What thing, no matter how small, really improved how clean or tidy you manage to keep your house?

[Cotherstone]

With hindsight our old house was not clean at all - it was old and run down and I hated cleaning as it never made a dent to the overall picture. We’ve recently been lucky to move into a new, and newer, place which the previous owners kept immaculate, so I’ve been trying to really up my game.

The main things I’ve learnt are:

A decent stick hoover means you actually can whip it around every few days, or even every day in certain areas, and my word that makes a difference to everything else!

The dining table is obviously the tempting place to dump everything but keeping it clear with some flowers (even fake ones) and a fruit bowl on it makes me feel so much better

Trying to stop seeing cleaning as “wasted time” - I’m starting to understand that 15 minutes running the cloth and hoover round the kitchen after dinner isn’t wasted, and while I don’t have to love doing it, it genuinely pays off with an improved state of mind because the kitchen looks nice in the morning

For the first time as an adult I finally have a house that’s not perfect, but definitely in a state where I’m not going to panic if someone drops in unannounced.

Anyone else have one or two things that seem to have made a real difference?

I think for me it was becoming “house proud” having a house I loved with stuff in it I loved, made me want to keep it nice and clean.

When I realised if I didn’t do the washing up or whatever cleaning job I didn’t want to do, I was just making more work for myself further down the line!

when I made a deal with myself never to leave the washing up til the next morning

when I made a deal with myself to make the beds straight away every morning

Main contribution = Decluttering.
Having less things means less items to clean and less items to move when cleaning the surfaces.

As a result now if I think something would be difficult to clean then it doesn't get purchased. If clothes would be a pain to wash or would need ironed before every wear then they don't get bought.
Considering what type and how much maintenance things would take and whether or not I'm willing to spend my future time doing that maintenance has really impacted my life and free time.

Clean as you go. Don't let tasks build up. Don't hoard shit.

definitely decluttering

@Cotherstone which vacuum do you have? I need to buy a new one but I'm paralysed buy indecision and the dust and cat hair is building up! It has only been 3 days but I'm feeling the pressure to make a decision.

I used to do a big clean when people were coming over but now I've realised that little and often is better. I give the bathroom a quick wipe over most days, scrub the shower at the weekend.

I've only recently realised that everything else works better if I empty the dishwasher first thing and start reloading it before the school run. Then it goes on after lunch and ready to empty and refill with the dinner things. We're finally on top of washing up but embarrassed it's taken me this long to figure it out.

I've also ruthlessly decluttered so everything actually does have a place and it's easier to keep tidy.

For me, definitely, was getting rid of at least half our things. I was quite ruthless. Anything that was not used or had been kept because I felt bad to get rid of it (eg presents/things I once liked) went.

Clothes-wise, I now have everything in one chest of drawers, folded and not crammed in, and one small rail for a few dresses. Have fewer than 10 pairs of shoes myself (inc wellies, work shoes, heals trainers- quite outdoorsy so most are well used sport shoes) and 3 pairs for kids: school shoes, trainers, boots/wellies. 2 coats each, 1 towel each, 1 set of bedding and just a couple of spares for emergencies.

It’s so liberating and so quick to reset and clean.

Eufy robovac transformed my house

Got rid of all the fucking clutter.
Was ruthless.
And don't replace it,!
Refused to consider how much money had been sent on things. Reframed the money as a rental fee so shelves of books were given away. Books are all on Kindle now, or borrowed from the library.

Clothes gone if they hadn't been worn in a few months. Will only replace worn out items.

Etc

5 minute tidy. Set the alarm, everyone in the house contributes.

Seeing keeping the house clean and tidy as a household responsibility not my responsibility.

Putting one load of laundry on every single day- this wasn't doesn't pile up (too much) and become overwhelming.

Don't put down, put away. I used to be awful i.e. leaving a plate in the living room after eating toast, leaving squash on the side and not put back in the cupboard etc. Tidying straight away means the small things don't pile up into massive things to tidy at the end of the day.

