this.

I know I waste too much time on my phone. I may try to spend 30 mins less on my phone a day; and put this time into the house/ garden or maybe doing something nice for me like blow drying out my hair so it looks better.

But maybe with the busy lives we have; our phones/ social media are adding to our problems?

@Janetime there is nothing wrong with having a clean and tidy home. But when people get OCD about it then that is a mental health issue.
There used to be a lot of shaming of women who did not keep their houses tidy and clean. Those women would be gossiped about. These days that does not happen unless your house is horrific. So people do the level of housework they are happy with. I like a clean and tidy house, some people do not care that much.

I see it at work. My desk is clear by the end of the day. A clear desk policy would not be an issue for me. My colleague's desk is always full of papers and personal possessions. She does not understand why I like my desk totally clear. It is simply different preferences.

Violent people who can't control themselves - yet choose to take out their anger on a nice soft internal door instead of an actual wall. But I guess broken fingers and a scuff to the paint are somewhat less dramatic.

‘I see that on here too. If your home is clean and tidy, it’s a show house and not a home. It means something is wrong in your life. Or soon will be.’

True. Tidy = joyless.
Messy = lived in and happy.😏

And clean kids are often described as unhappy. Whereas messy kids are so loved and busy, ‘making memories’ with their families!

Give me tidy and happy any day.

I think maybe a small house is easier if it is just adults living there, but a larger house is easier if you have children. Largely because you can confine the children's toys more to playrooms.
I think standards in house decoration and looks have risen over the years. But deep cleaning has declined.
Most people do not have time to do deep cleaning in between work, children and life. And most people do not pay cleaners for enough hours to do proper deep cleaning. But does it matter? My mother when she was a housewife used to polish the letterbox, had summer and winter curtains, and cleaned the outside bins thoroughly. But none of this actually matters.

We've just moved to a bigger house and yes, it takes longer, but it's also easier as it's tidier / less cluttered, so I'm more inclined to do it. It's swings and roundabouts.