Does anyone else struggle to clean and tidy their house?

Never leave a room empty handed.

A Japanese extendable sticky roller can be used from sitting on the settee when too tired to get the hoover out. Some days the hoover is too heavy to lift. The sticky roller also has a Second head which will take a wet wipe or wet cloth and again is easier than getting out a mop and bucket. I have had days when Im not up to emptying the dishwasher so I will take the plates out as I need them and pop them in the sink when used. I have a chopping board cover for the sink which hides the mess. At night I refill the dishwasher and don’t care if some things have been through the wash twice.
duvet covers are the pits. I leave them on for two weeks.

This is so true. We are all running ourselves in to exhaustion. I now have long Covid and I do think it was from completely overdoing it and not resting.

We need to say how hard it is. Not pretend it’s easy to keep a house tidy and do all the other jobs needed to run a household. Especially with a DH that works away and children whilst working FT. Its never ending.

Anaemia is no joke. I only got better with an iron transfusion- is this an option? I was told tablets would take 3 months to work.

Some people are very good at constantly tidying and doing 10
minutes here and there. I find it hard ( and boring) to be constantly thinking about tidying. I’m not a naturally tidy person. But I know I make it harder for myself.

Can you afford a cleaner? I would give up many things before I give up mine. And even then I spend an hour tidying for her and then the day she cleans I finally have the time to do another job like the garden or go to the tip!

No kids but several chronic illnesses and newly floored with ME / Long Covid and POTS. I’ve had a cleaner once a fortnight for a few years now and she ensures that the big jobs like bathrooms , kitchen sinks and hobs , flooring etc are dealt with and I can cope with keeping things reasonable between visits with a tidy up Monday before she visits - I’d honestly rather survive on gruel than give up my cleaner , is there any way you can find budget for clean even once a month ?

This.

Too much is asked of us. Well done to those who can keep up with it, but to expect everyone to have the energy to work a 40 hour week, parent to today's expectations and keep an immaculate house is frankly unrealistic. That's at least 2 full time jobs right there.

The other thing I have started to try and do is to spend 5 minutes before leaving the house (for any reason- today it is for swimming lessons) and to do a quick tidy of whatever needs it downstairs. Today I ought to be able to empty the diswasher. Maybe not re-load it, but it will be empty.

My energy is so hit or miss that I have to try and be efficient in micro-increments of time. It doesn't always work though.

Get a cleaner! Simple solution to reduce your workload

We both work FT and have 1 toddler. It helps massively thst everything has a home, and we declutter regularly. We do a quick clean each night after dinner whilst the other parent does bedtime, so dishwasher; wipe surfaces; hoover. We find it much easier to do a bit each day. Every few weekends my DH will take toddler out for the morning and I’ll do a more deep clean.

I have fibromyalgia, pernicious anaemia and arthritis so I struggle with exhaustion.

My tip is to clean in the ads of a tv programme you are watching. Each ad break is around 6 minutes. I dedicate a room to each 6 minute set and that more or less keeps things ticking over.

The kitchen I do 15 minutes after breakfast, and 30 minutes after dinner while listening to a podcast. That keeps that ticking over too.

But it's hard and yes is a struggle.

Am in 100% solidarity with you! Absolutely empathise. Work full time, 3 kids. Advice which is often dish out is to lower one's standards or get a cleaner. If I lowered my standards, we would be in squalor. I am not a near or hygiene freak but dont want to live somewhere grubby with stuff everywhere.

A cleaner is fine but really just one piece of the puzzle. What I need is a housekeeper, someone to run my home, sort my laundry, tidy up, put things away and then clean. I find the whole thing a huge challenge to maintain. I spend my entire weekend tidying and cleaning, every weekend and during the week is just keeping on top of basics like cleaning the kitchen after dinner and undoing the carnage in the living room from before we all left in the morning. Cleaning would actually be ok to keep on top of if there wasn't so much laundry. I am trying to police what gets put into the laundry basket as I suspect my son was throwing stuff in so he didnt have to fold it!

Ive also been keeping antibacterial wipes in various rooms so I can give the sink or dresser a quick going over. I have lots of containment systems where unfinished jobs are stored neatly (usually clothes to be sorted!) I try so hard to keep on top of everything and the effort really isnt ever reflected in how the place looks. This is frustrating because if I had a show home I would think the effort was worth it but as it is, I work so hard to just keep things ticking over. I often think thar if I could quit my job I could just stay at home and get on top of all of the housework! Its a full time job in itself!