Getting an Alexa with Spotify and playing my favourite songs while setting a 10 minute timer. Speed clean for 10 minutes a few times a day keeps on top of everything. Big jobs still need doing (and might not get done!!) but as a whole, house is mostly clean and tidy. Often once I have done 10 minutes I want to keep going! A cleanish house is good for my mental health but equally, I’m not a slave to it.

This, plus doing something while the kettle boils.
Just one small job that takes a couple of minutes - load / unload dishwasher, wash up the non-dishwasher items, wipe down the counter or put away a few things that have been left on the side. It makes a big difference over the course of the day.

Yes to decluttering - I'm sure it's because it's too easy to click and buy online that I'm having to do this again today. It's not that long since I had a serious sort.

And having just been to the tip I think everyone else must find it too easy to buy too - so much waste......

Shoes off, paws cleaned , in the boot room. You may already do this, but it was a game changer for me.
Also, dry the shower tiles with a towel after using, and spray shower shine on the screen. Really reduces the black mould on the grout abd the watermarks on the glass, and cuts the cleaning time.

10 minute super tidy. Everything that doesn't live in the room is chucked out of the door and sorted into pikes for their owner to take to their bedrooms (no excuses)

Dust/ wipe round and hoover/ mop out of the room.

The A Slob Comes Clean book and podcast. The lady who runs it is SO much more relatable and realistic to me than Marie Kondo and other people who actually enjoy decluttering and cleaning.

Key things I learnt from her:

The Container concept. You have a container for something - say, a rack for shoes. If you have too many shoes, you need to get rid of some shoes, not buy another shoe rack/storage solution.

Wash the dishes every day - non-negotiable

Learn what your clutter threshold is. Some people can handle having more stuff than I can.

The two tidying up/decluttering questions:

1. would it ever occur to me that I had this?

If yes, 2) Where would I go to look for it? (not where do I think it SHOULD be)

and following that,

Take It There Right Now. This is about stopping thinking of decluttering as a project and stopping having temporary homes for things. It seems like it's efficient to create piles of things that belong in different rooms etc, but it's just shifting stuff around. Better to take each individual thing you find straight to it's proper home - that way even if you get distracted or disturbed after even just 5 minutes, you will leave it in a better state than when you started.

I don't think this one is from her, but I heard that if you only have 5 minutes to clean, do the floors. It's true. The whole house just looks so much cleaner if the floors are vacuumed.

I really must declutter.

1. Getting our floorboards stained a dark colour. Fuck me, that shows up every single bit of dust or fluff, so we hoover every other day now and it looks so much better for it.

2. Putting our house on the market, having a massive declutter and keeping the place immaculate for viewings. I quite like how nice our place is at the moment.

To organise in a way that my brain works. Each of my children has a kallax in their rooms and one box of it is stuff that is too big for them - clothes/books/toys etc in the next stage/age group. Every time someone gives them an age inappropriate gift, it goes in there. Every 6 months or so, I have a quick rifle through and take out anything they are ready for.

Some great tips here. Am definitely going to do the 5-10 minute super tidy with everyone involved, and not buy more storage, just throw out the shoes I don't wear 😂

To the PP who asked we have a Bissell pet hair which is great. Sometimes I miss our Henry, which had ridiculous suction, but the Bissell is really good for a stick and very easy to use.

Also: if I’m lacking motivation I make myself do 10 small things. Power of small increments. Once I’ve started I often do more.

This is definitely it. I kind of care now. I realise that I don't need to put in too much time to keep an already OK house still OK, and it makes me feel better.

We can't really afford a monthly cleaner but I have promised myself that if I feel it slipping too much we'll pay for a spring clean of cupboards, windows, skirting boards, that sort of thing.

Dishwasher. I used to spend so long washing dishes that I never had the energy (or wish) to do any more housework. Plus as soon as it was done another cup or plate would appear.

Dishwasher has changed my life.