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?

[swelchphr]

I definitely feel like a slacker after seeing many of these responses too. I think I'll make myself a little daily/weekly chart using your suggestions!

[Dizzywizz]

I use an app to keep on top of it - motivated moms (momo) - and it has chores to do each day. You can hide ones not applicable to you and add any you want to. It - mostly - keeps me on track!

[TrickyD]

All once a week:

Clean loos and bathrooms
Mop kitchen and conservatory and utility floors
Clean hob, sinks etc and kitchen and utility surfaces
Hoover bedrooms and stairs and landings
Hoover downstairs carpets
Dust sitting room dining room, hall and snug but without moving small items

I don't do any of this stuff. The cleaner does. Thank God

[TheSunHasGotItsHatOn]

This is my daily routine and it doesn't take that long really. I start it as soon as I get back from dropping the kids at school.

1.Collect all dirty washing and put 1st load of washing on.
2.Wash up breakfast things, clean kitchen sides, front of appliances with stainless steel cleaner, clean cupboard doors, clean dinning table then dry it with a tea towel and turn 2 chairs upside down on it, empty the kitchen bin. Then open the kitchen blind and window as it is now tidy.

1. Hoover kitchen, dinning room, play room, living room, downstairs toilet, study and hallway. All these rooms have laminate flooring or tiles so they then get mopped with disinfectant. I open the window in all of these rooms as I go.
   
2. Put washing out on line or in drier then put second load on.
   
3. Hoover the stairs, landing and 4 bedrooms, open windows as I go. ( all carpet so no washing.
   
4. Make all beds.
   
5. Clean both toilets upstairs using dettol wipes in this order, top of lid, flusher, seat then under seat. With a new wipe I clean the front and sides of the toilet then clean the inside with brush and bleach.
   
6. Clean both bathrooms. Sinks, bath, shower cubicle, hoover floors wash tiles in disinfectant. Restock toiletries and toilet roll were needed.
   
7. Clean downstairs toilet as above, then clean sink and refill toilet roll and soap as needed.
   
8. Sort second load of wet washing for pegging out and then put the towel and hand towels on to wash, they are all white.
   
9. Put dry washing away from load 1, then put all other washing away after it has dried.
   

My daily routine takes no longer than 90 minutes excluding washing as that takes as long as the machine. I also will hoover the downstairs during the day as it is needed etc after lunch and tea.

Weekly jobs are, cleaning windows inside, doors and door handles, inside fridge, oven, skirting boards and door frames and changing beds. These get done on a Friday.

[urkidding]

My view is you're doing enough! Wipe stuff with disinfectant wipes. Cook good meals and spend time with your children! Do not waste precious time in cleaning!

If necessary, get your flat spring cleaned once a year!

[CremeEggThief]

As long as you wash up and wipe your kitchen surfaces and table down once a day, properly clean your bathroom and hoover and mop downstairs once a week, keep on top of laundry and empty your rubbish and recycling regularly, that's all you really need to do.

[Netflixandchill]

Baby wipes are my friend

[Netflixandchill]

And "bits" on the wood floor make my eyes twitch, where do they all come from?

[hollywally]

I'm too lazy to read the whole thread to see if anyone else said this, but I live by the following motto:

A clean house is a sign of a wasted life (or boring woman, but I think that's a bit offensive.)

I just find there's about a million things I want to do more than cleaning. It's nice when it's done, but the effect doesn't last long. I'd rather bake a cake or go for a run!

[stickystick]

Whoever recommended the FlyLady website, spot on. Her theory is all about having a routine & doing a little at a time (usually in 15 minute bursts). Well worth a look.

[changeznameza]

OP, I feel exactly the same.

When friends say things like "...and the dust was nearly an inch thick on top of the doorframe!" I make a mental note: must dust top of doorframes. (And invariably find many, many inches of dust.) Otherwise that would never occur to me. Lord knows how many other faux pas I am making by failing to clean things I should be cleaning

But gradually I guess I'm learning what needs doing. Threads like this are good, if a bit overwhelming.

I have zero interest in cleaning but understand that homes need to be maintained. I AM the woman who has never cleaned behind her radiators

[Designjunkie]

For me it has depended on the size of my home. When I lived in a two bedroom flat it was easy to hoover several times a week, wash the kitchen floor daily etc, but fast forward several years and cleaning a five bedroom house is a whole other ball game. What used to take an hour tops now takes 4 or 5 so it's not possible to do so much daily, even with a weekly cleaner. I'd say if you feel clean and no one is falling ill from poor hygiene, why get stressed over it ?

[AerithEarthling]

Im lazy so i use those packet wipes you get from wilkos they are 50p keep them in the bathroom to give a quick wipe down and do a normal clean once or twice a week.
Use those toilet things which make the water turn pink and use bleach sometimes.
Wipe kitchen down with thise wipes from wilkos i hoover everyday cause i have cats but with the floor cleaning i do it maybe once i week

[AerithEarthling]

I use to dislike housework but i listen to the radio whilst doing it makes it less dull

[NickyEds]

Having a clean house is not a sign of a life wasted! I don't want to live somewhere dirty, or eat crap food, or my kids not to have clean clothes to wear.....Some shit just needs doing! It completely depends on your lifestyle though, at the minutes I have a 2 year old who drops ports of things and a 10 month old who picks them up and eats them. If I don't hoover every day then I end up picking 3 day old raisins out of my baby's mouth.

I was having a discussion with my sister about this and it turned out she never cleaned/replaced the filters on her hoover because she didn't know to, we then had to go through the other filters in her house (cooker hood, dryer) so she could sort them out!

