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 !!

[MarianneSolong]

It's obviously a very personal thing but I dislike visiting immaculate houses. I feel as if I am untidying them by my presence. I know that as soon as I leave the sofa cushions will be plumped up again and put back in the correct pattern, my cup washed and any marks that I have inadvertently made - a little dust on my feet? - will be hoovered away. (Probably with a sigh of relief. The show is over.)

I go and see friends to talk to them, not to judge their domestic arrangements and my friends do the same with me.

Very occasionally I might find someone's domestic arrangements a little more relaxed than I'd opt for myself. (There was a friend with a new kitten. The litter tray was in the living room and the tray hadn't been changed for quite stome time.) But that didn't spoil my enjoyment of seeing her, or change any of the things I really like about her.) But that really is an exception.

[jodee]

If anyone had a good, close look at the inside of my window frames they would be horrified, I know they are grimy but there are more important jobs around the house to be doing.

I hoover on a regular basis because of the cats, but the kitchen floor hardly gets a wash.

Very particular about kitchen worktops, they are cleaned with anti-bac spray every morning in case the cats have jumped up there.

[madsadbad]

I'm really surprised at the amount of people that are saying people lie about how often they do things, if I listed how often I do things I think people would think I was lying also- but why would I want to?
I get the opposite when people say they clean floors weekly- I'm like how... What do we do so bad In our house that if I left it that long my floors would be gopping.
Also I work, I also see elderly family members so have responsibilities there and we run a family business (not my job I mentioned above), so its not like I am looking for things to do to keep me busy

[RaisingMen]

Oops, maybe I go overboard then! my sheets are changed weekly (nothing better than clean bedding!) along with my towels. Wipe down and Hoover downstairs daily, but we have a chocolate lab and his hair is everywhere, big clean is done every week on a Saturday AM usually when I have the house to myself. By big clean I mean clean bathroom, clean all surfaces, wipe down skirting, wipe down sofas and Hoover. Because I have a quick whip round in the evening it only takes a couple of hours to clean properly. I find cleaning relaxing and love the way the house looks when it's all been done. Friends always comment on how cozy my house is, it's not clinical. I don't mind mess, but I can't stand dirty. Different stroke for different strokes and all that! The only other thing I'd be doing if I wasn't cleaning is sitting on my arse watching crap TV anyway!

[RaisingMen]

And why would some people lie about how much the clean? Thats just strange!

[FastWindow]

Antibacterial hand-wash yes as have small dc.
Hoover daily - i try- see above (the amount of food on the floor, somehow exceeds the amount of food actually offered. How?!)
Kitchen sides as I go
Loo, dettol spray is my friend there as ds (4) - not a great aim. And I know this will never improve sigh

Everything else... Yeah... Good luck.

If there are overnight guests though, watch out house. It takes it a week to recover from the shock

[halfdrunkmulledwine]

I'm quite similar OP. We do a lot of washing but that is because the DCs are very messy and DS has uniform in the mornings then gets changed when he comes home. It was quite similar when I grew up; I think our sheets might have been changed once every six weeks or so! The downstairs does get vacuumed more than once a week as it seems to get very dirty; the upstairs usually once a week.

[Daltec]

I really wish I could have a clean and tidy home....but I'm just disorganised and lazy and find housework mind numbingly boring.

[cdwales]

Living on a farm with dogs it is about basics - the children automatically wash their hands when they come in and before meals with ordinary soap. After handling animals we use the soap vets use Hibiscrub. Which we also use before farrowing or treating wounds etc
We all shower daily too - except me as I am inactive and suffer from dry skin.
The dishwasher ensures that all cooking and eating utensils are clean and food is heated/cooked and leftovers reheated thoroughly. I don't change linens as often as my mother did (and feel guilty about that) but I realise that it really doesn't matter for our health and wellbeing.

[ChickenMe]

I like to keep things tidy and superficially clean throughout the week and then have a good old clean on a day off. I get a sense of pride from the house looking "decent". I also find cleaning therapeutic. But we are pretty manky re towels and bedding.
I think there is anxiety tied up in housework for some. Dh leaps up before I have finished eating and starts tidying!! I noticed his mum and sis do the same. They cannot sit. Poor Sil seems to spend her life hoovering but they have got a hairy cat.

[itsonlysubterfuge]

The only time I vacuumed multiple times a time everyday is when my PFB was learning to walk and she put everything in her mouth. So I hovered the lounge a few times a day, plus she found the vacuum noise soothing . Now that she's 2, well I'm lucky if it gets done once a week.

[Annarose2014]

Those of you who work and Hoover daily - when do you actually do it? At like, 8pm?

