My house is spotless from top to bottom

[upandmumming]

Now how the bloody hell do I keep it like this?

I do this every 5/6 weeks, blitz every room, I mean every little corner every appliance all bathrooms all floors hoovered and mopped so the house is like a show home and I tell myself right now you've done it, all you have to do is keep it like this, which will never take more than just putting away what you're doing and doing a little tidy in every room before you leave it

Yet within 5 days the house is a bomb site again and I just feel grim and it all gets on top of me until it becomes unbearable and I snap and spend another whole day cleaning and the cycle repeats

So anyone wiser than me - how do I maintain this?!

I’d view spotless as way above clean and not really achieveable unless you devote hours to it like a hobby. My mum genuinely enjoys cleaning and doesn’t do much else she does jobs I’d never think of like washing down paintwork, wiping upvc window frames outside. Plus lots of tradesmen, carpet cleaning and redecorating. So no dints in paint. No pets helps too.

We went to our friend's 2 year old's birthday party (just all friends with kids invited, food, drinks, bouncy castle in the garden on a summers day, perfect). Friends house is spotless despite having a 2 and 5 year old and a dog. Party was still in full swing having been there an hour and a half and the host started taking the decorations down and making a start on tidying up. We all asked if they wanted us to go you know like a hint and they said "course not there's loads of food and drinks, stay all afternoon we are just tidying up" 🤣🤣🤣 she was popping the balloons with a knife and pulling down banners to bin it was so bizarre. Now I think back she did that at a party for other child, it does explain their crisp house! She's definitely a fusser who can't sit still, her husband just follows her lead.

Disclaimer my house is a total disaster. But I've been reading a lot about house cleaning because I'm hoping if I read enough books it will magically clean itself. Ahem. Anyway.

The secret to maintenance is just that, maintaining it. Clear daily routines and sticking to them. My favourite one is A Slob Comes Clean, her daily things are:

Dishes (collect/wash/put away the next day)
Clear floors as though to sweep/hoover (can then sweep and/or hoover if needed).
Clear clutter from bathrooms
5 min tidy of rest of house

Maybe try looking around after day 1 after cleaning and see what is out of place? Then you'll know what needs doing daily.

@CosyDarkNights
Gemma Bray is The Organised Mum, hence it being Mum. She's fab, way better than other cleaning 'influencers' IMO. You can find her on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
She is definitely all for getting the whole family onboard with cleaning, her method is about doing little and often so you can get on with more interesting things because 'there's more to life than housework.'

I have a 4 bed 3 storey house and 6 of us live here. It’s rare that my house is anywhere near show home. Probably once every 8 weeks or so when I get time to do a full clean.

I do however understand the feeling calmer when it’s done. I get very stressed when it’s a mess. What I have learnt to accept is my house is just too big and there are just too many of us for it to be always show ready. So my plan nowadays is to make sure downstairs is always reasonable. Maybe you could do that. And co to use with the upstairs every 6 weeks or so as you have been doing.

Another vote for TOMM.
The print outs and books are all a bit wanky but the plan itself is good.
It's basically 15 mins per day of a general tidy and clean up (which you probably do anyway), then 30 mins per day on a different room each day.
I used to feel like I was constantly doing housework but my house is always presentable enough for visitors even though I'm cleaning less.
Once you've followed it for a while without stopping I find that some days the 30 mins only needs 10 minutes. It's like magic.

There is a mental heath ticktock lady I follow who talks about this. She suggests reframing housework as a continuous thing rather that something that can ever be 'done'. She uses the analogy of cleaning and maintaining yourself. You don't have a shower, feel clean then get frustrated when two days later you need to do it again. Its just one of thies thing in life that has to happen repeatedly. People's standards will differ a bit and you will have 'big tidy-up sessions (a hair cut, shaving or whatever) but you still need to do the little ones constantly too. You wouldn't get all polished for say a wedding then 6 weeks later be all put out that you don't still look fab.

