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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask how many hours you spend on house work each week?

79 replies

LightsPlease · 21/12/2013 14:21

I watch obsessive compulsive cleaners on channel 4. They spend so much time cleanings and although I know its an illness it makes me feel a bit bad about my own cleaning for some reason (that I dont do it enough even though dont really have anything to compare to lol).

I spend about 12 hours give or take a week on cleaning and tidying. Is this alot or a little im not sure.

Also it said on the show that 1 in 4 people have fecal matter on their hands :( .

Its made me even more funny about touching things!

OP posts:

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 21/12/2013 20:53

OK I lied, I do that too but he does while I do as well, because we both feel more productive about housework at different times of day. I just meant I don't sit around directing him and expecting grapes in my mouth between hoover sweeps.

Rufustherednosedreindeer · 21/12/2013 20:55

No I don't like grapes either....

Will stop now!!!!

I usually do the tidying at the weekend but he is very good at helping me if I ask him, and sometimes if I don't

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 21/12/2013 21:01

It depends how you see it, I think.

With my ex before DP and when I was on my own I had this idea that it was this great big burden of responsibility, used to look at flylady etc, expected to be doing it for hours a week, and it drove me crazy. I was shit at it and I felt like a failure and it dominated my life.

I see it really differently now. It's just bare minimum stuff that needs to be done, it doesn't take long, we do it when we see it or think about it and try and keep on top of it. Sometimes we'll look around and say "This place is a shit tip" and have a big clean up, but even then we stop after 2-3 hours. OK, we have a tiny house, but it doesn't take that long! And actually my house is far cleaner now than it was when I was experiencing it as this big huge thing that I was supposed to spend hours on doing. It's not ALWAYS visitor ready but 95% of the time it's presentable and I wouldn't be embarrassed if somebody dropped in.

dementedma · 21/12/2013 21:08

Not enough, judging by the state of the house.
Have had a good Christmas clean today so place looks good for once.
Dh and I both work full time so housework gets fitted in when we can.

Rufustherednosedreindeer · 21/12/2013 21:08

No you are right. Everybody says my house is so clean and tidy, it's not really but it looks good to the casual visitor

Even a lick and a promise (as my mum used to say) makes a difference

VampireRabbit · 21/12/2013 21:20

I spend about 20mins a day slowly doing a bit of housework. We have a cardboard box thing where we can put clutter if and when we think it should go, and then each Saturday we spend about a half hour sorting it out (normally filled with random toys the DC have a love/hate relationship with, dropped in there by the DC themselves, and rescued by us!).

So 2hrs50mins?

VampireRabbit · 21/12/2013 21:22

And it is always presentable. We pick up after ourselves and by getting rid of clutter regularly instead of having a big sort out type thing, it means we are quite a minimalist household and also it means that housework is easier and quicker as things are generally kept cleaner. It is always guest or visitor ready.

newestbridearound · 21/12/2013 21:27

This has been a really interesting thread for me to read. I suffer with OCD, and when my M.E is behaving I find it hard to control the impulses, the main one being cleaning. I can spend 10 hours plus cleaning everything in sight.

Obviously I am aware that this is totally excessive but reading all the responses certainly puts things into more of a perspective. Something for me to work on when I am able to.

BsshBossh · 21/12/2013 21:38

Three bed house. DH cleans bathroom and kitchen, I Hoover and dust all other rooms. Between us we get it done an hour on Sunday - so two hours total.

BsshBossh · 21/12/2013 21:39

I declutter/tidy every night just after DD goes to bed. 10 mins max a day. That helps cut down weekly cleaning time.

BsshBossh · 21/12/2013 21:40

DH always picks up after himself, as do I. It all helps.

Mintyy · 21/12/2013 21:45

Dear newest.

There are four of us in my family - dh, me, dd (12) and ds (10).

We live in a 3 bedroom Victorian terraced house.

All the rooms are large and we have a lot of stairs.

We have a great cleaner and she cleans our house to a very high standard in 2.5 hours per week. She is able to fit in the changing of bed linen on one or two beds every week.

After that, she does 20-30 mins ironing.

We have our windows and our oven cleaned by other people.

I just cannot believe that is necessary for any single person living within an average family set up to do more than a couple of hours dedicated cleaning per week, and I sincerely hope you are not overdoing it.

Altinkum · 21/12/2013 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Coumarin · 21/12/2013 22:06

Well I thought I did a reasonable amount as the house in always very tidy and clean. 'Visitor ready' ,downstairs. Upstairs is less tidy but clean and nothing is left lying around for long.

Not sure how many hours. At a guess I'd say 5 but I'll take more notice in future as I'm curious now. Especially as some people are saying three hours a day!

Coumarin · 21/12/2013 22:07

These threads always unnerve me...

Sharaluck · 21/12/2013 22:09

Oh dear I feel lazy reading this.

Probably 30 mins a day doing laundry, dishes, little bit of tidying/wiping/hoovering where needed.

Then an additional hour a week doing the hoovering/ mopping/bedding change/toilets. I do this all in one go and utilise my skills from my former life as a housemaid blitzing hotel rooms :)

Sharaluck · 21/12/2013 22:11

So 4.5 hours total

PrammyMammy · 21/12/2013 22:15

That's a lot of cleaning. I probably do an hour a day 'housework' stuff like cleaning/dusting/floors then an hour at night tidying toys/sticky fingers/dishes.

Pilgit · 21/12/2013 22:39

as few as humanly possible - I hate doing it and turn into a crabby cow whenever the duster comes out. For my sanity and the well being of my family I do as little as possible. The house is a shit heap most of the time but it generally isn't unsanitary!

quesadilla · 21/12/2013 22:47

Either myself or my DH will clean like a nutter on one weekend day. The rest of the week, minimal: washing up and wiping of surfaces in kitchen, some laundry and removal of clothes and debri from living room and that's about it. We both work full time.

Permanentlyexhausted · 21/12/2013 23:08

There are 4 of us and a dog in a 4-bed house. I do about 3 hours a week all in. DH does pretty much none as he does the cooking, walks the dog and does the children's homework with them. We both work full-time.

bordellosboheme · 21/12/2013 23:13

I do 10 - 15 hrs a week cleaning.... More of you include shopping a and cooking. We also have a cleaner for 2 hrs per week..

Lj8893 · 21/12/2013 23:17

My house is always visitor ready, but I don't actually feel like I do much cleaning/tidying. I just do it as I go, so its always tidy, and then do a whip round clean once a day (dust, wipe, sweep etc) which takes about 20-30mins and then mop/Hoover twice a week.

Metalgoddess · 22/12/2013 06:47

Dedicated 2 hours every fortnight.

Gullygirl · 22/12/2013 07:00

I probably spend 3 hours a week just doing laundry,including ironing.
In a normal day,3 hours of cleaning, but this weekend I have done at least 10 hours, getting everything sparkly clean for Christmas.

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