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.

if I was aiming for a completely spotless home then, yeah, I’d have to do the floors daily. I’m just aiming for hygienic enough to live in without looking like a complete midden. So one thorough clean per week plus the odd quick vac / spray mop in the middle if necessary, and spot cleans when things are spilt, does the job. It helps that 4 days of the week we are out all day.

Have a morning routine of a wash a day.
Monday: towels and teatowels
Tues: dark wash
Wed: white wash
Thur: pale wash
Fri: bedding
Sat: delicates/woollens

Stick the wash on first thing when you get up. If it's ready before you go to work hang it out If not, do it when you get home. Shake it hard to get rid of creases and hang up to dry. Shirts/blouses on hangers.

It should only be a small amount with two of you if you do a wash each day.

Every day do 15 mins in just one room of the house. Tidy for 5 mins, then run a hoover and duster around it, or a quick wipe down of bath and tiles.

I always polish taps and mirrors while cleaning my teeth. And clean the loo once a day.

Saturday morning - loud music on, one hour blitz the house - hoover stairs and landing, mop floors, change bedding and towels. Bleach loo and kitchen sink.

If you've done 15 mins in one room each evening then there won't be so much to do.

Do an online shop once a week with a basic pre-set list of staples so you only have to add the variables. Have it arrive on Saturday morning while you are doing your one hour cleaning session, so you don;t have to wait in for it.

I have a big house with 2 teens and pets but this keeps it manageable without a cleaner.

Put dark sports clothes in with dark work clothes, light with towels etc - you don't need to categorise quite so much.

Folding pants?! How is that taking up time?

Would you say you are very particular about things being just so?

I wash my clothes during the week and then put away at bedtime. Takes 5 mins. And I don't iron.

Even with four of us in the house, I don't do more than two loads of washing and everything goes in together with a 'colour run' sheet.
Why waste so much energy and water on keeping 'whites' and coloureds seperate?
Bathroom and kitchen are cleaned as and when.
Dusting and hoovering when it starts to look annoying.
Haven't got time to spend hours cleaning as I do it ALL week, cleaning other people's houses!
Ironing is the work of the devil!
Pointless and a time waster. Iron it when you need it!

@Catalicious you've clearly never seen Marie Kondo! Actually folding pants has improved my life a lot! I used to stuff everything in a drawer, but having a tidy cupboard with everything makes me feel calm. I suppose I am particular though I didn't think I was at all. I probably pay too much attention to the care labels on clothes, I probably should mix it up a bit more and I will certainly try and action some of the helpful advice.

i Split the jobs over a week that way no more than an hour a day on housework but split / spread through the day so
Monday - clean bathroom
Tuesday - hoover and mop floors
Wednesday - polishing
Friday - change beds
Sunday - ironing

Every other week I’ll do a deeper clean of one room aswell like skirting boards, windows etc

Most days I usually put a wash on, put clothes which don’t need ironing / towels away and run the hoover round downstairs

Spreading it out means no huge chunks of time are lost plus the house always looks moderately clean / tidy (doing everything in one go also means everything also looks like it needs a good clean in one go!)

I'm sorry but if the OP has high standards it is hard to lower them. I have quite a large house and spend a day cleaning at the weekend and do more than five loads of washing. I don't understand how anyone only does two or three for a week or do you not include bed linen and towels each week. I probably do eight loads of washing and two to three hours ironing. I have got a Fastpress so that helps. Also, yes lawns do need mowing or there is twice as much grass next week. The only difference between the OP any myself is I love a day at home doing chores, in fact, my doing day is the day I look forward most to at the weekend. Yes, I know people find that ridiculous but we all differ!

there are 3 of us me, DH and DD 9
washing
Monday bedlinen , ours one week, DD the next week
Wednesday towels, swimming stuff anything else that will fill up load
friday light/white load( includes DD school shirts and most underwear)
Saturday am dark load (DD school skirt and sweatshirts)pm iron school clothes and the few other things that need ironing DH wears a boiler suit for work so that doesn't need ironing neither does the stuff he wears underneath it
every 2 weeks i do the boiler suits on their own

