to think everyone has become obsessed with cleanliness

[palamino]

i have been reading other threads, eg frequency of changing towels/pyjamas/sheets, frequency of cleaning house/bathroom/toys. I must be a complete slob, towels changed weekly, pyjamas changed weekly, sheets every 2-3 weeks, house cleaned once a week. I don't squirt everywhere with disinfectant multiple times each day, if food drops on the floor briefly I would not automatically throw it away, and I have never minded the DCs getting mucky. We are the most healthy family i know, the house never looks dirty or untidy (apart from teenagers rooms-i just shut their doors!!), i am definitely not into this obsessive cleaning lark !!

I grew up in a house which was hoovered and cleaned daily. Nothing could happen until this was fine which meant we rarely did anything as a family.

Even as a small kid, this struck me as very sad and has paved the way for my slovenly habits today.

Beds are changed fortnightly (optimistically) and towels every 4/5 days.

The washing machine still seems up be on 2 times a day though!

Weekly is fine for me.
Whenever I go to the supermarket I'm always struck by the sheer excess of 'cleaning products' on the shelves of an entire aisle (superstore Tesco's) There must be hundreds of different lines they sell. Most of them are completely unnecessary and probably pollutants/bad for the environment/chemical poisons. It's all about money (as usual), They convince people you will probably die and your family end up in A&E if you fail to sterilise/disinfect/decontaminate every inch of your home about 3 times a day. It's as if we're on Red Alert for Ebola or the Black Death.
I believe these chemicals are worse than the germs they're purporting to eradicate!

don't know about everyone in RL, but a huge number of MNers seems to be utterly obsessed by hygiene and cleanliness, to the extent that I have to assume they're performing open heart surgery in their kitchens on a daily basis.

I would like to be tidier but I could never get to the stage of getting through 2 bottles of bleach a week or washing bedding (especially children's!) weekly.

But where does 'liking to be clean and tidy' tip into OCD? I don't know.

My mother has - and always has had - cleaning rituals. In the kitchen things have to be washed and /or put away immediately after use. Crumbs have to be swept or hoovered immediately. She is really distressed by any minor spillage. (Say a drop of tea on a synthetic tablecloth.) There have to be layers of protective cloths and mats in case any spillage damages tables - which are in any case varnished so they would not ring mark. Frying food is out because that is messy. Other foodstuffs are out because they would be smelly. Nothing - e.g. - a teacup or newspaper can be left out of place.

It makes her exhausting to be with - you cannot enjoy a meal in her company because she is always on the lookout for 'dangers' or jumping out of her chair to wipe things and get out additional mats. And as she is now quite old I am worried about the way she makes herself tired, and will not sit and rest during the day. (Though she does fall asleep in her chair sometimes now.)

To me it all seems neurotic at the very least. I don't think it's about being happy in a tidy environment. It seems to me about being very unhappy indeed in anything resembling an everyday 'lived-in' environment.

Anti bscterial washibg powder is great for gym kit

Other people's houses are generally cleaner than ours but I really hate chemicals and "the smell of a clean house". I would rather live in a slightly dirty house with pets and have some resistance to bugs. A little bit of Fairy Liquid and some elbow grease are my preferred cleaning methods.

Incidentally, I once went on a conference about marketing to women and someone had done a survey about the brands men think most about which were as expected alcohol, cars,etc but women thought most about cleaning products! Very depressing.

Agreed op. I am rather freaked out by the tales of excessive washing and cleaning on here and the hysteria about loo brushes. It all paints a sad picture of people wasting their time away on mundane domestic tasks.

However, I will not wash pants and tea towels in the same wash!

marianne your mother sounds like a more extreme version of mine. For mine, it's always been about control in an otherwise scary world. We weren't allowed baths growing up (it would make the bath grimy), or to bake in the kitchen and even now can't shower at her house as we won't clean it properly. She won't use her oven as it makes it difficult to clean....

She is appalled at how my house is :)

Our house is clean and tidy and we are all rarely ill but nothing gets washed until its dirty and the "housework" gets done in a couple of hours on a Sunday when the kids are out playing rugby/cricket/ whatever. Life is too short to worry about this stuff...

We keep our house very clean. But that doesn't mean hours of cleaning a day. We work full time so busy ( one of use from home with children), but flat small, we don't have excess 'stuff', and we are fairly tidy people in general.

I think being tidy as a family in general helps a lot. Ie in our house everyone including youngest at 3 years automatically does stuff that helps. So shoes straight off and in shoe cupboard before leaving hallway, means no mud trapsed around, and no shoes left in pile. Everyone loads dishwasher and clears table, and sweeps own crumbs into bin. Laundry has three clearly labeled baskets lights/ darks/ delicates, that everyone puts stuff in straight away. Both children have been doing above since toddling.

We wouldn't change towels/ bedding/ jeans daily or Hoover etc.

Life is for living and a house is for living in.

