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 second the organised mum method. It works ☺️

Try a heated dryer. I found we could hang things up wet and they needed far less ironing. Ignore advice around double wearing of work clothes. You’re never going to do that. If you’re only ironing the pillow cases and not the whole bedding that isn’t too bad. The biggest things I’d have thought are the deep cleaning of the kitchen/bathroom. Maybe little tasks each night in the week (E.g. cleaning a mirror while doing your teeth) would help to remove the need for a massive clean.

Ultimately if you’ve got high standsrds you’re not going to switch that off. I don’t particularly but I have friends with immaculate houses and they’ve always been the same kids or no kids.

Get a hobby out of the house for weekends

Nobody ever say, I wish I'd spent more time cleaning. They enjoy their family, friends, holidays, hobbies. Life is too short !

Buy clothes that don't need ironing
Wash clothes altogether using colour washing powder
Clean little
Cut grass before it gets too long, it's easier
Have some easy meals available to cook quickly

Unless you're particularly smelly/sweaty work dresses can be worn for 2 days or more (just hang on the back of a chair/door if you don't want to wear two days on the trot). Cardigans can be worn for more than a week even, if only worn on and off in the office - i smell the armpits and another bit and I don't sweat through my top/dress so cardies don't get to smell quickly at all. Usually get grot on them before they smell (and yes I have a sensitive nose so I do notice - particularly as am currently pregnant with the nose of a bloodhound).

Lawn mowing can be done less regularly - ours is less often than neighbours and has lots of bees as little flowers, clover etc has a chance to come out rather than neighbours un-wildlife friendly grass! And ours looks nicer :)

Don't wash sports stuff separately, stick in with darks.

Don't pay too much attention to washing labels.

Wash at 30/40 degrees and give a good shake before hanging. Ironing is a waste of life. Do it for white linens twice a year :)

Your whites must be a small load (no one wears enough white things in a week for a load surely unless you're both wearing and putting in the washing basket one white top/dress daily) - do less often, doesn't matter if it sits in the basket for a while.

Do sheets every other week instead (keeps sheets looking nicer for longer, they don't fade as quickly).

Get up 30 minutes earlier once or twice in the week. Do a chore or a few small ones on those mornings. Stay awake 30 minutes longer two nights in the week and do two other chores.

Hang your clothes to dry in a manner that either they don’t need ironing or minimal ironing. If you don’t want a cleaner, how about doing your washing in the week and have someone iron them?

During the week, give a small portion of your bathroom a clean each day. Sauced for the shower and daily shower spray. Use an ecloth on your mirror each morning, wipe sink and taps after each use.

Clean up kitchen as you cook and wipe hob each night after you cook. When you empty your kitchen bin, plop in some boiling water and cleaner, swish, empty wipe dry and put in new bag.

Keeping on top of some things as they happen will cut down your time on the weekend as there would be less build up of things.

How is it possible to create 5 loads of washing per week for 2 adults? That's insane.

Everything as I go. Deep clean one room per day. Aim to get everything done by mid morning so I have the rest of the day to enjoy life.

I feel for you OP, I really do. I love a clean and tidy house but my DH and I work long hours and, like you, used to spend 3/4 hours on a Sunday cleaning. We decided to get a cleaner as we both wanted to spend our free time together doing nice things rather than cleaning.

She’s worth her weight in gold, she comes on a Friday while were at work and blitzes the whole house (medium sized 3 bedroom) in 2 hours. £25 a week well spent. I love coming home to a sparkly house on a Friday evening 😊

Your standards must be incredibly high, no one needs to deep clean their kitchen and bathroom every week. If you are both out at work all day you surely only need to flick a duster round occasionally . Even when my DS was a baby/toddler I hardly spent more than 30 mins a day on housework, I do iron, but can easily do our family’s in a couple of 15 minute sessions a week.

I have 2 kids and animals and spend 4 hours actually cleaning. Laundry gets done as and when

I suggest

First tidy and declutter this halves cleaning time

Clean upstairs one evening. Quick bathroom clean, dust bedrooms.
Max hours work

Clean downstairs another evening fit in what you can in one hour. If your partner is doing it too it should be a doddle

Now house is clean hoover and mop following night or get up early and do it.

Change beds and towels same day each week. Beds could be done fortnightly. Lots of people do more than one week Threads on here all the time about it.

Empty machine ASAP and hang as much up to dry as poss on a hanger . No ironing needed.