[chickenstew74]

I too feel like I missed out on the how to keep on top of keeping things clean and tidy lesson. We've just moved into what was an immaculate house. This is the thread I need to help me/us keep it this way!
I was thinking of dividing regular jobs (that often got 'forgotten' in our old flat) into two categories. 1) cleaning bathroom and 2) hoovering, dusting, skirting boards.
The plan is that OH (he has agreed but we'll see!) and I will take it in turns to cover these areas. All of the rest of the stuff e.g. kitchen, tidying toys will happen as we go along and then every so often a deeper clean. I normally change bed linen and he puts the rubbish out except when he forgets or completely walks past bin bags that were due to go out
If that doesn't work then we'll get a cleaner!

[TrippleBlessed]

Love this thread! It just reassures me that cleaning is a good habit/routine and encourages me to get on with it, when at times after looking after 3 dcs Im so exhausted I want to do nothing. But the feeling of a clean home is so much more rewarding.

So my routine is (has to fit in with my baby's routine so it must be down within an hour):

Mondays: Laundry load on. Baby playgroup (no time for cleaning, only time for cooking in between nursery pick up then school pick up).

Tuesdays: Laundry load on. Dust and vacuum the whole house (thats 2 flights of stairs, landing, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, utility room). Empty bins.

Wednesdays: Laundry load on then MUCH DESERVED DAY OFF (after that Tuesday).

Thursdays: Laundry load on. Deep clean kitchen alternative weeks fridge/washing machine/ etc, alternating with the family ironing every other week. Kitchen worktops, cooker, sink, gets a wipe over everyday while Im cooking. Vacuum downstairs only.

Friday: Laundry load on. Deep clean both bathrooms. Loo and basin gets a wipe over/bleaching every other day anyway. Mop entire downstairs and both bathrooms. Wash towels every other week. Do any of you folks wash them weekly?

Saturday: Laundry load on. Strip beds, I do ours and kids on alternate weeks.

Sunday: Vacuum downstairs. And thats it. Hooray!

[Goldenhandshake]

In my house:

Daily:
Kitchen surfaces/hob wiped with cillit bang/kitchen cleaner and a sponge after cooking
Washing up after breakfast and dinner detritus
Kitchen table wiped over after breakfast and dinner.
Kitchen and living room floor swept (kids make crumbs!)
Bit of bleached chucked around the loo twice a week usually too
Usually a load of washing every other day

Weekly:
Whole bathroom is cleaned with flash, bleach and anti-bacterial floor wipes.
Bedrooms hoovered and dusted
Bed sheets changed
Hallway floor is cleaned
Living room floor is cleaned (sometimes more often if there is a large scale spillage)
Kids must tidy and organise rooms.

Monthly:
Mattresses and bed frames hoovered and damp wiped.
skirting boards wiped over
door handles and light switches get wiped with dettol wipes.
Fridge emptied and wiped over inside, ditto microwave.
Use the detachable pole bit on the hoover to go round the corners of the ceilings and get any dusty bits, including curtain poles
Hoover between the cracks in the sofa and underneath.

As needed:
Smudges wiped from door frames
Oven cleaned
windows cleaned
Inside cupboards cleaned
Washing machine run on a hot wash with drum cleaner added (probably every 3 months)

[NickyEds]

Tripple your Tuesday sounds like my Thursday! Yes, I wash towels every week. I only have an ordinary 7kg washer so they're easily a whole load and then a bit so I do a load a week.

[TrippleBlessed]

Nicky Im glad someone else has a designated day (sorry Ive not read the whole thread).

Im debating whether I should be washing towels weekly too, when I used to do it I just felt I was increasing work for myself for no reason when the towels were cleanish as theyre only used to wipe 'clean' wet skin. Or am I missing the point?

Washing bedsheets every week and doing a load every day is hard enough.

[MrsHathaway]

when the towels were cleanish as theyre only used to wipe 'clean' wet skin. Or am I missing the point?

That would be true if you were using them to wipe something which doesn't shed. However, clean, wet skin when rubbed with a towel sheds dead skin cells which accumulate on the towel. If the towel doesn't dry quickly (eg if it is left hanging in a humid bathroom) then the bacteria lurking in the dead skin cells will quickly multiply.

::goes away to hurl::

I wash towels often. We aren't a "shower every day" household so it doesn't build up a huge load.

[FrancesHaHa]

A) make sure everyone else in the house contributes to cleaning too - they make a mess as much as you do

B) adjust to how much mess there is / how much time you have. Cleaning the floors everyday might make sense to someone with toddlers at home all day, but not if you're all out at work/ school everyday.

[Xmasbaby11]

Wow I am a slattern. Bathrooms cleaned every week? We have two, it takes an hour each. I don't have two hours a week just to clean bathrooms! It's probably once a month, dusting less often. The kitchen is clean and I clean the toilet and basin several times a week, though.

I have two preschool kids and in the week either with them or working. They are in bed at 8 but sometimes after that I work or go to gym. So then it's just weekends really. Dh and I take it in turns to watch kids while the other one does housework. But this weekend we have guests all weekend so it'll just be a quick hoover round beforehand.

I am shocked some people have a day a week to clean! By the time the kids are in school I will need to go back to work full time, so I can't imagine ever having an empty day. It must be nice though!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Cleaning a bathroom once a month is really grim. How on earth does it take you an hour to clean a bathroom unless you are going at a snail's pace?

[CremeEggThief]

An hour to clean a bathroom? All you need to do is clean your sink, soap dish, toothbrush mug, bath, shower and loo and mop or use floor wipes on the floor. If you're being really thorough, do your mirror and window sills. It takes me 15 minutes tops. I do like to leave bathroom spray and toilet cleaner to soak for about half an hour first though.