It needs to be comfortable and welcoming so you and your family can enjoy it...for me, that means a certain level of cleanliness as I wouldn't be able to sit and relax with a sink full of dishes or an overflowing bin.

But nor does it mean living in a show home. One of my friends has got a show-home type house. Cream (almost) white carpets throughout, white fabric sofa (shudder). She has 3 dc and the house is always spotless...but it doesn't seem much fun to me.

In the daytime in summer my kitchen floor is usually covered with wet bits of grass because the dc are in and out having a water fight...my friend nearly passed out when she saw it.

I spend two hours a day at least cleaning and tidying. I really do enjoy it and find it very therapeutic

It's not a lie, either.

I really don't know how anyone with kids can get away with cleaning their house once a week! I spend hours everyday tidying and cleaning and its still a bloody mess! I have to clean my kitchen everyday or it is just vile! Kids leave toys/clothes/drop food on the floor. I spend hours trying to keep on top of it! I hoover everyday as well but half an hour later it is awful again!

former that's why I don't bother :) it's as bad again a few hours later.

I do try to make sure the kids tidy their toys away each night though and the dog hoovers up the crumbs

OCD and housework are two separate things. I have OCD and my house is messy. But the gas is definitely off.

I wipe down and tidy as I go along but I only clean the house once a week. As for changing everything I wear, whether it be in bed or during the day, and the towels... every time they touch my body, no no no. I change everything when I think it needs doing and that could be weekly or fortnightly.

I have a friend who is obsessed with cleaning, I've known her forever and it's got worse and worse, to the point I am on edge in her house (we spend a lot of time together). My house is the 'fun house' as anything goes. Her house isn't. She much prefers coming here. I hate going to the loo at her house because I feel the waves of disapproval that I might 'make a mess',(she doesn't say that but I just sense it). I worry sitting anywhere in case I mess everything up, you get the picture. OCD is not the right word (it's a terrible condition) but when someone carries antiseptic wipes with them at all times, I think it is a problem. I have never bought an antiseptic wipe in my life! Or any of those other wipe things they sell. I have a bottle of bleach that lasts months, I have dettol, I have cleaning products but I don't sterilise my home like it's an operating theatre (and my DCs have survived)

I want my home to feel welcoming, I don't want anyone to worry if they spill something or need to go to the loo, and I think the world's gone mad with all this cleaning and washing. I hate washing up lying around, I like the house tidy but it isn't cleaned to within an inch of its life day after day. I have more important things to do with my time.

Former - my children aren't allowed to just drop food and clothing on the floor and leave it! And they have to tidy toys themselves before bed

I change beds weekly and towels every three days. Pjs every 2 days.
Hoover and mop once a week and clean bathrooms as they need it.
We don't have pets in the house or wear shoes and I have a handheld dyson that I use for crumbs and fluff.
It's the washing that gets me tho I need to do a load everyday or it piles up....like today :(

I spend loads of time cleaning and tidying(or it feels like it anyway). My house is a total tip!

Maybe it's because we're all very messy and I'm the only one that tidies up. I haven't got a clue how people have spotless homes!

I clean and tidy everyday as does my DH and DC. We all like to live in a clean and tidy house, nothing wrong with that. We wash, dry and put away after mealtimes, wipe the sides, hoover in the evening and I give the bathroom a quick wash round when the youngest DC are having a bath. I am a SAHM and I don't spend my entire time cleaning! DH does his fair share and knows how to use the hoover or run a duster around.

I wash towels weekly and bedding, PJ's every few days.

Because we tidy and clean as we go there really is no need for a big deep clean. It takes just a few minutes everyday to put things away and wipe the side after you've made food etc.

This thread is such a huge, huge relief.

What kind of industrial washer/dryers are people using to manage changing towels and PJs every couple of days?!

I think it's a real pity if people clean and tidy all the time purely because they like to be on the go, or because they feel it validates them, or because it makes them feel superior. All that energy could be used so much more productively, whether it's doing things with the children, on crafts, helping other people, or just following other interests.

See that's the thing... people who don't clean much make the chore bigger than it has to be so they think people spend all their time cleaning. They don't!

Keep on top of it and it takes no time at all.

I think it's all about balance?

For me bed-sheets being changed every 3 weeks is quite grotty (sorry but mine get done weekly)

With towels we use fresh ones every 3-4 days but PJ's are daily - mainly as DS has his breakfast in his and he is a mucky pup. I change mine daily as I like to have a fresh pair when I get in from work and I put them on the second I get home

I am not frantic about keeping the house clean- in-fact OH is a SAHD at the moment so the only chore I do is the cooking - but when its down to me it's normally a weekly blitz [bathroom, mopping floors, toilets, bed linen]. Hoover every few days, wash up daily, clean surfaces daily, have a tidy round daily.

I am one of those people who just feel better when things are clean and orderly. With a 2 year old it never lasts long though!

Each to his own. If everyone could just accept that we would all be happy, surely?