I’m super organised and my house is always tidy.AMA

[Kitchenbattle]

Off the back of another thread I realised am ridiculously organised and my house is always tidy, always ready for visitors etc didn’t realise how tidy I was until I started commenting on and reading the other thread. So just a fun, or nosy AMA.
maybe there’s nothing to ask 🤣 thought it might be interesting though…

i am very much like you OP, I have a baby now so getting to grips with keeping the place clean while also letting little one be free. Have you any tips for the baby stage? I have a place for everything, I declutter regularly, I don’t stay in on the weekends to clean for hours but I clean as I go along, like to notice and do. I’m not very on top of washing, that’s my downfall.

She’s never said she squeezes it all into one load though. You’ve made that up. What she said was that she does all her loads in one day.

if you read back, she actually said this week she did 3 loads and that she has a 10kg machine (which is pretty big). So that’s the equivalent of 5 or 6 loads in a regular sized machine.

Do you have the type of job whereby when your finish time arrives you can literally stop "down tools" and go home or do you have to work over until things are complete?

Do you have the type of job whereby once you have finished and come home, that's it, you are done for the day? Or do you have e mails, online work etc which has to be done out of hours?

Are your children of the age whereby they go to bed and stay there rather than coming out several times. Do you still have to help with bathing and toilet training etc.

I suspect that your life is hugely different to mine. But congratulations on the tidy home. Mine looks like a literal tip.

In that case I am impressed and jealous. I feel I spend all my time cleaning, to the detriment of spending time with children etc, and the house is still a tip 😭

Do you think it makes a difference that everyone is all in together? Or is it the lack of junk and random sentimental possessions? What's the biggest thing?

Also, where do you hang damp towels and wash cloths? Mine are over a door to air...

I too have a tidy house, but am lucky that DH is a tidier too. He also gets the hoover out when he sees the need. He's also fab at DIY. The only thing he's not skilled in is cooking. He is dyslexic and I don't think that helps with timings etc, but he does help prep and we don't have a dishwasher and he has always shared the load. Retired now, but was an administrator so had to be super organised in my role, which suited my personality. I can't relax if there's clutter.

Not the OP but honestly heated towel rails are the best thing and I’ll never have a home without them again. I would imagine in the UK with central heating this would already be a thing. Keeps towels fresh and dry for much longer than air drying them after each use.

This. I'd love to be tidy. When my mental health is ok I can be. When it isn't (most of the time) everything's a mess. I hate mess. Hate disorganisation; it makes me worse but I just can't seem to do anything about it when I'm low/anxious

Such a viscous circle as I feel the mess adds to my anxiety and I feel better when my environment is clean and tidy.

I try and do something, even small, as the sense of achievement can really help the lows.

She has. 10jg machine.

She said she did her washing in a Saturday in 2 loads, and then said she actually did an additional load in the week for the swimming stuff as an ad-hoc thing.

She rather is implying she can do it in two loads usually.

Now she also said she does the bedding at that point too (one set) now sheets, covers, pillowcases etc and perhaps a towel or 2 would take one of those loads.

Which leaves the rest of the towels, any tea towels/flannels etc, and the entire week of washing for 4 people in one other load including uniforms, sports kit etc

That's where I'm confused.

She cannot possibly be doing it allin the 2 loads she indicated initially.3 loads is more believable.... But even then it seems unlikely.

Because she would also need to include things like bath mats, blankets, hats, coats, gloves etc c as they came around for a wash.

So no, I don't understand quite how she manages it all in basically 2 loads

For context, there's 3 in our house. One small child.

We swim twice a week, husband runs.

Daughter has school uniform and whatever clothes she wears, husband has work clothes and lounge wear etc he re wears his joggers etc for after work for probably a week, and wears the. T-shirt a few days.

We use a minimum of 21 pairs of underwear, 3 bras, 21 pairs of socks, a dozen or so tops, a couple of hoodies/jackets/cardigans, 12+ trousers/shorts/skirts, 3 bath towels, 1 bath mat, 2 hand towels, 3 tea towels, 7 wash cloths (kitchen ones) each week. Swimming costumes, and towels, a set of bedding.
And every so often we have to also wash coats, hats, blankets, cloth bags etc.

