To have no idea what normal people do to clean their houses?

[ItWasNeverASkirt]

I'm in my early thirties and realised recently that some of my friends do all sorts of civilised household chores that have never even occurred to me. Also, reading on here, you seem to clean your loos in much more sophisticated ways than I have ever done! I vacuum and dust, but that's pretty much it. I give the loo a quick brush and the sinks a desultory wipe when I remember. I have a guilty feeling that I should give the kitchen floor a wash every once in a while, but I usually don't.

I'm beginning to think I've missed some kind of important ' how to be a grown up' manual. Please help! We've recently moved to a new flat and it's immaculate and I'd like to keep it looking beautiful so am thinking of creating a 'to do' list to remind myself of what will need doing over the year.

What are the things you are meant to do around the house to keep it clean and in good repair? And how often? Any good tips and tricks?

I am a self-confessed slob, but my top tip from observing friends who do keep tidy houses is to just get off your backside and do it.

Dirty dishes from dinner? Wash them up. Paint work looking grubby? Wipe it over with a damp cloth. Toys all over floor? Get the kids to put them back in the toy box before bed.

And so on and so forth. I am firmly if the opinion that there's no real secret to it :-)

I love bleach bleach is my friend. I keep a bottle of bleach next to the toilet, and under the kitchen sink - chuck some down the loo and round the plug hole at least once a day and give it a quick scrub with the loo brush (the toilet not the sink ).
Wipe down kitchen surfaces everytime they are used (I'm assuming you do this anyway if you're cooking?!).
Kitchen floor gets swept after every meal time (messy toddler throws food!), and is steam cleaned a few times a week.
Hoover downstairs everyday (cat that sheds hair like a yeti )
Hoover bedrooms and landing twice a week.
Sounds like you're already doing the basics of dusting down surfaces and hoovering!

Well in my family I'm known as a slattern...but clean. I'm messy but wipe kitchen cabinets down every day...also clean kitchen floor daily. How can you not? Mine's always full of splashes and marks.

I dust only weekly...I vacuum every other day. Toilet is bleached and wiped every other day.

I wipe dirty hand prints (kids!) off walls every few days and also disenfect knobs and handles at the same time.

Windows about fortnightly...in and out done by myself.

Wipe kitchen surfaces and sink daily, sweep, hoover, mop once or twice weekly, dust weekly including skirting boards and doors/door frames, window ledges, clean bathroom weekly- sink, bath, scrub loo, wipe down outside of loo and under the seat, clean kitchen cupboard doors weekly. Clean inside of Windows ~ monthly/ 2 monthly, clean oven and extractor fan 3monthly, inside of dishwasher monthly. Do everything really really thoroughly, including inside of front door, wash curtains and throws and rugs twice a year. When I hoover I hoover the sofa and dining chairs too.

I also do things as needed too- so clean the loo after I've been, wipe anything that's had anything spilt/ sticky etc as and when, table after dinner etc.

Ok we are seriously slovenly....

Hoover through once a week
Mop non-carpeted floors once a week
Bleach loos once a week (use loo brush if skid marks...)
Use cleaning product on sinks and bath each week
Cleaning product on shower tray and cubicle once a fortnight
Dust once a fortnight
Clean cooker and kitchen work tops after every use.
Change beds once a fortnight.

Wow, we do a tidy and clean on a Sunday - that's it.

can't be bothered with hoovering every day!

Junos how do you find the time?!

By the time I get home from work in the evenings, all I usually feel like doing is flopping in a chair and falling asleep! I belong to a few clubs/societies that meet in the evenings, so I am out at least 2 evenings a week. Weekends are the only time I have for leisure activities, visiting family etc.

So for me, housework is low on the list of priorities. I do the basics, but that's it. Consequently, the windows have not been cleaned properly for 3 years and I think the kitchen floor was last steam cleaned at the beginning of February!