housework
everyday morning get breakfast make packed lunch for DD 10-15 mins
cook dinner at same time as supervising homework less than 30 minutes most days
washing up, wipe cooker and work surfaces after cooked dinner 10 minutes DH mostly does this
every second day list A (mon, wed, friday)quick clean of both bathrooms general tidy in hall list B ( tues, thurs and Saturday) clean kitchen and living room floor, takes 20-30 mins max
Monday dust,tidy and vacuum the bedroom that has sheets washed 20 mins
tuesday tidy study and do weekly paperwork for household probably an hour last week of month 3 hours as both DH and I are self employed
wednesday good clean both bathrooms and utility 25 mins
thursday good clean of kitchen 30 minutes write shopping list as meal plan
friday good clean of living room and hall 30 mins max and an hour to do shopping, banking etc
Saturday iron 25-30 mins and put clothes away, DD to tidy her room and playroom before I vacuum 1 hour, only then is pocket money given
Sunday bins out (no jobs on Sundays)
DH does most of the gardening there is a lot as have large sloping garden and all of car maintenance and DIY as I do most of the cooking, housework and laundry as I'm home more and work less hours than DH
everyone is responsible for putting own rubbish in correct bin, dirty clothes in laundry and getting stuff ready for next day and putting clean stuff back in cupboards
no one needs to clean floors every day unless you have muddy pets

so housework is less than 1 hour per day 6 days a week plus cooking time

The Organised Mum Method on Instagram saved me!
It's really obvious stuff but gives you the kick to just do it

Definitely the organised mum method TOMM. You do bits every day to prevent a build up at weekends. Two teenagers and a dog and we both work full time and it works for me.

I never understand how people exist on two washes a week either. usually do two for bedding - one is master bed and the other DC's. Then a dark wash, white wash, pale wash, delicates wash, sports wash, towels wash (sometimes two wash loads) that's eight. Often more. How massive are people's washing machines that they only do two washes a week?

@growlingbear I don't have any whites
Everything gets washed together so bedding, towels, clothes. I probably do 3 washes over 10 days

Wow. Before child I used to clean on a Saturday morning. Two hours tops. You must be doing a spring clean every week! Also re ironing. I never iron a thing and never look creased. Get out the machine straight away, shake and hang up to dry

1. send your other half to Debenhams to buy non-iron shirts, once they’re washed hang on the back of dining chairs to dry, no need to iron.

2. buy new workwear which doesn’t require ironing or put on weight so your current workwear stretches across your body therefore eliminating creases.

3. Only clean your house if you are having visitors, if said visitors are blood relations then just do a quick tidy up, no need to clean.

4. When buying new clothes, bed linen and towels make sure it can go in the tumble dryer, discard anything that is not tumble dryer friendly

5. Stick all dishes in the dishwasher as soon as you’re done.

6. Clean bathroom while you’re showing, it should only take 5 minutes unless you work in a coal mine.

7. This is the most important one, LOOSEN UP!

Oh and get the food delivered. I sit the evening before delivery and finalise the list. With a coffee. It's quite relaxing

And use colour catchers in machine. I put all sorts in together.

A typical week is one black and one white wash. There are 3 of us. Then every other week is the beds and the towels so 2 more loads. That is 2 loads one week and 4 the following.

@StripeySocks29 I don't "buy new clothes" for the sake of it, nor do I have a tumble dryer. I also don't just random throw away clothes.

Then spend the best part of your weekend doing laundry, pretty sure you started this thread to show us all how wonderfully clean and good at housework you are so crack on.

I will try Team Tomm method, I did know about it but I thought it didn't really apply to me as I have a tiddly house but I will definitely give it another go.

Is your comment actually serious then? I thought you were trolling me.

I did not start this thread to show everyone how clean I am. I started it because I'm stressed out feeling my house isn't clean and tidy even though I seem to spend ages doing it. I asked for tips and for some great ones.

Nope, not trolling. You’ve asked for advice but every suggestion has been met with reasons why you couldn’t possibly change what you do.

Two adults, no kids in a small house do not need to spend an entire day a week doing house work, you know that.

I don't see why you need to deep clean the kitchen every week. Are you particularly messy?

Wipe down the surfaces after you use them, maybe wipe the taps and sink once a week and hoover crumbs.

Mop floor every couple of weeks.

Deep clean every few months.

I think you might need to lower your standards a tad. There's a big gap between "looks spotless" and "unhygienic".

If you don’t use a tumblr drier how do you get five loads dried in two days?
We wash through the week because we need to use drying space sensibly. We work but wash clothes during breakfast or dinner time.

On the washing line?