We do load probably every other day, sometimes every day.

I just don't see how she can squeeze an extra person's stuff in to fewer loads 🤷

@BusWankers

Why don't you start a AMA thread about how you are a human washing machine?

Nobody cares on this thread....

Imo the biggest thing is storage and there being a 'home' for everything.

Adopting the OHIO approach is also a huge help. Only Handle It Once, in other words don't just move something, action it / put it away. I appreciate the aforementioned storage / home for everything is needed here.

Ok we get it. You win. You do more washing than most so are therefore more superior to the rest of us.
Happy now?

Well I'm a hoarder. I'm doing boxes out of storage from 2007!

However as a household of four adults the washing is on everyday. Clean beds every week.
My husband hoovers, I cook, he shops.
My sister is super tidy as is my DD.
I'd love the tidy gene.

Im sure you're a very organised and tidy family, but...

You have a big house, multiple bathrooms, four of you...

I call bs.

No way do you put a wash on every saturday and thats that all done for the week, bedding and towels included 😂

Your 10 year old cleans their own bathroom? To a high standard?

Im sure youre more organised than most but there's defo some porkies going on here!

In the dullest conversation ever…

@BusWankers Google tells me that a 10kg machine can easily handle 3 towels, an entire set of bedding, 3 pairs of jeans and 20 shirts/Tshirts plus underwear in a single load.

Can we now just assume that the OP is not a liar but just has a bigger washing machine than you do?

Same here can't skip doing it or it ends up getting to be a massive pile , 5 adult sized people will do that . I try to do as much as I can all week .

We have a 10kg washing machine.

We still have to put a wash on every day, 5 of us

I think the game changer in having a clean and tidy home isn't necessarily lots of effort/hard work or being especially organised with routines, it's having a big enough home for your stuff, a place for everything, high quality furniture and storage designed to stay looking good, and top notch appliances that make the work easier and more effective. So basically, the better off you are, all other things being equal, the easier it is. I've gone from one end of the scale to the other, simply by having more money.

@sundayfundayclub one of my two has some special needs which probably makes a difference. For example he regularly has toilet accidents which mean extra clothes need washing, or he just manages to get chocolate smeared all over himself. And his younger sister is a messy eater too so can’t wear her clothes two days running

To the person who said untidy people are just lazy.

I’m disabled. (See my new user name)

im living with my partner in a renovation project. we bought it before I became unwell and before his health also failed.

I can only do little bits every day.

today has been a bad day. I was up all night doubled up with pain. And I eventually fell asleep around 7am.

I can’t get on top of the house no matter how hard I try. Knocking down walls and taking down false ceilings does that. As does not having a proper kitchen.

my partner is deaf and blind (waiting for cataract surgery) and has had 2 heart attacks in the last six months so he can’t really help.

all I can manage is to keep on top of the washing and get a meal on the table.

Some untidy people are not lazy.

Do you have stuff?

Every neat and tidy house I ever visit, there is a distinct lack of "stuff" and I think that is key. But here's the thing. I am creative and messy. I know I am messy but I also have lots of fun and personality and my house shows it.

I read lots and have 5 bookcases. I thin them out a few times a year and give some away to friends and charities.

I play a musical instrument, I sing in a choir so there is often sheet music out at a certain part o am learning.

I paint so often there is a canvas out (large A1 style) and paints around. I tidy them to the side but they are out.

I want to be tidier but I hate the show room look and feel like our house has tons of personality.

Each to their own but people who are always wiping crumbs while you're eating or hoovering under your feet are a bit of a drain. I don't mind a bit of mess in a family home.

Love this thread.
It's an absolute myth that tidy people clean all day.
They just have a system
Put everything away once, where it belongs
It's double effort to chuck it down, then have to put it in the correct place
Always prep for the next day so dishwasher on after dinner, then emptied before bed, bins done daily
Cleaning is quick and easy when there's no clutter.
I never wash daily
Can't bear laundry everywhere.
Half the time people are washing because they have too many clothes to store easily so they chuck it in the wash
I wash weekly, dry, put away

This.

Money and space