To think cleaning is a skill?

I've had the same experience! I spent so long cleaning my old house and it never looked really clean. I spend a lot less on the one I'm in now and it always looks clean.

What is method rhubarb?

I use
method rhubarb on the hard floors
Reed diffusers in the bathroom
a linen spray that’s called clean washing - on the bedding and throws
scent sachets in the wardrobe
windows open every morning and evening

everyone comments how nice my house smells

Eating with a knife and fork is a skill also
anything we learn to do could be called a skill

like cleaning - it’s one that most people can learn to do without difficulty

I learned a few skills as a volunteer at a animal rescue.

There's an order to things - top to bottom, dry to wet. Plus techniques like a rubber glove for pet hair and newspaper to buff dry.

But a good domestic cleaner also knows how to manage the jobs well - remembering to do the biweekly, monthly etc jobs.

Agreed and I always think those who derive satisfaction from it do a better job. I hate doing it so always rush through as quickly as I can and I definitely don’t piss about cleaning skirting boards and such. My Gran and Mum are obsessed with cleaning so their houses are constantly immaculate with nothing out of place.

It's a skill in the respect you can learn certain techniques and methods for cleaning and cleaning quickly. For example not leaving smears on glass.

It also requires an eye for detail.

You can speed up cleaning if you have a good eye for what "looks dirty" and cleaning just that, rather than stuff that doesn't. That doesn't make a room clean, but it does make it look clean.

My living room is clean. Not because I care about it looking clean, but because I hate dust. If you hate dust you clean stuff a lot of cleaners don't clean, because out of site ledges is where a lot of the dust is. A book left on the sofa, I don't really care about.

I find it therapeutic. It's my son who makes a mess, myself I clean here and there continuously so that it doesn't build up. Saying that, if I'm having a bad few days or sick my house gets wrecked and it's daunting to then clear up so much mess all at once, so I break it down.

For example if I go in the kitchen to make a coffee, as I'm waiting for the kettle to boil I'll throw in a load of laundry and wipe down the counters. Then next time I go in I'll clean the sink. Sometimes when I go to the toilet I'll then just clean the whole toilet.

Just breaking it down throughout the day like that. I was very messy in my twenties, always had a messy house. So I do think it is a sort of skill you have to learn and get better at over time. And it takes effort to start being like that

I think you learn as you go and can get faster and learn which tools work better but as someone that has recently self taught decorating and DIY as well as can clean well, I don't think either is an unlearnable skill.

The main difference is with cleaning if I miss a bit then I'll shrug and get it next time, whereas DIY I take it slow to get it perfect because otherwise its a faff to fix (no, I won't live with it!)

Professionals have the benefit that they are literally being paid to carry out a task from start to finish. Doing anything yourself at home means it's easy to get distracted or put stuff off until the next time you go to the shop to buy the product or piece you need.

The most empowering thing I learnt about teaching myself DIY is that I'm such a perfectionist that I often get a better result than the men I know are good at it. I'd always assumed it was hard. But actually you can fuck it up quite badly and still get a good result! So have a go!

The trick woth cleaning is to always do a job before it looks like it needs doing. You can do the oven in little more time than it takes to boil the kettle if it's not let dirty. This morning I wallpapered a small wall in less time than it took to listen to the Eras Tour!

I enjoy cleaning and am pretty good at it.

You need a routine, I do upstairs one day and down the next.
Windows in and out monthly.
Then alternate weeks I remove all sofa cushions hoover and replace and dust and polish all light fittings.

Having a cloth to buff sanitary wear after cleaning makes a huge difference as do the right products, only ever use white vinegar on glass and don’t use silicone polishes like pledge, they eventually leave a residue that builds up.

Regarding smell, I think when you have been using a product you tend not to smell it.

I use a Tallow and Ash fabric conditioner watered down in a spray bottle to spray sofas, curtains etc.

I listen to podcasts or audio books when cleaning.

Finally opening doors and windows to air the house is vital.

