How often do you ‘DO’ housework?

[TeeandCroissants]

I’m struggling to keep on top of the housework and I’m not sure what I should be doing daily, weekly , monthly etc.

I don’t work (I’m disabled) and my disability means my ability to function normally is impaired. I feel like I’m not doing anything for me because by the time the housework is done, I’m so exhausted, there’s nothing left in me for “me”.

I also have three DC with SEN and we have two small breed, low energy dogs who are DH’s responsibility to walk (but are my companions during the day). DH works full time and whilst he does a lot of the physical chores, the day to day drudge is all on me.

I feel like my home is never tidy though and I’m constantly picking up and putting away the same stuff, every single day.

What are your daily chores and is your home a show home or lived in?

I grew up in a show home with two full time working parents and I honestly don’t know how my mother did it.

I only hoover once a week. Clothes laundry twice a week. Towels once a week. Mop once a month. Wash bedding once a fortnight. Cook from scratch every day. Litter tray once a day. Clean bathroom once a fortnight.

Someone said this to me once and it really stuck...

If you want a clean house every day, you have to clean every day.

It's true. Not that I follow it much 😂

Reading with interest as I never feel my house is fully clean or fully tidy! I feel like I spend my life (outside of working ft) cleaning, tidying, moving stuff, trying to find space for stuff etc. 100% want to get in a better routine over the summer and get the teen/s (one's at uni but will soon be home) involved as well as dh. He has way more tolerance for living in a pigsty than I do, but will happily help when beaten over the head/reminded. Teen has been cut a lot of slack over GCSEs but has now just finished so I'm going to be cracking the whip a LOT more...

Decluttering is a big ongoing need here too. Downsized 4 years ago with divorce, loads of renovation work ongoing as and when can afford, almost no storage but gradually improving that.

Every day obvs I clean the kitchen/do dishwasher/wipe surfaces - often two or three times.

Laundry probably 4 or 5 times a week. (Edit: beds get changed weekly in theory, often fortnightly in practice)

Showers get wiped down after use. Loos are cleaned several times a week, basins more like weekly if they're lucky.

Floors are hoovered twice a week downstairs, probably every fortnight upstairs. Recently bought a handheld vacuum which is great for crumbs around the edges every day. I hardly ever mop/wash the kitchen floor because once it's been vacuumed and looks clean, I'm onto the next thing. When dds were small, I did it weekly at least.

I have great aspirations for a show home but 90% of the time it's very lived in. Unless I'm on my own in it for a few days. That's bliss!

I just "do" housework constantly as part of normal daily life. Put things back where they belong after use. Wipe around the kitchen after washing up after each meal. Pick up stray "bits" from the carpets as I go around the house. And just randomly go round with a vacuum/dusting cloth as and when I get some spare time, i.e. waiting for a meal to cook. I've never taken proper "time out" to do cleaning, i.e. never taken a full day or even half a day to do a proper clean as there's just no need if you do little and often.

Don’t be too hard on yourself

I always put a wash on and dishwasher (bare minimum I do daily)

hoover most days but I have a cordless hoover (just an Amazon basic one to replace Dyson)

I keep the house decluttered as much as possible and I do jobs like the toilet cleaning and bathroom mirror when I am actually there (this Mornind deeper clean)
I do one bigger job each day eg pull sofa cushions off and hoover and behind sofa - so that I never really have to waste a sat cleaning

dh does his on ironing now so I only do the school uniforms and my own few bits

I have a chronic illness (ME/CFS) and cannot manage a “big clean”.

I try and keep my flat very basically clean and tidy. No real routine, eg. just bits of washing up, make the bed, hoover or sweep, clean loo some days.

On top of that I try and do one extra “15 minute” thing per day eg. tidy a drawer, clean cooker top, wash a curtain. It’s my random version of the “fly lady” technique. The idea is that one small extra job a day builds up over a year. So ideally you have more time to do other things on a daily basis. On rough days I might just do some simple filing if I’m even able to do that.

It’s not easy I know.

@EmeraldDreams73 declittering is an ongoing thing here too. There is a cupboard in the hall. Every time I open it my heart sinks with all the household stuff rammed in!!

A bigger flat/house would sort all this I feel :))

Today I plan to clean one row of bookcase and one lampshade!

Cannot emphasise the importance of storage solutions enough.

Clear surfaces everywhere will allow you to breeze through and not be overwhelmed by the look of it all.

It is the back and forth of clearing and cleaning strewn around things which have been gathering dust and grime that is more exhausting and time consuming than the actual housecleaning.

Put big and small storage in every single room.

Hi for context I’m a stay at home mum to a toddler and 20 weeks pregnant with second baby girl, if my house is ‘messy’ then my mind feels messy too and I can’t relax till the things bothering me are done but with that being said I do try stick to a routine which is

• wash up and dry up, wipe down surfaces , clean sink after each meal
• hoover daily
• wash the bath, sink and bleach the loo daily
• washing load each day and put away yesterdays washing
• of an evening I do a ‘reset’ which is a general tidy up, put toys away, take bin out so it’s fresh for the morning

every Wednesday I do a full house clean, open windows, move furniture (nothing heavy), dust the skirting boards, wipe and polish everything, hoover , mop, and deep clean the bathrooms including limescale remover, grout clean ect. Beds are changed each Sunday. we also de clutter every month, so the insides of our cupboards are always clutter free, easy to manage and with the daily jobs I do the big Wednesday clean doesn’t seem as much.

it definitely sounds a lot but it’s really just habits you pick up and becomes natural. I always have music on and my toddler will ‘help’ with a dry cloth, and it becomes fun with a sing along.