I've got a housekeepers box, it's a decent sized metal container with a handle and a lift out top section. All cleaning products plus cloths are kept in it. I take round the house with me while I'm cleaning.
Feather type duster for light fittings and hard to reach corners, once a month. Vac regular, we've got plain carpets, clean bathrooms, I tend to do it twice a week. Kitchen floor washed weekly. Wipe paintwork, downstairs doors every couple of weeks skirting boards same, upstairs not as often. Windows done monthly apart from bathrooms and kitchen which seem to need doing every week. Clean kitchen work tops daily. Never leave a room empty handed, there is bound to be at least one thing that shouldn't be where it is.

We do clean up as we go e.g wipe the kitchen table after dinner etc. But Sunday morning happens - the beds are stripped. Breakfast. Then tidy up, hoover, clean bathroom, kitchen floors etc.

Takes about 45 minutes between us.

Saucy Jack is spot on! There is no magic formula you just have to do it!

Weekly-

Change bedding weekly
Mop kitchen floor
Bleach/ clean loo
Scrub bathroom
Hoover and dust
Keep kitchen tidy and wiped down daily- wipe down kitchen units and handles

When it needs doing-

Wiping down woodwork
Cleaning windows
Hoover under hoover cushions
Clean the oven
Sort out cupboards

Don't let it build up! Little and often is easier

Forgot dusting, twice a week

Monday i:
Alternate: wash bedding/wash towels.
Clean bathroom

Tuesday clean kutchen (properly)

I find the best way of ensuring a clean flat is to pay a cleaner.

Use your eyes. Can you see dirt? Clean it off.

Make sure everyone in the house pulls their weight. Don't make drudge work yours alone.

If you can afford it, get a cleaner.

MattDillon you're the family slob? With that list of chores I dread to think what the others in your family do every day.

I'm obsessive about some things and way too slack on others. I clean kitchen surfaces about ten times a day, bleach the sinks once a week, clean loos pretty much every day.
Beds get changed once a fortnight.
Hoovering is done once a week, though when DC were small I did it daily.
I sweep floors daily but they only get mopped every 2 weeks. But we don't wear shoes in the house, so they don't really get that dirty.
Dust and polish once a week.
Bathroom gets wiped down weekly but a proper deep clean only two or three times a year (bleaching all tiles, delimescaling everything in sight etc.)

My advice is try to be tidy and hygienic. Above the obvious, remember that your life is more important than your housework. My mils advice years ago was this. "Make sure the family have good meals, clean clothes and don't let things get filthy". If you have a chance to enjoy life, do it. Do what is necessary and not bother what others do. If you don't like the look of something change it. Be comfortable and happy.

Daily we tidy up toys, wipe down surfaces and cooker top, unload and reload the dishwasher and put all the plates etc away.

On my day off in the week I do the washing, Hoover upstairs and downstairs, clean the bathrooms, dust and clean any obviously dirty Windows and do a good old sort out putting everything away properly.

On dh's day off he organises the food shopping and hovers downstairs, mows the lawns and any other specific job I ask him to do (usually please clean my car !)

Oh and I wash tea towels every day. I have a deep aversion to grubby tea towels.

Agree with SaucyJack, just make yourself do it. Dinner cleaned away as soon as it's eaten, try not to have too much 'stuff'.

Ps dh hoovers not hovers!

I find the best way of ensuring a clean flat is to pay a cleaner.

This. I still do the non regular cleans like moving furniture to vacuum under them. Change sheets. The cleaner comes once a week so we also clean the toilets and mop the kitchen floor in between. Basically use your eyes to see where the house needs cleaning. If you are new to it, try the www.flylady.net/ flylady method. Clean little and often. I think she has cleaning toilets down to 1 min a day, the sink every night, 5min trouble spots, etc.

I find once it's done, and you are doing a regular few bits each day or a couple of times a week, it's much easier. It stops it feeling like a monumental task!

I clean every Thursday- sweep floors, mop floors, dust and clean surfaces including cooker - clean bathroom ( moose and bleach) Hoover capers and sofas

Takes about 2 hours

Daily I sweep and tidy stuff away

Friday I change bedding ( I work pt)