If you have a clean home but don't spend your life cleaning - what's your daily routine?

[valleybutt]

And no cleaner.

What's your daily / weekly "tick list" so to speak to keep the house nice and tidy without spending your life cleaning and doing laundry? I love a clean home and whilst I've come a long way to how it was a few years ago when I was getting to grips with having babies and so on its still not great.

I tried the team TOMM method but I didn't really get on with it and I'm hoping I can get some tips here.

What do you do from am to pm to keep the house nice, clean and running smoothly?

(And before anyone mentions partners - mine does what he can but works very very long hours and I'm only on PT currently furloughed so hoping to get organised).

I clean, then sit in the kitchen so I don’t make it dirty again. I’ve reduced my cleaning to once every 2-3 weeks using this method.

De-clutter. A place for everything and everything in its place, unless it is being used elsewhere, and then put it back straight away!

Never go to bed without a quick straightening up of the living room and washing up. A mug or 2 is fine to leave, but that's about it. Even on days throughout my life when I've been ill enough to have to stay in bed all day, I still get up once or twice in that day to do any washing up.

Try to deal with your post and email daily to keep on top of it. Delete any emails you don't need to keep (about 99%!), as in my opinion, virtual clutter can be almost as big a problem as physical clutter.

@FloraFocus "It turns out you do spend your life cleaning but you don't think you are because it's your routine."

YES!! We used to spend Saturday morning giving the house a good clean while the kids watched a movie. When our third was born we hired a cleaner to come once every two weeks. Which means that now I don't have to worry that the house looks dirty in the harder to reach places and set aside time to clean it properly myself. But I do still spend lots of time every day cleaning up, it just doesn't really feel like I do because it's part of my routine. For example every time I leave a room I pick up the stuff that's not supposed to be there and put it back on my way out. Also wiping down surfaces in the kitchen as soon as you've used them, likewise if I'm in the bathroom and the sink looks messy I'll get the spray and cloth and clean it on my way out. I think I probably do spend as much time doing housework as when we used to do it once a week as a big job. But now that it's spread out into a few minutes here and there it doesn't feel like such a big deal.

If you do want to have a really clean house though, I am afraid it will always take a certain amount of time to get it that way, the trick is just managing to disguise when you are doing house work so that you don't feel like you are!

Clean as I go. I don't walk past a dirty cup or something on the floor for instance. If there's washing up I do it straight away and put it away. I clean the kitchen twice a day (sweep floors, wipe sides etc) and I'll do all the surfaces in the living room at the same time. I get the kids involved with what they can help with, washing, tidying toys etc. I don't have lots of "stuff" as I do think it makes it look less clean (just my opinion), and it's quicker to clean if I don't have to move things. Everything has a place and it gets put back as soon as it's finished with. I'll clean the bathroom when I shower, takes minutes.

Then I'll do a "big clean" on the weekend which takes about an hour for the whole house. If you keep on top of it you'll find you have less to do if that makes sense.

But you'll find your own routine or way of doing things, I think it's unhelpful to try and stick to someone else's routine

Yes. I every now and again just get up and put ten things away.

Keep on top of it and do little jobs as you see them. While the kettle is boiling wipe down the surfaces, clean the shower as you use it etc

I do have a very clean home and i really can't function knowing something is dirty/untidy. This is what works for us.
Ds is 4yo and fortunate to have a playroom, but toys as you know goes all over. We have a small toy box in all the rooms that he plays in.

I hate clutter, I feel that it immediately makes a place look very untidy. Absolutely everything has a place in our home. So no piles of stuff lying around, on top of drawers etc.
The kitchen is cleaned after use. A good deep clean every night - dishwasher unpacked and ready to go for the next day, tables and stove scrubbed and cleaned, swept/ mopped etc. During the day a quick wipe of everything is good enough. I also find worktops really untidy with utensils and spice racks on display. It makes cleaning more cumbersome trying to shift things around.

Every night we take 15 min to return stuff to the right places, tidy up toys and playroom. My ds is really good and helps us.

I have dedicated days for the other stuff- bathrooms, laundry, vacuuming etc.

Having a place for everything and no piles of clutter makes cleaning so much more faster and efficient.

My dh does alot as well. We also get a cleaner sometimes to do deep cleans.

As many have said, I clean as I go. That's the best advice I can offer you, it means there's only ever a bit of dusting/disinfecting to do and run the hoover round.

