To ask for tips on how not spend a whole day each weekend (or more!) doing chores?

[huggybear]

It's endless.

The washing and ironing especially. People say to forget ironing but my clothes come out of the washing machine looking like they've been 5 rounds with Mike Tyson.

I live in a small house with no kids or pets, it should be easy surely? But no, each weekend we spend a heap of time on it all. I'm not even including gardening in this as that's more a hobby.

So lovely people - any tips? We do keep on top of things during the week but it doesn't really seem to help as everything still needs a big clean come the weekend.

Cleaner not really an option as I don't really want people in the house while we aren't here.

Lower standards? I don't think they're very high at the mo.

I don't know why people are being so harsh to the OP - I do a similar amount of washing. I have a small washing machine and I'm quite a sweaty person so can't wear most clothes twice in the summer! (Only trousers really)

I iron as I go really rather than weekly.

My house also does get dusty - I dust and hoover once a week or every other week. If I left it a month it'd be very dusty (and I'm asthmatic) It probably depends where you live!

I think the key is to make sure you keep the house as tidy as possible all the time by clearing up regularly. I spend a lot less time cleaning now I have a dishwasher, everything lives in drawers and cupboards not on the side.

What I don't do is the gardening - granted my garden is a state but weekly gardening seems a lot.

I think the taking a day to get it sorted idea is a good one then to do little bits every day where possible. Time yourself and only give yourself 15/30 mins and you'll speed up.

I wonder if it's my machine because everything comes out very crinkled! If it looked pretty ok I would happily hang it up. Does anyone know any way I can reduce wrinkles?

I also change my sheets every week because it's one of my favourite things to get into clean sheets. I'd change them daily if I had the time and it wasn't so bad for the environment

You're probably right about the pillowcases but it does bring me joy having a nice crisp pillowcase. But that's because I'm a loser. I'm definitely going to try and do more quick bursts in the week, using ad breaks is a great idea! I'm usually really tired when I get home from work but I I'm sure even I could manage to do a bit more. My house is old and does seem to get inexplicably dusty!!

5 loads of washing for 2 people..... That's a lot. What are you wearing?!

There's only me & DD here but I easily do more than 5 loads in a week but I admit that I have an anally retentive system that must not be deviated from DD is learning this

However, OP I have cleaned the entire 2 bedroom flat today (& I mean proper cleaning)

Floors swept, hoovered & washed
Woodwork wiped down
Bedding changed
Bathroom scrubbed
Kitchen cupboards emptied, cleaned out & stuff put back
Windows cleaned
Fridge freezer cleaned out
Furniture wiped down
4 loads of washing

& it's taken me around 4 hours, I'll probably do an hours worth of ironing in front of the tv tonight so 5 hours in total but I generally keep on top of things during the week & do a big clean like today when DD isn't here - for your cleaning to take 2 adults 8 hours (so 16 hours cleaning) at the weekend (every weekend) I'm thinking that you do absolutely nothing during the week & then it feels like an insurmountable task at the weekend... even if DD & I did nothing all week it still wouldn't take me 16hrs to clean the flat!

I shouldn't have included the gardening really as that's a pleasure mostly but it does take time. The only thing I ignore 90% of the time is washing the cars, that's a once in a blue moon job!

I think the thing is I do do stuff in the week but it doesn't feel like a proper clean if you see what I mean? I like to feel the house is clean on a Sunday (and the sheets are clean especially!) I find work very stressful and it helps calm me. But I could switch it round a do a big bathroom clean on say a Thursday and then the little cleans at the weekend, that way it should still have the same Sunday effect.

Cleaning your kitchen should happen while youre cooking to save time. Load the dishwasher or wash up pans and utensils as you go. Once you've plated up, take a minute to wipe down your surfaces so you've only got plates, cutlery and a quick sweep to do once you're finished.

No it doesn't take us a whole day - probably 4-5 hours but that feels like a whole day on a Sunday

Well your husband could probably wear 2 shirts in the week. My husband does this. Shirt A for Monday and Tuesday and shirt B for wed and Thursday then Friday is casual.
Re dresses you could prob wear 1 dress on a monday and Wednesday and another on Tuesday and Thursday (do you have casual Friday?). I got loads of dresses from Wallis which never needed ironed ever and dried really quickly too.

Hmm I do have a fastwash cycle on my machine but I don't use that one much. For time saver it is an actual main cycle just reduced (but not so quick it's useless). How old is the machine? Also, I think reducing the spin speed would result in less wrinkly stuff.

There's no way I'd iron pillowcases but if there's only 2 of you I assume you're ironing 4 a week so that wouldn't take long.

30mins before work and 30 mins after tea on the days I'm not doing something else. So, on Fridays I have spin, only do the 30mins after tea, on Tues and Thurs I go out straight after tea so only do the mornings.

As long as you keep on top of things, it's more than enough to keep a four bed house to a decent standard.

Shopping on the way home from work or an on line order. All the other things you list fit nicely into a 20/30 min slot.

I don't count gardening like that as a chore, it's either a hobby or you make the garden low maintenance.

