I've decided I am just crap at cleaning - give me your tips?

[JMAngel1]

Oh I can hoover and dust but when it comes to really getting things to look clean, I'm just rubbish.
I just spent half an hour cleaning the inside of the oven - it's still disgusting despite using an oven cleaner, there are all these stains on the inside if the glass that just look dreadful.
The fridge has got loads of nooks and crannies which have clearly got mould in but I can't seem to access them even with a toothbrush.
The kitchen cupboards have got stains which I just can't get out - think tea, coffee and tomato stains. I've used magic erasers, bicarb and vinegar and even bleach.
The worst is the inside of the bin cupboard - it just looks dreadful with so many stains. I wipe it down every time I change the bin but it doesn't look clean.
Then the bathroom - stains on the bath (my fault as went through a stupid phase of sprinkling essential oils into the foot of the bath whilst showering and mould builds up so quickly in the tiles and the taps always look tarnished/limescaled.
Anyone in the same boat or have any tips. We have a lovely house but I feel like I've ruined it

See this is the kind of thing I’m talking about.
Just noticed it now.
Front of dishwasher - 3 large dayglo yellow stains - no idea what they are - they seem to be coming from the handle as though fluid has leaked out mid wash.
They won’t shift - tried Method, Pink Stuff and magic eraser. Scared to use bleach in case it makes the surface bubble.
Any ideas?

Ime once the fridge is clean it takes 5/10 minutes here and there to maintain it. And you clean up spills as they occur.

I have found "A slob comes clean" podcast helpful. She has a few YouTube videos too.

I now use an app that lists jobs to be done and their frequency. For example I have under "Kitchen" a fridge part to clean every 7 days. This reminds me to remove some grimy bit to wash, be it the milk shelf or a salad drawer. Then I'll often do a shelf as well especially if the fridge is not very full. I'll wipe round the interior where needed with a bit of bicarbonate.

This stops that disheartening "surprise" when I used to notice the fridge was in need of cleaning in it's entirety.

@KrispyKale. Thanks. Which App is that please that you can set up reminders?

I get my oven cleaned once a year by the oven cleaner man and it's worth every penny!

I get my house cleaned once a week by my lovely cleaning service (2 wonderful local women who set up as cleaners after one of them hired a cleaner for her dad and realised she could do it better herself!). It's not something everyone wants or can afford but with my disabilities it's a huge stress off my life. I'm in when they clean and they really seem to enjoy it, too, which I most certainly don't!

Tody. It's basic and may not suit but there are others too. Sounds like you have time but need to build yourself some systems. I recommend the podcast lady more tbh!

But then to the poster who said it only takes 5 minutes to clean the fridge - it would take me at least half an hour with taking all the glass trays out and inner door containers.

How though? Do you have some kind of enormous fridge? I have a standard one. There's almost nothing in it on shopping day. So it's arrive home dump bags in kitchen. Remove food from fridge 20secs. Remove 3 shelves 10secs. Remove salad drawer, empty crumbs out, spray and wipe with paper towel 1min. Remove 3 door drawers, ditto with crumbs and spray 2min because they're smaller so fiddlier. Spray and wipe fridge with cloth 1min. Spray and wipe shelves and return to fridge 1min. Return drawers to fridge 20secs. Fill fridge with food. If you do this from new there will never be any scrubbing of mould needed. It feels like no time at all, it's honestly not a bother. I can't see how it would take half hour unless you're doing something crazy like licking it clean with your tongue or have some kind of gigantic super-fridge big enough to crawl inside. Maybe you're inefficient? That would slow you down if you had to keep stopping to decide what to do next. Efficiency comes with practice though.

Those dishwasher stains I'd ignore. If you've wiped them and they're still there then who cares? It's clean, just stained. If it's regularly overflowing maybe it's too stuffed full? IDK anything about dishwashers.

Kitchen doors maybe need some sort of laquer so they don't absorb the stain? IDK I'm not a DIY person. My doors are a practical wipe clean surface that looks vaguely like wood. Nothing stains.

I'm allergic to bleach so I never use it, so can't advise on what it might damage or not.

Hope you can find a solution that works for you. I'm not an excessive cleaner or anything, I have cleaning day and shopping day and that's it. The rest of the time it's tidying up, washing up dishes or washing clothes.

Anyone here have a self cleaning oven? I do and it's Wonderballs

Elbow grease. That is the product named "elbow grease". It's fantastic stuff!! You can even use it on clothes. The only type of thing I dont use it on is fridge etc (my appliances are silver and it will take the colour off them, inside is fine). Spray, walk away and do something else, come back, wipe off. It really is that good.

These are really good for fiddly places that a toothbrush won’t fit into to www.lakeland.co.uk/23618/Bumper-Pack-Of-35-Mini-Cleaning-Brush-Sticks-

Sounds bad but if you’re really fed up with the stains then can you buy a paint to cover it up? I use oven cleaner where you leave the shelves in bags overnight. Also, don’t use Pink Stuff in the bath area- it stained my bath pink!

