To feel completely overwhelmed by cleaning

[ItsBloodyFreezingg]

Does anyone else wonder how people find the time to keep such lovely clean homes 24/7?

There are pets and 2 children in our house, both me and DH work full time and I just feel so overwhelmed.

DH is good, he will help often when he's around but he works long hours and often at the weekend too so naturally most of the housework falls to me simply because I'm there more.

I find that when I've got in from work, done the usual necessary jobs like washing up, cooking tea, putting the washing on etc... I can't find the time to properly clean the house.

Tidying is fine, the house is usually always tidy but it's things like dusting everywhere, mopping floors, cleaning windows, cleaning skirting boards etc...

I'm seriously considering getting a one time cleaner in just to do it properly and then I can keep on top afterwards (or try).

I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with it constantly.

Whenever I visit my friends home it's always lovely and sparkling clean and I think my God, she must not do anything else but clean because that's what I'd need to do to get my house looking anywhere near that good, it honestly makes me feel like a failure. She doesn't work so she admits that's how she keeps it up but it gets me down every time I think about it.

Anyone else wonder how people do it?!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm definitely going to look into them.

Like a PP said, I just want to come home and chill out! Not spend the whole evening cleaning everywhere.

Treat the house to a professional deep clean. That'll make it so sparkling that you'll notice anything that needs doing and it won't be a hardship to swipe over it, as everything else is already fine.

I'm on a week off work and I have done the equivalent in two bathrooms, the kitchen, living room, stairs/landing, one bedroom and front/back garden (the spare room is the recording studio and DP gets to deal with that in its entirety because I'm buggered if I'm doing that as well). I spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday doing it, sat on my arse and did fuck all on Monday, garden yesterday and I've just done 45 mins today. DP is doing the inside of the windows in a minute whilst I arse around on MN have a cuppa and I'll do a bit more later.

I don't mind doing it, as I like things being nice and it's a lovely, sunny day, but it's still not perfect, which a two man cleaning team would do in four hours whilst I was off doing something else more interesting.

If I needed to wrangle children and animals, plus work fulltime and could afford it, I'd book a team in a heartbeat,

If you can't, try deep cleaning one room a week - your bedroom first, so you have somewhere to retreat to, then the bathroom, so you can relax in there, then the kitchen (because by week 3 you'll be into the swing of things and they always seem to take ages), then a couple of smaller places and finish off with the living room. Do it in bursts through the day, punctuated by breaks (including biscuits).

When it comes to keeping up with it, just clean as you go. It's a tiny thing, but if you don't instantly wipe things up/chuck the away because your'e tired, it all becomes that much harder work when you get around to it.

It's very freeing to know the place is clean as well as tidy (and you're already doing well by keeping it tidy - many people struggle with just that).

If you're out of the house all day how much is there to do?

Washing up > get a dishwasher

We use an agency and we're in an expensive area so for us it really is a bit silly money - about 120pcm. But I know people in other areas who pay a private individual and it costs a lot less.

That'll make it so sparkling that you'll notice anything that needs doing and it won't be a hardship to swipe over it, as everything else is already fine.

That would kill me I want someone else to do the repetitive stuff, I prefer to spend a bit of time each week spring cleaning one of the obscure corners so long as I can reliably sit on the sofa without standing up covered in catfluff.

Having the cleaner forces us to tidy. Kids too - I like being able to threaten "if you don't clear it away then the cleaner will bin it or put it away and you'll never find it again".

I condensed my hours so I have Friday mornings off (work Friday afternoons). This then gives me a good 3 hours to clean the kitchen, do the laundry, mop, vacuum and clean the bathroom and downstairs loo and one other occasional job like the windows or skirting boards. My house is clean(ish) ready for the weekend, which is when 90% of our visitors would be likely to come and when we are spending the majority of time in the house. This is just about enough for me right now, and at least I'm not avoiding cleaning on my weekends.

I just invite all our friends round in the weeks after it's been done and not for the rest of the year when it all starts to go to shit!

When I was working with small children I had a cleaner. It cost about the same as a takeaway meal and I viewed it as enhancing my life immeasurably.

Why would you spend the whole evening cleaning? Once a week is enough unless you are bored and want something to do. Other than that forget about cleaning during the week. Allocate a couple of hours at the weekend and do just enough.

Organised mum method all the way!

First step is to declutter and tidy your house, one room at a time, but ruthlessly.
If you haven't got the right storage for something, things will never be tidy, how would they?
Storage also needs to be practical and adapted to your lifestyle: if you store your shoes in the loft, realistically you will never bother to take them there every day and will dump them in the hall...

