AIBU to have a filthy house?

[MissElaineNeus]

So many threads on here where people's houses, towels, linen are spotless - am I the only one who's the total opposite? My house gets cleaned once a week. We have a large dog who goes on muddy walks and then lies on the furniture. The sofas are old and stained anyway. After a couple of days past the clean, the floors are covered in a light patina of dirt and bundles of fur and dust can be found in most corners. That said, we're never ill and are fighting fit in our fifties. So I know I'm not BU but just hoping there are other like-minded slatterns!

Messy home and zero fucks about it over here.

We work from home, have a dog and live in the country, so unless I was willing to become a drudge to my own home, it'll never be spotless or very tidy. We're happy in it though, never get ill and don't waste our precious free time arguing over hoovering etc. Works well for us.

So please I've found so many people who love their dogs and aren't precious here. I must admit, as several posters have guessed, to being a bit goady after the rash of "I was my towels every hour on the hour" type posts recently.

We do have a cleaner once a week, and that allows me to relax about the housework in between times. We don't have carpets, we do rinse the dogs after a walk, and I'm pretty sure none of our friends object as their houses seem every bit as relaxed as ours.

Totally agree about dogs and life worth living. Cuddling with mine at the end of a long day is one of my favourite things, hence he's allowed on the sofas. We are planning on replacing the grim old things with leather ones next year anyway.

Happy Christmas to everyone, and may your house be as clean and tidy as you enjoy it most.

Wow - not a compliment to your family and friends!

Our dog IS part of our family.

Wonky - I'm assuming guide and sniffer dogs etc are exempt from your hatred?

Rabbit-not really but at least there is a public benefit to them.
With pet dogs they are imposed on society despite offering nothing to it except dirt which can make kids blind and danger. If dogs were like small pets and stayed in the home I wouldn't have a problem with them. I just don't want my children to have to shy away from them, because an owner won't keep it close 'because he's friendly', walk in shit, or hear barking because someone else chooses to have them. They are dribbling, dirty, vile things.

Our house isn't very clean - two dogs and no time to clean, but I'm not happy with it being that way and it really stresses me when it is visibly dirty. I might try to budget for a cleaner in the new year.

You know that most of the issues that you don't like are human problems, right?

Dog shit on the street - lazy owners
Barking - dogs being left alone by idiots or not trained
Children being bitten - bad owners and parents letting them interact improperly

I'm not saying you're wrong to not like dogs but I think the world would be far better with less cunty humans. Dogs and their behaviour are a reflection of the humans that own them.

Don't disagree with your last paragraph. There are loads of cunty humans making the world a worse place. Cunty human+dog=my idea of hell!
I don't go to houses where dogs are.

My three are hosed if they're filthy after a walk. They aren't allowed on the furniture but do end up on my knee, one after the other. There were drifts of hair on the kitchen floor this morning which I've left for my dh to-hopefully-deal with. I did the upstairs thoroughly so think he can do the downstairs, which is all laminate or tiles, so easily cleaned.

'At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.'
Rose Macaulay

^ I live by this. I like a clean and tidy house but there's just soooo much else to do like watching TV and stroking cats

It's not filthy as we have a cleaner in once a week and do bits (bare minimum) between cleans. Definitely not visitor ready but a panicked 30-45 mins from visitor ready most of the time

Oh Wonky you poor thing.

starcrossedseahorse

I do the basics (Hoover, mop, washing up, bathroom & kitchen, change bedding and towels regularly)
Otherwise it's a bit messy around the edges and there is always something left to do. Not "show home" but not "filthy" either
I take the bin out every day though as I can't stand bad smells.

I get miserable if it's a proper mess and hate things to be actually dirty but don't mind the odd bit of dust or whatever

Why is wonky a poor thing? Not everyone must like dogs.

I grew up in a filthy house. My mum just gave up when I was around ten years old which I now realise was depression and anxiety. I spent my teenage years trying to keep the place clean but with little effect because everyone else was sloppy.
Because of that I keep my house clean and tidy. Sometimes I get a bit obsessed with it but not as much as some of the people I read about on here.
I'm not germ obsessed or bleaching everything.
I don't judge messy houses. There are often reasons nothing to do with laziness.

Messy and filthy are two very different things Lime

My house is clean but clutterred! Cleaned properly once a week and sweep cleaned on daily basis- carpet hoovered downstairs, tables wiped. The clutter is driving me insane but at least i know it’s clean.

I couldn’t relax in a home that wasn’t clean but it’s your home, your rules.

You may find that your visitors are uncomfortable in those surroundings as everyone is different. Pet hair is something I can’t abide (am also allergic).

Messy and filthy are two very different things Lime

I wouldn't judge either especially if I didn't know the reason/back story.

I can’t bear a filthy house.
I don’t like visiting filthy houses , so I don’t
I have a full time job and three kids, but a dirty home just depresses me.

I do not think that I have ever visited a house that I would describe as 'filthy' tbh. But then some people would probably think that the definition of filthy is not using one of those coaster things for a coffee!

Definitely think there's a happy medium between a dirty house and a show home. I like to make sure we're never in such a state that we couldn't be "guest ready" in 20 minutes. For me that's clean bedlinen every 10 days or so, all bathrooms deep cleaned weekly (although suspect my deep clean isn't as deep as others' as it only takes 20 minutes), whole house thoroughly hoovered weekly and downstairs quickly gone over daily, and the kitchen dealt with immediately after use - we have a dishwasher which is great for hiding dirty pots in straight away! We also try and keep belongings and clutter to a minimum which isn't easy with 2 of our kids now at school... when they were toddlers the mess was relentless but there wasn't the endless drip-drip-drip of paperwork, hobby kit and assorted "treasures" that DD2 makes in reception.

It's not filthy if you clean once a week. Just grubby because of the dog. Now I would hate that, but I hate dog smell, that's to do with me not you, and you couldn't clean enough to make it undoggy enough for me, no-one could. It's your house and it doesn't sound like a health hazard and it's certainly not a moral failing.

I wonder what some of the people on here would make of a really filthy house that hasn't been cleaned for months or years. Happens often due to illness. Yet the house doesn't fall down and the people don't catch some kind of plague from it even then, it's simply gross. On the other hand, it really is proven that too much cleaning is why the rates of asthma and allergies are so high nowadays.

Sounds reasonable to me - we do about the same but change the beds weekly.

Your house can't be filthy because you clean it weekly. That's fine IMO. My dog goes on the sofas and beds too, and not having muddy footprints is a battle you'll never win. As long as it's tidy and you're happy with it = fine.

We keep on top of things day to day, proper good clean every weekend - so bathroom done two or three times a week, kitchen floor swept daily etc. We have a very hairy cat, so throws on all the furniture which are washed regularly. The house is currently awash with Christmas tree needles, and I keep picking them out of the cat’s fur.