How long should this take two adults?

[MovinOnUp]

I had a cleaner to do (most of) this list until recently but now BF is moving in soon and we are trying to cut costs.
Previous cleaner is my friend so we spent a lot of her time here drinking coffee and chatting so I've no idea how long the actual cleaning took.
Both of us working together, How long do you think this would take...

Cleaning list for Saturday

General
Open all windows and put rug out to air (Weather permitting)
Strip bedding and put on to wash

Kitchen
High dusting
Top of fridge, Metal splashback and high cabinets cleaned.
Appliances cleaned (Mixer, Kettle, Toaster and Microwave)
Windowsill, Sink, Cabinet fronts and Fridge freezer cleaned.
Floor hoovered and mopped.

Livingroom
High dusting.
Glass doors, T.V and patio doors cleaned.
Surfaces dusted and polished.
Sockets and Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Hoover and mop.
(Rug to be beaten outside and replaced when floor is dry)

Bathroom
High dusting
Shelves dusted/wiped
*clean cat trays
Shower walls, accessories, glass screen and tray cleaned.
Sink and toilet cleaned (including bases and back of sink and toilet)
Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Floor hoovered and mopped

(Hoover and mop bedroom floors before starting on the hallway)

Hallway and Front Porch

High dusting
Doors and handles wiped down
Pictures and mirrors cleaned
Sockets and Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Cat trays emptied and cleaned out (*rinsed in shower before cleaning bathroom)
Floors hoovered and mopped

Also is there anything I'm forgetting?

This is what I (on a good day) do daily...

Daily

Morning

Rubbish out & cat trays emptied
Cats fed & watered
Laundry hung up
Dishes done and away
Kitchen wiped down and hoovered (mopped if necessary)
Living room tidied (Sort sofa etc)
Living room dusted & hoovered
Bathroom wiped down and hoovered
Hallway dusted and hoovered
Front porch mopped

Evening

Rubbish out & cat trays emptied
Cats fed & watered
Dishes done and away
Kitchen wiped down and hoovered (mopped if necessary)
Living room tidied (Sort sofa etc)
Living room dusted & hoovered
Clean laundry away
Wash on.

I think I’d allow more than 2 hours to do all that, even allowing for the fact that everything is fairly clean in the first place. I am seriously impressed with your cleaning routine and standards, especially the high dusting which I only do if I see a cobweb. I think you are Mrs Hinch too.

I’d test out how long it takes you and your BF to do that on Saturday and see if the list needs revising. The good thing about doing it when you live together is that you can wait until you have finished to have a chat. On the other hand, your BF may not be as efficient as you and your friend, even when you drink coffee/chat.

@mrsmuddlepies And just where did I say he had to clean any litter trays?
As it happens one of the three cats are his, So yeah I'm quite sure he'll take a turn.

Yes, Yes I bloody well do want equal domestic workloads and split bills. Why in the name of fuck wouldn't I?

He sees the children and the cats as ours, We are a family. We have had many discussions about how we want 'living together' to be and have BOTH made compromises to make each other happy.

I think that as a step-parent I think happiness involves looking at family dynamics. And obviously one can talk about potential areas of conflict, dos and don't etc in advance. But things change once everyone is living in the same house and there needs to be flexibility, especially as children grow and people have ups and downs.

The original point - as people have pointed out - sounds as if things are organised along rather rigid lines. Which set off alarm bells for me.

For me people's emotional well-being is a lot more important than how to clean rugs.

@nettie434 Yeah I think that's a good shout, Like I say, Some things could be fortnightly to cut some of the time down if needed.

It will be a few weeks before we get settled into a routine, Have to find homes for all his stuff first (he has more shoes than me :) )

It seems like u save alot up for the Sunday
I clean my kitchen down after every use and with high dusting I use a hoover attachment that also does my skirtings and architrave once a week
You hoover everyday anyway so just do them at the same time
Have a day off lol

@FunderAnna , I agree with everything you have said. Emotional well being for everyone, would seem to be the most important issue when moving in a new boyfriend to an existing family.

I would ditch the cleaner and do it yourself, a lot of the jobs on your list are very unnecessary. Especially for a cleaner to do instead of yourself. I would get a cleaner to do the minimum, Hoover, polish and clean the bathroom/s. I would create a chores list for you/bf and kids as it’s good for the kids to learn and have responsibilities x

I thought my house was clean until I read your list! You don't honestly do this every weekend do you?

You’re house will be clean - what the OP is doing is for the most part completely superfluous. Unless they genuinely enjoy doing all these things (in which case fair enough, but I can think of better hobbies ), if you put all the hours together it’s quite a sad waste of life quite frankly...

@FunderAnna Happiness certainly involves looking at family dynamics and I've never once said I was inflexible.
I like to be organised and I like to have a clean house, That makes me happy.
Other things make my BF happy and those will be accommodated.
I'll look after him and he'll look after me and together we'll look after the DC (and the cats)

There's really no need for a disjointed lecture on family dynamics, step-parenting and assumed inflexibility.

Do you wash your towels daily as well OP?