My garden is extremely high maintenance but I love it.

Can you wash towels with either darks or bedding or sports stuff? Or get a bigger drum so you can do whites with bedding.

When you say you aren't there in the week to do the washing, is this because you work away? Or because you work long hours?

If long hours, can you not do the wash overnight (using timer function) then hang out before work thing? Surely if you leave it all to the weekend you are just asking for it to rain!

If you are out all week, how much dusting is there to do? How much dusting full stop in a bedroom? There's not many surfaces, surely? Beside tables and dresser/ dressing table/ drawers - uncommon to have all 3 but even slow dusters do this in 5 minutes. If too much stuff on surfaces remove it!

Divide and conquer the big jobs - one of you does bathroom whilst the other does kitchen? If you wipe up each evening there can't be that much mess. I presume by deep clean you aren't cleaning inside/tops of cupboards each week. Iron in front of the telly only those items you must iron. I'd not bother with pillow cases personally. I'd only iron my partner's things if they were doing some other chore at the time. Or if there were literally a couple of items only.

If you want to save time, I'm a big advocate of online food shopping. But it does cost more. Depends what is more important to you right now - time or saving money. If you need to do it, I'd try an evening shop during the week. But I prefer online - timed so that one person can put away whilst the other irons!

You say you don't actually do it all at one at a weekend. Maybe you'd find it easier if you actually did? Saturday am, before you relax into the weekend's enjoyable activities - just blitz the house. Although hard to do 5 loads of washing in one morning (which is why most of us don't)

Well your husband could probably wear 2 shirts in the week. My husband does this. Shirt A for Monday and Tuesday and shirt B for wed and Thursday then Friday is casual.

What, he doesn’t wash the shirts in between and wears the same dirty shirt for a second day? That is so gross.

Whenever I read these threads I cannot understand why people say wear your clothes more than once, stop ironing, you are doing too many loads... if you like ironed clothes you are not going to stop because you are going to look wrinkled; you like to sleep in ironed bedding because you can’t stand rumpled sheets; you like to look clean and smell fresh.. seriously 5 loads of washing are not a lot when an explanation has been given.

To prepare a meal, wash and tidy away probably does take an hour, however tidying before you go to bed each day would massively reduce the time spent at the weekend. I blitz once a fortnight but probably 40% of the time is spent blasted tidying not cleaning!!

He wears 1 shirt for mon and Tuesday. He's not running a marathon @ShirleyPhallus. The shirt still looks and smells clean at the end of day 2. Maybe my husband is just cleaner than yours ;)

People really have been conditioned to think we need to wash clothes after 1 use. It's ridiculous.

Well, I don't know what my DH does wrong but he sticking when he gets home after a day in the office and a commute on the tube, despite a daily clean shirt and shower. So do lots of others on public transport IME.

I don't necessarily have a whole clean outfit daily but clean shirts are a must surely?

he stinks...

I think it's also just being good at doing stuff as you go. I out one load of washing on while I cook. While the kids are getting ready for bed I put another load away so I can nag them at the same time. I clean and sweep kitchen every night after dinner. Midweek I do a quick hoover of high traffic areas. Weekends I clean bathrooms and change sheets (45mins tops) husband dusts, hoovers and mops. (45mins again.)
I only iron work shirts/blouses and I do this on a Sunday night while watching TV. Are you one of those people for whom the job always fills whatever available time you give it?

I've got one of these. It's a bit of a faff as you 'dress' it with one shirt at a time. I love it as I don't spend 2 hrs standing at the ironing board and shirts go on it wet, end up dry & ironed.

I call him Dobby because he lurks behind my utility room door

Well yeh public tranaport is filthy so that's a different story.
Don't know if Ops husband uses public transport though so I'm just suggesting things that work for us 🤷‍♀️

I do sometimes do washing in the week and put it on a clothes horse but I try and avoid it because I don't like the moisture and it takes up a lot of room. Also the washing ends up smelling of food as I have no where else to put the clothes horse. First world problems I know!

Get a cleaner

Do your washing during the week (use shorter cycles)

Get a cleaner

Do ironing during the week.

Set a timer for each room (ie 15 mins kitchen etc)

Get a cleaner

Send stuff out for ironing

Get a cleaner

I feel like you want me to get a cleaner?

Could you try doing things while you're boiling the kettle, for example?

So when I get up in the mornings I fill the kettle and stick it on to boil, put bread in the toaster and then I'll sort the cat litter trays and put away the dry washing up from the day before. Sort breakfast and wipe down the sides before eating. Then I'll stick a load of laundry on before going out to walk the dog.

When I'm back from walking the dog, I'll feed him and the cats and then wash up/sweep the kitchen floor - takes me maybe 15 minutes to do it all before setting off to work. Every other day I'll run the hoover around as well.

Washing machine then gets left to do it's thing while I'm out at work - I'll generally ignore it until bed when it gets emptied and contents get put away. Dishes from dinner get put in the sink to be washed the next morning (only two of us so they don't need doing after every meal) and sides are wiped down before we sit down to eat.

There's no need to dedicate 12 hours a week to housework, honestly!