[Somethingtodo]

Since I quickly gave up trying to have a pristine house - which with 4 kids under 5 drove me to distraction and turned me into a screaming banshee we are sooooo much happier and chilled out in our house priority now is play and chillaxing + getting 3 meals a day down them - keeping kitchen and bathroom clean, never iron and I only deep clean and declutter their bedrooms and change their sheets every half term...!!!...they do this as they are older now -- as they shower every night I am happy it is "good enough"...

[QTPie]

Clean sheets, towels and PJs weekly. House cleaned weekly, but kept tidy (we have a 5 year old - so I/we do sometimes tidy away). Clean underwear and tops every day.

House virtually always seems seems unless we have messy house guests with children too), but once a week is enough.

Agree about food hygiene, though. Funny as I am writing this because I can't sleep as have a dodgy stomach (incredibly rare): two meals out today - wondering if someone else's food hygiene not as good as mine :(

[Dowser]

I love a clean, tidy house that is pristine.

I also love life and like to get out and about a lot. Compromise is usually where it's at.
Rooms are very tidy. There's no kids or pets now. I think storage is the secret. I have a lot of stuff but it's all stored well so not much on show.

Have you seen the makeover programmes where one of the first things they do is to pull out the floor to ceiling storage?

I'm like....so where do they put their stuff? I'd be horrified if they did that here.

When OH moved in we ripped out one small bedroom and put in floor to ceiling storage that consists of trays ,drawers and hanging space. It's now a bit like a walk in wardrobe. It's great. I can find things. Floors are mopped once a week and the hoovering is done once a week whether it needs it or not. Everything else on an ad hoc basis.

No one ever lies on their death bed and says they wished they had done more cleaning.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

There is a bit of competitive slovenliness on MN too.

I keep the house really clean and have a job and care for 3 people, one of whom is really messy. it doesn't take that long.

Not wanting a medal, just the comments about people cleaning because they have no lives are amusing

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

If people have other priorities and house is hygienic then fair enough too.

[PowderMum]

I read the threads about changing towels/pjs daily and only wearing clothes once and just think 'whatever'
I'm a grown up I live my life how it suits me and have the confidence to only was when the item needs it.
My life is busy enough as it is without adding the role of domestic goddess/housework slave

[Sollers]

Each to their own, and all that. I'm probably middling clean/scuzzy myself.

However, one thing that's always puzzled me on these threads is people who bleach the loo daily. Why? Do they imagine a stray poo germ is going to jump up and bite them on the arse when they're having a pee or what?

[MarianneSolong]

Cleaning is time-consuming. Obviously if people are efficient and have routines and find it enjoyable/necessary then they may feel they don't resent the time. Or it might seem a better use of time than bad television.

But the cleaning rituals still do take time. (And it appears to be a female ritual. There hasn't been a lot of 'I do this and my partner does that' on the thread to date.)

I do keep chaos at bay. But I would rather read a book. I do read books.

[Bunbaker]

I agree MrsDeVere. If you saw my house you would find it clean and comfortable, but homely because it is very seldom immaculate (she says looking at the cobweb on the door).

[Sallystyle]

I have OCD and people always assume I must clean a lot, because you know, OCD is all about being anal about cleaning huh?

No, my OCD comes out in many ways but that is not cleaning.

Just for people who obviously don't know. OCD the D stands for disorder. You can be obsessive over certain things, you can be compulsive over certain things, you can even be particular or anal. This is why it doesn't get seen as a serious illness because people screw with the term and use it for anything.

My bedding gets changed once every few weeks, clothes only get washed when they smell or when they are dirty. I sweep up twice a day if not more, due to dog hair. I have dog toys laying around, crochet projects wherever I put them. Plates etc are washed as soon as we have finished eating. Kitchen floor washed every day if my dog has made them dirty in winter.

My kids bedrooms are a disaster zone, as in my own.

With five kids, two cats and three dogs my house is tidy and clean enough but it is obviously lived in. And sometimes you might even smell a bit of dog!

[MarianneSolong]

I think there is broad agreement that cleaning can be taken to extremes. I am the child of someone who did take cleaning to somewhere near the limit.

She wasn't a tactile person. I think she found touch messy. And generally as a stay at home mother she was pretty 'hands off'. If you can't be happy till things are 'just so', it can take up a lot of your head space. I don't mean she didn't care about us, and we were certainly fed, clothed, bought toys, educated etc. But for me -as a result of this experience - there is a strong link between an extreme attachment to cleaning rituals and a lack of emotional warmth.

I accept it's probably possible - though difficult - to have a working life, a rewarding social life, a clean house, and a warm affectionate engaged relationship with children and partner. But factually I do think that a greater amount of time spent on one thing, means that less time is available for something else.

So I suppose the interesting thing is what do those who like a really clean house (bedding, towels, clothes regularly changed so laundry must be done several times a week, frequent hoovering, daily kitchen and bathroom cleaning, lots of disinfecting, sanitising spraying, objects put away, everything in its place) cut back on in order to make sure these tasks can be done?