I never leave crockery in the sink over night, I usually do it as soon as everyone has finished eating. Put the dry crockery away as soon as I can. Wipe surfaces down like the worktops and dining table when I've finished cooking/eating every time. Put washing on as soon as there's a full load. You get the idea.

I clean as I go.

Kitchen is cleaned as and when I cook.
Dishes done immediately after eating.
Sink is quickly scrubbed each evening, I can then start each day with a shiny clean kitchen.
No clutter left on worktops, it gets put away straight after using.
The last thing I do before bed is go into the kitchen to fill my water bottle, I'll have a quick look around and wipe worktops and dining table.

Bathroom I clean fully at the weekend. But I will wipe sink and mirror on Tue/Wed too sometimes.
A mid-week hoover is often needed but that takes 1 min to run.
Bath/shower is cleaned/rinsed after each use.

Living areas and bedrooms, the secret is to put everything away after using it.
When I get up from my desk/studio in the evening, I clear it so it's tidy. Mugs, snacks etc, straight back to the kitchen.
Dirty clothes go straight into the washing basket. Into washing machine when basket is full.
Laundry gets ironed/folded as soon as it's dry. I don't have an utility room so it's either that or I have to pile it on the bed or chairs.
Clothes, coats, scarves don't ever get left on a chair. Unless they are being reused tomorrow. Laundry basket or back in the wardrobe. If it's not clean enough for the wardrobe, it's not clean to wear again.
Never leave the house without making the beds, putting stuff away and making sure full bin bags are taken out.

Weekly big clean is hoover whole house, dust whole house, clean bathroom, mop non-carpeted floors, in that order.

Buy lots of storage items if you don't have them. Random stuff that doesn't have its spot shouldn't sit on tables, chairs or the floor. You either need more storage or to declutter what you already have, that's my rule.

I don't have any clutter so it always looks tidy and then doesn't take long to vacuum and clean.
I think houses with clutter look messy and unclean.
I don't spend a long time on it just as I go

Hoover daily

Tidy up after yourself immediately

Put on a washing as soon as you can fill up the whole machine with dirty laundry

Put used dishes in the dishwasher immediately

Give the toilet and bathroom a fast touch up every day (wipe toilet seat and floor, replace towels, bleach in the toilet ).

Get a robot vacuum. They have come down massively in price (Eufy brand is good) and you don’t need a completely one level house to use one. You set it to do the kitchen overnight and now and again take it into other rooms that need a clean, close the door and leave it to get on with it while you do something else.

I don't have a regular cleaner and hardly spend any time cleaning my fairly large house - I spend maybe 20-30 minutes per day or less, including cleanup after dinner, laundry, etc? Even 20-30 minutes feels like an exaggeration as it's all just doing bits as I go throughout the day. I have a roomba for daily sweeping and we wash the hard floors (flagstone kitchen, tiled bathrooms, and wood living room/dining room) with old beach towels and the relevant floor cleaning solution once a week, usually before we go out for a walk on the weekend so they can dry undisturbed. Takes maybe 45 minutes total.

What makes a huge differences is that I pay a local company twice a year to do a deep clean of the oven, inside all the cupboards, behind the appliances, walls, baseboards, every crevice inside the window frames, descale the shower head, all books off the bookshelves and dusted (we have to pay extra for this LOL - we have a dedicated library with three full walls of shelves) - it takes four people all day and it isn't cheap but totally worth it. If you never deep clean your house, it's grimy.

I started doing this when we hired this same company to deep clean what I thought was already a very clean house before we sold it a couple of years ago and I was horrified by how disgusting it really was. I'm luckily able to afford to pay someone to do this but if I wasn't I'd be doing it myself.

"It turns out you do spend your life cleaning but you don't think you are because it's your routine."

Not necessarily. Not relevant at the moment sadly, but do you change your routine when you have guests staying over? I don't. Obviously I don't start hoovering or dusting the house with guests in, and I am not changing the beddings either, but apart from these things that get done very first thing in the morning, I don't clean any less when I have friends around because that's not part of my day.

It would be quite weird to have a friend coming for a coffee or a weekend and be stuck looking at me running around with my cleaning products

I shouldn't I know but I'm smiling like this at the couples without kids giving cleaning tips.
However I am struck by the number of people with a robovac. I think I need one.
There are days when I cba to clean the floor only for it to be wrecked 5 mins later. They drag me down those days and make me miserable. I'm going to save up for one of those.
(I have a child with severe sen so please no lectures on how I should train my children)

I clean as I go, and do certain jobs everyday so it never builds up into anything massive.