You know, I've actually got to disagree with the "keep on top of it to stop it building up" theory. My lovely late mum always used to say this, and I once decided to test the theory out. I spent one month really keeping on top of it all - cleaning every week, and keeping a record of how long I spent doing it. I spent the next month ignoring it all, and then doing a big clean at the end of the month ... and I spent way less time cleaning in the "ignore it all" month. My method now is to mostly not bother, and then do a big blitz using many of the tips mentioned above. And my top tip for making things look a bit better in moments is to spent about ten seconds wiping things that look really bad with a piece of damp kitchen paper ... and also, you will hardly ever have to clean a bath if you run one of those slightly rough bath-cleaning sponges around the tideline just before you get out.

I'm going to bed now .... it is 3am, and I am giving my housework-avoidance tips to total strangers.

Once a week is not keeling on top of it
Daily

Has someone said the yellow stains on dishwasher door are probably from curry (turmeric stains) someone perhaps rinsed a plate then opened the door.
I use H&G mould spray in the shower whenever black mould appears on the plastic sealant. Squirt after we've showered in the morning.
It gets washed off the next time you shower (though would rinse it after several hours if children were showering).
Bins are hard to keep clean. Probably best advice is get a good bin with an easily opening lid. Curver are good.

Bins are hard to keep clean. Probably best advice is get a good bin with an easily opening lid. Curver are good.

Full kitchen bin clean after dinner. Doing it every day really means that it takes just a minute. Out come bag, I spray inside and the inside of lid with kitchen cleaner, wipe with wet cloth and then polish outside with stainless steel cleaner. Start to finish a couple of minutes.

No shortcuts
No secrets
No faddy “methods”
No Instagram cleaning goddesses

Just decent products (I rate Method) and regular cleaning.

For the bath stains, try biological washing powder. I put a quarter of a box in and leave overnight.(old tub that's lost enamel, plus teenager that uses bath bombs!) It's fab, also works for Belfast sinks.

Fridge, line it with kitchen roll, makes cleaning easy.

Dishwasher, rubbing alcohol is good for stains, or try some fabric conditioner diluted with water.

Flash spray with fairy for the kitchen, hob & oven as it cuts through grease really well. Leave for 10 mins & wash off.

Pink paste in the tub is fantastic for heavy duty oven and hob cleaning.

Flash with bleach is good for the bathroom.

Some good tips here. OP if you have mould in your fridge have you checked the drainage hole at the back? Sometimes it gets clogged and mouldy if something has fallen in. I do anything like this with cotton buds, they are really handy for cleaning nooks and crannies.

I paid the kids 50p to go on YouTube to work out how to remove the glass panels from the oven. Quick and gentle scrub with a metal scourer and good as new.

Robot hoover
Robot mop
Wet wipes in all bathrooms/loos/kitchens
If in doubt, everything limescale remover
Otherwise keep doors closed ;)
Febreze
Extension hose for the vacuum cleaner so you can do stairs and leave the machine at the bottom
Shower spray
Water softener if finances allow
Shoes off in house

Drop your standards, hire a cleaner once a week, get oven cleaned professionally. Pay your DC to do chores. Declutter often.

Ok so I've had some success. Thanks to your tips I spent £15 in Poundland and then 3 hours cleaning.
The turmeric stains? on the djshwasher have lessened as have the tea coffee stains on the kitchen cupboards. I just used multiple products at once and a scrubbing brush. Most impressed with Flash Bleach, Vinegar spray, Bicarb crystals and Oxystain removal all at once with a bit of Viakal thrown in for good luck! It's crazy to have to need all that product but looks like that's whats needed. The inside of the bincupboard has never looked so good.
Thanks everyone, even the bath stains have lessened. I did a bio washing powder and bleach bath followed by a scourer with bicarb/vinegar and then Flash with bleach to finish. Going to do it again tomorrow.

@JMAngel1

Ok so I've had some success. Thanks to your tips I spent £15 in Poundland and then 3 hours cleaning. The turmeric stains? on the djshwasher have lessened as have the tea coffee stains on the kitchen cupboards. I just used multiple products at once and a scrubbing brush. Most impressed with Flash Bleach, Vinegar spray, Bicarb crystals and Oxystain removal all at once with a bit of Viakal thrown in for good luck! It's crazy to have to need all that product but looks like that's whats needed. The inside of the bincupboard has never looked so good. Thanks everyone, even the bath stains have lessened. I did a bio washing powder and bleach bath followed by a scourer with bicarb/vinegar and then Flash with bleach to finish. Going to do it again tomorrow.

That’s great OP but please, please be careful mixing your cleaning products. Some of the chemicals can react with each other and start to emit very noxious fumes that will do you no good. Generally though, from one housework despairer to another - good luck!

Not sure where you are in the country, but if you have hard water you need to find a way to deal with the limescale otherwise everything looks dull and unclean, and bleach turns it pink. I use viakal and ecover. Although I did damage the tile grout with viakal. My cleaner used acid on the bath screen but I wouldn't recommend it!

My biggest bit of advice would be don't beat yourself up. You're trying your best and making a difference. My experience is that some houses are much harder to keep looking polished than others. It's mainly down to the furnishings/ decor/ age of the property/ lifestyle/ inhabitants. In other words, it's not you. You're not 'doing it wrong', it's just hard. Well done for doing your best.