Yes- me!

I live on my own, have three pets, and work such long hours in a manual job that most people look horrified when they make the mistake of asking about them. I have struggled along with it for a few years now, but recently employed a cleaner to keep on top of it. At least my MH seems to like coming home to a clean house, and it never gets on top of me anymore! The downside is that a cleaner is a bit of an added financial stressor, so I've just started a second job to cope...

Completely agree

Yes, tea stains etc in the sink are not like a sink full of dirty water after you’ve done the washing up.

the bleach water still looks clean and bubbly, and is fine for washing the sides - it is bleach, and will still kill all the bacteria 🙄

My dh had acute anaemia.. iron tablets didn't make a difference he went to a private clinic for an iron injections.. it wasnt cheap but God its been life changing.. he was like a zombie after work before.. now can stay up till 11 !! He was told it will last 2 years.. watching him he used to look so exhausted.. i was really worried and found a clinic which treats long covid.. housework can wait sort your health out if you can

I’ve started having a one hour video call with a decluttering coach each Sunday evening - we focus on say one cupboard or one set of drawers each week, I’m finding it really helpful because I know that for the rest of the week I don’t have like doom feeling of “I should be sorting out this mess” because I know it will get done on Sunday, it’s booked in. Also a fortnightly cleaner for two hours who changes the beds which helps me stay roughly on top of things.
All I do each day is at least one load of laundry and a couple of dishwasher loads. Then I rotate other jobs like…hoovering, floors, tidying the toys, putting clothes away. Can’t get it all done in one day but it doesn’t matter.

I've semi retired and only now work three days a week. On one of my days, I am gradually working my way through the house Swedish death cleaning style. Cupboards, everything in them, skirtings behind things, tops of pictures and the glass, light fittings, etc. It's very cathartic. Tomorrow I'm doing the bannisters and spindles!

The low iron is the problem, don’t be hard on yourself for sitting down and not being able to get up. I know what it’s like, the complete and utter exhaustion of low iron.

what is your diet like - iron tablets will help but do you know why you are anemic? Are you vegetarian/ very active?

Literally all I seem to do is clean and tidy.

One of my children in particular is just a mini tornado, charges through the house leaving utter chaos in his wake. Constantly taking the sofa cushions off and throwing them on the floor, leaving toys everywhere, leaving shoes everywhere. Bloody pain in the arse (said with affection, sort of!)

I can definitely relate and I live in a small flat. Things I do is a daily "speed clean" where I literally spend 15 minutes tidying up. I use anti bac floor wipes to dust and clean with (probably my exec disfunction) I find even getting out a duster/ polish a bit of a barrier so just use wipes. I don't often "deep clean" and lower my standards. I think the easiest way to keep on top enough is to do little and often. When the kids are in the bath and I'm supervising ill wipe down the loo and sink and chuck some bleach down. My place is nowhere near spotless but is "clean enough"

Are you also low in vitamin D?

For me, the easiest way to keep on top of things is routine.

It's often sneered at or laughed at on MN, but if I do say, half an hour twice a day, it never builds up and it never gets to the point where it's unmanageable.

Nope. A knife thats been used to slice bread? Rinse under hot water

A cup thats been used for water, or even milk I did the other day, rinse under hot water

A plate thats had some crisps or sandwich on it, rinse under hot water

I use the same cup all day for tea before it goes in the dishwaster, giving it a rinse each time for a fresh cup.

These 'rules' that you quote are what drive people over the edge. No one is going to die from a rinsed plate

Im a minimalist.

People recommending spatone or floradix are missing the point - these are supplements. OP has anaemia, she needs proper iron. (Look at the relative iron content of supplements compared to iron tablets.)

Wait a minute. Am I misunderstanding? You use your bleachy water to lift the stains and bacteria frmo the sink and then use the SAME (now dirty) water to wash down your kitchen?!

I'm aghast at the person upthread who said that for washing dishes "some things only need rinsing". EVERYTHING needs washing in soapy water or dishwasher if it's been used for food, or touched by someone's mouth. You can always tell if you've been given a dirty glass or mug in someone's house. And it IS dirty if it's been used by someone else. Yuck.