Before work everyday:

• animals fed, bowls washed up and put away, litter trays cleaned/changed.
• breakfast dishes washed and put away.
• kitchen floor swept and downstairs vacuumed.
• clean the fire ready for being lit after work.

After work everyday:

• animals fed and cleaned up as above.
• vacuum/floors done again as they track litter/muck through the house.

Before bed:

• living room tidied (blankets folded, cushions put back)
• all dishes washed up and put away.

All of that probably takes 30-40 minutes out of my day, spread across three "sessions" of cleaning.

Then on top of that:

Monday - wash all towels, clean bathroom.
Thursday - wash dog blankets, clean bathroom.
Saturday - strip and re-make beds, wash bedding, clean bathroom.

By "clean bathroom", I just mean sweep/mop floors, spray around the bath and sink then rinse off, and clean the loo. It only takes about ten minutes a time.

The kitchen is cleaned after meal times so I never need to do that separately. Additional laundry is done on an "as and when" basis and we have a washer/dryer so it doesn't take long at all.

For me, the key is routine and not leaving it to all build up. Big "blitz" cleans don't appeal to me - I'd rather do a little everyday and keep on top of it. I also can't settle or relax in a messy house! I'm very fussy

This is really interesting. I always feel rubbish at cleaning as my house is old and in desperate need of renovation. I also have kids, cars and an untidy husband and work full time and do almost all family admin and look after elderly relatives.

My dh and my routine is on a daily basis I wash up twice (usually after lunch then dinner) and wipe kitchen surfaces at same time. Collect and put out recycling daily. Load of washing in and on to dryers each day and out away load that was on airer. Tidy round at end of day. Clean bathrooms properly once a week but often more as needed. Shower cleaned when used. Hoover at least once a week. Try and do twice but often struggle.

What I never know how to do properly is dust. It would take me hours to clear every surface and wipe down. I do it in kitchens ,bathrooms and kids rooms most weeks but the other areas i struggle so its ad hoc when i cant stand the mess any longer.

Any tips on that? I was thinking a robovac daily may help but it might not....

Oh also mopping floors. Never seem to have time for that in a day so need to get that in the routine.

We don’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ and declutter regularly. Everything has a home and we’re a tidy family, so when we come to clean we don’t need to spend time tidying or sorting things first. I bleach the toilets every day, wipe down kitchen surfaces as soon as there’s a spill, put dishes straight in the dishwasher, and washing straight in the laundry basket. We do a load of washing every other day, so it never builds up, and put it away as soon as it’s dry. We also have a large utility room so don’t have to have damp washing drying all about the house.

We do have a cleaner, she does 2.5 hours once a fortnight.

We have a dog and kids. My biggest bugbear is the boot room floor. It is permanently filthy in the winter months when the dog is in and out for the toilet. The solution is easy: I could mop it multiple times a day. However, life is too short and so I simply shut the door and ignore it instead. It does get mopped, but not as often as it needs if it is to remain clean.

Never leave a room without a quick scan of what you can pick up and take to where you are going next. If something belongs upstairs it gets put on the bottom of the stairs. If I go upstairs I grab something that is there and take it with me. That way each movement through the house is an act of keeping tidy without additional efffort.

@Weepingwillows12

Oh also mopping floors. Never seem to have time for that in a day so need to get that in the routine.

Get yourself a steam mop! Mine takes 30 seconds to heat up - whizz it over the floors and job done I bung the cloth in the wash with the towels.

mopping floors. Never seem to have time for that in a day so need to get that in the routine

if you have kids - or pets- very last thing before you take everyone out of the house for the morning!

Being tidy and everything in its place makes a huge difference. Less clutter. Less ornaments and home decor. Throw away or donate items that you don't need or use.
For example, do you need 20 mugs? 4 sets of bedding?
Surfaces are easier to clean if things are clear.
Never go upstairs empty handed, take the washing up etc.
Obviously it all falls by the wayside occasionally and if it does just make up your mind to tidy things away.

Oh I’d save the steam mop before I’d save the hoover. Game changer in a house with small food flinging babies

What's TOMM?