Rest of ironing do while cooking tea one night

If you enjoy gardening then that’s your choice Do whenever. .

www.theorganisedmum.blog/5

Life changing and the app should be out today!

I have a big garden that I love and it really helps me to take 15 minutes each day to walk around doing a bit of weeding/pruning/dead heading. It doesn't seem like a big chore because it is just 15 minutes (I hate weeding) and I love being in my garden but it really helps with the maintenance to do a little every day.

Don't get hung up on how much you are washing - it is really the fact that you are doing it all in one day. Do one wash overnight and line dry during the day. Or you could do two washes Friday evening, so they are ready to be put out first thing in the morning at the weekend.

Do bulk ironing and folding one evening in front of the TV . (Or use an ironing service).

Work out how much your time is worth versus shopping in Aldi. How much more expensive is shopping online compared to the time you can save.

We have a robotic lawnmower. It cuts the grass really fine so there are no clippings and just mows the lawn. You can then spend the time doing the things you enjoy in the garden.

I have 3 kids and do the majority of the housework myself and never spend a whole weekend cleaning.

I iron for the 5 of us including 5 sets of bedding (one kings size) 2 school uniforms (one in formal shirts) plus the toddlers sleep suits and I'm never normally more than an hour unless I've been ill and let it pile up just pulling out what I need as I go the week before.

Sink and toilet get cleaned each night while the toddler is in the bath? After lunch or tea I wipe down the sides and twice a week the doors get wiped down in the kitchen. Table cloth gets taken off and shaken outside of there is just crumbs otherwise it's replace.

I hoovered the whole downstairs and washed the floors in 15mins yesterday (only 1 area is carpet).

I don't understand how 2 of you can take a whole weekend to clean. If hubby helps we can do a thorough clean of the whole house including cutting the grass and washing windows in around 2 hours

Online shop + cleaner = guiltless leisure time

Otherwise clean as you go eg as you go in the bathroom spray everywhere with bathroom cleaner, throw bleach down loo, clean shower whilst in it, as you get out wipe off bathroom cleaner, swirl loo with brush, exit.

Kitchen, put dinner on, whilst waiting pull out and clean behind stuff on counter (better still have no stuff on counter, keep in cupboards) wipe down doors.

Fridge - 15 minutes before delivery slot chuck out what you’ve not and now won’t ever use, wipe round, delivery arrives chuck new stuff in.

Ironing: put on Netflix. Time ironing to be no longer than 2 episodes of Friends (or whatever your thing)

Well I live alone and quite easily have five loads of washing. Don’t like short cold washes either clothes aren’t properly clean in my opinion. However I like doing it I think this is the difference.
It takes me all day to clean as well, I am slow though, I have arthritis so don’t rush.
Up stairs once a week. Bedding dusting hoovering.
Downstairs. Twice a week dusting hoovering. And hallway stairs get done once a week.
Kitchen most days just spray and wipe.
Mop kitchen floor twice a week it’s only small though.
Bathroom twice a week toilet daily.
Only iron what I need so half hour a week.

Laundry washing on a Monday.
Hall stairs landing Tuesday.
Kitchen/bathroom Wednesday.
Lounge/Diner Thursday.
Garden Friday,that`s seasonal
Ironing as and when you need to,abit like shopping.
Should not take more than 45mins per day less if you pull together.
Weekends free.
It works for me.

Just lurking for tips !

Oh also make a meal plan for lunches & dinners for the week/two weeks (you can rotate stuff so as not to always have to think of new stuff) - that way you can make sure you only buy what you need and use stuff up, plus you can plan to use stuff which has been knocking about for ages in the freezer.

Then write a list of what you need from the meal plan, makes shopping a lot quicker and easier and less stressful!

Or as a pp said, probably the money you save going physically out to shop isn't worth the extra time and mental energy taken.

Hi again everyone, still appreciating the tips! I might do a dummy run Tesco delivery and see what the price difference is. The washing does seem to have taken over the thread but perhaps with better planning it will be ok - for example checking the weather in advance for the week and seeing if I can bookmark some definetely dry days. I was worried about leaving in the machine overnight as I don't have a delay function but several pps have said was fine so will give that a go! Sports are mostly at the start of the week and that stuff dries quickly so I could def get that out of the way.

Everyone is right that my bathroom and kitchen aren't particularly dirty at the end of the week given I do clean the kitchen daily. I quite enjoy a gleaming bathroom so I might assign that to a slot on a Thursday evening. If I can get on top of those two things then hopefully the rest will fall into place.

Staring TOMM today as well!