@PuffHuffle5 if you put all the hours together it’s quite a sad waste of life quite frankly..

If you put all the hours together.....It's around 7 I'll be doing and 2 he'll be doing out of the fifty-odd non-working, non-sleeping hours, It's really not that much is it?

Is there really any need to be so horrid, Saying things like it's a waste of a life?
I have a great life and it's not at all wasted in my opinion. And of peoples opinions of my life, I'm fairly certain mine is the only one that counts (on this thread anyway)

I'm a bit confused by your list. Why for example does the living room floor need hoovering on the weekly Saturday clean when it's already being done twice a day?

I think I'm going to echo other posters and say you already do way more cleaning that I think it's fair to say the average household do. So you don't all die of cleaning related boredom, why not split your weekly jobs to fortnightly jobs? Or monthly So for example do the kitchen and living room jobs one week, and the bathroom and hallway jobs the other week?

@RingtheBells Do you wash your towels daily as well OP?

I just KNEW I'd left something off the daily list!

Once a week with the bedding will suffice .

@KitKat1985

It would get hoovered as part of the Saturday morning clean, Then again after dinner.

Movinonup What I meant to add is that I think it is really good that you are sorting all this out before your BF moves in. There are too many threads here where all the household stuff falls on one person. Best wishes for the move and your life together afterwards.

But honestly if your standards are too high, it's going to cause friction with your boyfriend moving in as he is unlikely to live up to your cleaning standards, and it doesn't make for a very relaxed living environment if your going to get tense every time he leaves some crumbs in the kitchen etc. As Phoebe Buffay once said "I need to leave in a land where people can spill"!

I have a cleaner.

I don't think she does that list.

Am looking at our kettle now - suspect it has never been cleaned. I've had it over 10 years

Back of the toilet? I can't go there, it's where the spiders live.

The problem I think here is your cleaning standards are high and you are expecting your boyfriend to do clean kettles every week!

Personally I think keep the cleaner and split the weekday chores

2 points here. (I already answered 90 mins on page 1)

What time do you leave for work & get home every day? As I would change the kids bedding in the week & not on Saturdays, when you have other stuff to do.

2. I wouldn't presume your 3 cats are going to welcome a new dog in their home.

I have a rescue cat, that hid from the new dog in her old home, so the owners kept the new dog & sent the cats to a rescue centre!

P.S Get a new cleaner whilst you are at work, then weekends are free.

I have one ragdoll cat and need to vacuum every day.

We have one cleaner who comes every 2nd week for 3 hours.

No one does any high dusting 😝

She cleans out and organised the cupboards in that time. She doesn’t do the cat litter. I do the cat litter. I also wash the floors whenever they need it.

Two of you should spend a full two hours each a week cleaning everything & 45 minutes to an hour a day maintaining (laundry every day as required).

Also, you need to wipe down walls and light switches, wash windows (occasionally), clean out the fridge, organise cupboards.

Do you have a window cleaner? Or do you need to start a monthly list too..? (joking...)

Most of the jobs on your list get done as a matter of course here...

Waiting for the kettle to boil, wipe the toaster, clean the kitchen sink, check the fresh stuff in the fridge/fruitbowl. Brushing your teeth, clean round the taps in the bathroom... after a shower (ours is over the bath) rinse down the bath, spray and wipe the screen... hoovering, run the brush tool round the skirting/ceiling/curtain rails - we don't make it a separate job to clean things weekly as things get cleaned along the way,

maybe an annual spring clean to freshen up other stuff - wash the floor under the fridge, behind big immovable furniture, clear the gutters/clean the external PVC etc, wash the skirting, get rid of marks etc.

The daily stuff is fine and probably what most people do without even realising it.

The Saturday list is a good 4 ish hours so two hours each. Lots of what's on your list is not necessary every single week IMO. Are your DCs with you every weekend?

@MovinOnUp

Some people don’t know how to keep a house. I like living in a clean home.

Thank fully my partner is cleaner than I am.

But I’ve lived in a messy house and you spend as much time looking for stuff you’ve lost and moving crap around that might have been spent cleaning.

I’ve been in other people’s houses and look around and they are just filthy.

Even someone who posts pictures of her decorated home on Instagram. The cupboards were filthy because she didn’t wash her dog.

If your partner has a dog there will be extra cleaning.

For the sake of your relationship, keep a cleaner. But make it clean what you expect of your partner.

Thank you @nettie434 We've been together 2.5 years now so it's time we made it official :)

@KitKat1985 He's well aware of how I like the house to look, It's been discussed at length and we've agreed to do the big clean at the weekend together once he's in and settled.
Yeah it might not be his natural way of doing things but we've all got to compromise.
For example, I didn't want a tv, He does want a tv as a compromise I now have a monstrosity of a screen in the living room and apparently he is bringing one for the bedroom too :)

I don't get tense about crumbs, mess being made, DC having lego/jigsaws/crafts out etc as long as I can wake up to a clean house.
I clean up in the morning and after dinner and I like the place gutted once a week.

Some things on your weekly list are on my once a year, if ever, list! It would take me probably a whole day to do all that. And it would be the Worst Day Ever.