I found it a really useful was to look at it. It doesn't change how much you have to do, I changes the resentment and frustration associated with it.

The only way around it is less stuff. I have donated so much as I had the same problem. I don’t mind a bit of mess but the fact that it takes so little time to re-set the house has made a huge difference

You can’t maintain it. How could you? A show home doesn’t have people living in it.

lower your standards and do something else with your time.

try chucking out some stuff also, if it really looks messy that quickly it’s clutter related.

I tidy up after the kids go to bed everyday and try to throughout the day too.
i have a cleaner and she blitzes it, she tidies and doesn’t just clean around the mess (so many cleaners do!!).

I tidy every day, several times a day. I wipe up dirt and dust every time I notice it.
But I still feel as if the house is dirty after about ten days since a full hoover and mop session.

🤣 yeah this is our bedroom for now. But new baby coming in February so we will have to gut and organise it. With a toddler running around the other rooms, we will not have a room of doom anymore.😫

Check out aslobcomesclean.com - her story really resonated with me and her principles are simple to follow

A good declutter and a home for everything. Your house will still get messy but it’s quick to reset each evening and speedy to clean too. You’ll never look back.

I found the book "How to Manage Your Home Without Using Your Mind really helpful for keeping on top of my house.

I declutter, be ruthless then don't buy anything unless you are recycling something else.

Make sure post is recycled as soon as needed same with boxes etc. Put things away as soon as you've finished with them.

Failing that have 1 room of doom, chuck everything in there then blitz that one room keeping the rest of the house clean and tidy.

I live alone and believe me, that won't help.

You don't. You lower your expectations and embrace the chaos. I used to live in a spotless show home and not only was it stressful to maintain but it was a little dull. Current home is too big for said high standards so keep it clean but not spotless and perfect. I'm far happier and time previously wasted on lengthy cleans is now spent outdoors living life and forgetting about the mess

My house used to be like that permanently, then I let my boyfriend move in. What the fuck was I thinking.

For me it’s stuff too much stuff! Especially toys and sports/school stuff. The kitchen island just has stuff on it.

DH is good but not at sorting or throwing stuff out. I feel like I’m always throwing stuff out.

I think you are doing quite well to have it spotless every 5-6 weeks. Even it’s a bomb site in between, at least it’s only ever a few weeks of dirt or mess as opposed to if you never did the blitz.

You don't have a shower, feel clean then get frustrated when two days later you need to do it again.

I 100% do But I accept I am a bit weird (ADHD with real challenges around routines or anything continuous).

Declutter. Work on taking things out of your house, perhaps aim for a bag or box every week. Its amazing how you can just continue to do this.
I love the feeling of 'removing' things and actually enjoying acknowledging my action!!

I hate washing up so got a dishwasher. Now I load it every night and wipe down counters.

I tidy up the living room, piling any crap into a basket if it doesn't have a home, fluff up cushions, etc.

All rubbish goes straight in a bin. All clothes go straight in a laundry basket.

I'm naturally really untidy and don't notice mess until it's time to clean. Cleaning used to be a big job because I had to tidy first. But with the above small changes and a bit of discipline, it's tidy on the daily, and loads easier to clean so that takes less time. Overall I probs spend the same amount of time tidying and cleaning, it's just more spread out and less of a mission.

My tip is to think about what your problems are and instead of trying to be a different person, find a way around it. Kids toys all over the lounge? Get a toy box to shovel them into. Clothes on floor? Laundry hamper in that room. Get rid of stuff, get extra bins, more storage, that sort of thing. Make it easier to be tidy then make yourself do it.

Mine only stays the way I want when all the children are away!
We don't haev much clutter and I put things away on a continuous basis and cleaning on a rota type pattern.

However everyone is different and people with small children find it very hard to keep things clean. When we had 5 children including 2 baby twins I paid for someone 9 - 12 noon every day to clean, put the washing away etc.