I grew up in a messy house,df wouldn't allow DM to touch anything (I was born in 1950) friends weren't allowed round. I'm super tidy..I clean as I go , the bathroom is done when I get out of the shower,takes a couple of minutes. Back in the bedroom, make the bed which has aired..my ex h had his own cleaning company. He cleaned a specialist electrical substation,had to wear full hazmat, because of risk of sparks and electrocution. We tried employing people,all awful.. In the end it was the kids and myself. I was nursing,ft often had cleaning jobs as well. Worked as a Home Help at some point..I do have 2 dogs,used to be 3, also had cats, chicken, rabbits, mice rats and 4 dks. I had my first GC a year after my 4th was born,looked after him, the gd born next on my nights off, and then my friends 4 kids after school..it wouldn't have worked if I had let it mount up. The first manufacturer of the electric vacuum cleaner was Spangler, not Hoover. I have a shark pet vacuum cleaner now, corded. Got through several Dysons, over priced,and LG cylinder which I kept upstairs in my last house... cottage with very narrow, steep stairs, given to my DS when we moved into a bungalow and it lasted 15 years.

I agree it is a skill!

Like most skills, it can mostly be learnt - I don’t think it’s like an inherent power you either have or don’t have. But again like most skills many will remain better at it than others.

I agree. Sadly, DH and I both bloody hate cleaning so it's a complete chore. I feel so much more relaxed when the house is spotless but actually getting it that way is like pulling teeth. It's only us in the house as well, which should make it easier 😩

We both have raging ADHD though (me diagnosed and medicated, him not but undeniable) so housework is basically wandering from room to room, getting distracted and leaving fifteen half-finished tasks in my wake.

I also get frustrated because I find that "proper" cleaning takes me far longer than it should. There is a lot of useful content on Tiktok though, like professional cleaners sharing tips. One that surprised me is how versatile washing up liquid is!

I think when you are ‘a cleaner’ it’s easier to stay on task. Doing the whole house in 3 hours, say, without stopping to reorganise a cupboard, nip out for some milk or start the dinner, is unlikely to happen in your own home.

yes its a skill. Compared to how I clean now to what I did a decade ago, things are much easier to keep on top of and look a lot cleaner! My mum never let me help clean as a kid though I had to learn myself!
Its the same with gardening though.

Yes it is! I pay a cleaner and they do a much better and quicker job on my house. A good professional cleaner knows what products to use on each surface, how to get specific stains out, how to make it look sparkling when they're done.

I've had one or two cleaners that were doing it as an occasional thing while studying or whatever and they were not as good. It was no better than doing it myself so I let them go.

It’s skill - but also a dedicated length of time and hard work in it. I know I’ll do jobs but rarely dedicate 3 hours to hit the whole house in one go. Also I don’t do whole rooms at once, I’ll have time of tidying or hoovering, or cleaning the kitchen floor etc, but not “20 minutes just on the kitchen then 10 minutes just on the living room” etc in a methodical way for 3 solid hours. (I will take time off cleaning to do stuff like put the washing on etc that a cleaner won’t do).

There is definitely a skill level to be learned. We accept that people learn to cook, learn to drive, learn to swim or learn to run; just about any activity really! Cleaning seems to be about the only activity that people seem to think is just absorbed without any training, and that makes it easier to dismiss its value and the people who do it in society (whether professionally or domestically)

There is knowing what products and tools to use. These might need tweaking to circumstances e.g. hard water area.
There's knowing how to do it logically and efficiently.

It's not something that comes easily to me, but has improved with age and infuencer cleaners like The Organised Mum. It wasn't something I ever enjoyed and previously it would build up into big blitz jobs of deep cleaning and decluttering that would take hours per room and just lead to burn out where it took ages to psych up to do it again. Sometimes deeper sessions are necessary, but learning to do frequent light maintainence cleans and tidies means that they don't build up like they once did, and they're never as bad as they were.

Things like getting storage to match your needs/ space also makes a massive difference.

Like training to run my first 5km, it's something that I've had to learn to do in a sustainable, managable way.

Yes! I worked in housekeeping for a while as a teen, and I learned two amazing things:
Turn the duvet case inside out to easily put it onto the duvet when alone
Go round bathroom porcelain with a tea towel after you've cleaned to give it that hotel shine!

Yes I think it’s a definite skill coupled with technique and products. I’m also a much better cleaner now compared to when I was young…but I don’t have the energy or motivation that I had when I was young. Actually not the vision or ease of movement!

YANBU, we can't afford a cleaner and do it ourselves. Our house is tolerably clean but not professionally clean, if that makes sense. DH is definitely better at it than I am, too.

It's smell for me.
I can clean a room reasonably well but my cleaners also leave this incredible smell I just can't replicate.