Then why do you wait for the evening?
I do all my chores in the morning, I am up at 6am, and leave between 7:30 and 8:30 (depending on work). That's more than enough time to
-run and hang a load of laundry
-empty dishwasher
-make and clear breakfast
-air the bedrooms and make the beds
-clean 1 room

Evenings are exclusively: making and cleaning diner
-Reading/ printing/ dealing with school letters/emails/texts ... which are endless!
-preparing school bags/ school uniforms/ whatever kit is needed for the following day
-fold laundry and iron in front of the tv when I feel like it (ironing strictly reduced to the bare minimum here)
A quick walk round the house to tidy up whatever needs to be tidy before bedtime and the house is

Repeat 5 mornings a week, and no chores needed at the weekend at all.

If you prefer to employ a cleaner on top of that, even better, but realistically a good 5 hours a week is enough to keep on top of a house when you have kids.

If the house is always tidy, it stays tidy, it's only overwhelming if it becomes a mess. I hate mess, I like my house welcoming for us. I would never bother tidying for visitors, why should they get a special treatment but not my own family?

Skirting boards should be cleaned? Who says?

I have a cleaner on Wednesdays and my house looks like shit Friday-Tuesday.

I second getting a cleaner. Also, how old are your children? Are they of an age when they can start doing some housework? They're never too young to start and it sets then in good stead for when they live away from home.

Don't know how you do it OP both working full time unless you dedicate precious weekends off cleaning which is crap for you and DC! Is there a possibility you could reduce your working hours? Or perhaps get a cleaner in once a fortnight just to do the 'deep clean' then you can top it up in between? I've purposely said to DH I won't go back to work full time , I do work 3 days a week and am happy to increase this to perhaps 4 when DC are in full time education, but I couldn't not have a day off from work to do the housework as I don't want to compromise weekends. He's in agreement with this which is handy (as he's not keen on cleaning so doesn't like the idea of pitching in on weekends either lol!) Altho he does help with tidying, emptying dishwasher and that malarkey...

Organised mum method. Give yourself permission to stop when the 30 mins is up, the longer you follow the plan for the cleaner the house will be. It's so simple but life changing!

Me too I'm looking for a cleaner atm in sick of it

I'm in the same position, OP. Except I don't care enough to find it overwhelming, I've just given up. Would giving up be an option? Works for me.

Which is why we have a cleaner.

I paid £100 for a full house clean before Christmas, which included my oven. 2 cleaners were there for 7 hours and it was the best money I've ever spent! Decided I'll do it at least every 6 months!

Op don’t be too hard on yourself!
I’m one of those friends who always has a spotless home ( not being big headed 😂I swear)
And my friends always ask how I keep it so clean. Easy, I don’t have any children, just me and hubby and 2 cats. My sofa is white and my carpets and rugs are silver and white lol it’s easy for me I work part time so I do clean a LOT!.
Like I said I have no children so it’s easier, I have my nieces and newlywed over and don’t clean when they are here and when they go home it looks like a bombs gone off and the place is a dive. Seriously I applaud people like you that have children, work full time and keep your home looking tidy.

Don't know how you do it OP both working full time unless you dedicate precious weekends off cleaning

both DH and I work full time, and we have a perfectly clean and tidy house without doing anything at the weekend, apart from a very quick tidy up Sunday night.
As long as you keep on top of things during the week, that's enough. I have banned all chores at the weekend, but our house is always "visitor ready", even with 4 kids.

Robohoover will cut out hoovering all but stairs

If you are working full time a cleaner for a few hours would make a huge difference to you.
Invest in a robot vacuum that cleans the floor as well. One room a day every day for max of 10 mins

Oh and Lakeland heavy duty oven cleaner every month

Our cleaner comes for 2.5 hours per week. We pay £33.

I tried organised mum but it was always bloody me doing everything still.

I find a strike quite useful. The occasional not washing of DS's pants means he eventually twigged you need to put them IN washbasket and not around it. He even washes his own stuff occasionally now, he's 10.

Losing my shit and putting all the floor crap in a black bin liners whilst shouting works too.

Try and break it down if you can, could you maybe do a room a night, at least then you know each rooms been done once.
Thats my method anyway! I just make sure I do the most important rooms first, and what isn't done, I try and do at weekends or it can be done first next week!
Dish washer and slow cooker are a god send! At least that might save time on cooking and washing when you get home, instead you could quickly hoover and polish a room?
If not, and if you can afford it go for a cleaner, even just every other week or once a month even! At least you will know its having a good clean then, plus that way you can just do what you can in between, and hopefully you would find it more manageable.
Could your dc help at all if old enough?