Most cluttered houses aren't very clean.

[FindingMeno]

All that stuff in corners, on surfaces, under beds.
There's not enough hours in the day to clean the stuff you can get to, let alone anything in the deepest darkest recesses.
Right?

Does a bit of dust under the bed really matter? It's not like it's shit. The areas that aren't used will probably be dustier but by nature I am not in them so it doesn't matter, its not like I eat my dinner under the bed

There's a difference between a dirty house e.g. bathrooms/kitchens not cleaned, beds unchanged and a dusty house. A dusty house is really not a big deal

I like an old cluttered dusty house full of real wooden furniture and natural fabrics more than a very clean house full of polyester carpets, plastic furniture and zoflora. Microplastics from carpets and strong chemical detergents are way more harmful to us than dust.

Agree with this

I'm sure, like most of us she has lots of things to worry about.
Are people only allowed to post their biggest worries on here? If a thread doesn't interest you, you don't have to read it.

It is so much harder to clean around clutter and I'm very much a "clean as little as necessary" person. Unfortunately necessary for us is quite a lot due to asthma and allergies which means that vaccuuming under beds and things I considered blue moon jobs are far more regular now. DH is a bit of a hoarder so he now has to clean any areas if he doesn't want to tidy the surfaces properly or has, yet again, "stored" things under the bed.

My Nan has the most cluttered organised house I've ever seen: ornaments crowded on every surface, pictures, plates and brasses covering every inch of the walls. It is immaculate because she spends half her life cleaning. She's very happy with it but I'm too lazy so I'd rather have half the stuff and less effort.

@MoltenLasagne I also have to clean far more than I’d like to so I try to make it as easy as possible for myself. Our robovac now cleans under the beds which is a great relief because I have a bad back! Dusting shelves is the thing that’s killing me and if I could go back in time I’d have cupboards with doors installed instead of open bookshelves…

@Arbesque I think it matters because one of the planks of the patriarchy is women judging each other on the state of their housekeeping and calling each other slatterns etc - it’s a weird/ unhelpful thing to be judgemental about….

Do you live with me?

Well why didn't you say that instead of rudely asking the OP if she has nothing else to worry about?
For all you know she could be ill or bereaved or have financial problems or any of the myriad stuff posters are dealing with but don't necessarily want to discuss on here.

At the moment, this is what she has chosen to discuss.

Depends how clean you need it to be and how much you prepared to clean I guess, but why do you care anyways?

I agree. Unless that clutter is kids toys/everyday mess that gets tidied at the end of the day and everything underneath cleaned, there will always be filth. Someone recently told me her house was a mess but it was always clean. Impossible!

Our house is free of clutter but there will always be dust and balls of fluff here and there. Part of life I think.

Yes, that's right, that's why I declutter as a priority. I'm becoming minimalist, or trying to.

@Arbesque

Don’t be ridiculous. The PP is expressing an opinion, and anyone but a half wit would know she was referring to the depressing tendency to judge women by the state of their houses.

If we all assumed every poster is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and must be treated with kid gloves, no one would post anything at all. There is nothing to indicate this poster is doing anything than starting a slightly goady thread for her own amusement.

#bekind is often just another way to shut women up. It’s a forum, people are entitled to post blunt opinions and move on.

A bit cluttered tbh, there are corners like behind the fridge that definitely need a clean. I have a cleaner who’s amazing but we need to have a clear out. Generally where possible we have lidded storage for toys etc books on shelves etc. I keep my room pretty clear on surfaces etc. kitchen could do with a good declutter tbh. My apartment was pretty pristine (apart from one room designated for DH crap) before DC. Unless you are prepared to devote quite a bit of time to cleaning it is difficult to keep an extremely cluttered house reasonably clean.

I like everything tidy and put away (probably veering toward sterile) because it’s good for my mental health. My mum was a bit of a hoarder and I find too much stuff suffocating. Would never judge someone elses home. I know my in-laws were bewildered when they came to visit at my complete lack of ornaments and pics etc. This resulted in a few “furnishing” gifts which I now can’t get rid of because DH will get upset 🙄.

I’ve struggled with having a family and letting go of my need for minimalism, when I lived alone if I hadn’t used something for a year it was gone. It is definitely to do with my childhood not because I’m houseproud or anything.

Meh. My house is cluttered and dusty in places. You certainly don't want to go crawling under the bed or look behind the fridge. It's clean enough though, dust isn't dirt. The kitchen, bathroom and floors are reasonably clean (depending on which day you're looking) and the rest will have to wait its turn.

My house was much cleaner and less cluttered before I had a child - if you're providing childcare so I can clean I'll take you up on that 😂

I'm not being ridiculous. I'm saying that in general coming on and asking strangers if they've nothing else to worry about is rude and insensitive.
Just address the topic on hand and say why you disagree with them. No need to imply there's nothing more important going on in their lives. You haven't a clue what's going on in most posters' lives.

I seem to be forever fighting a losing battle with clutter. We are trying to buy less and have less but with 5 of us in the house and a cat and dog , it's not easy.
I love going to hotels and holiday cottages just to open an empty drawer.

Lots of dust and clutter here but I care not a jot. 😂

I prefer a bit of dust and dirt to the toxic chemicals in cleaning stuff. Better for the immune system.

Since well before 2020 (but certainly exacerbated by the pandemic), we have been living in far too sterile environments. Bleaching every surface and removing all signs of life from our homes means that we have very little tolerance to germs and bacteria, thus resulting in far more serious illnesses.

I genuinely think it should be normalised to have a house that doesn't smell if Zoflora, where floors aren't hoovered daily and a bit of dust on surfaces is totally acceptable.

Germaphobes would not like my house. My dog sheds. The kitchen counter has crumbs from toast. My toddler has touched the sofa with sticky hands (lord knows why they're sticky as he washes his hands, but they are). Dirty dishes often sit on the counter overnight before I get to them. There is a ton of evidence that a family lives here. My house is cluttered and certainly not the Mumsnet standard of "clean", but we are happy and healthy.

YANBU. PIL have massive clutter, such that the cleaner who comes weekly can’t actually do much cleaning as she isn’t allowed to touch the piles of paper/magazines/random boxes of items/etc that are filling every work surface and square inch of floor that isn’t a walkway. Their house always smells dirty, which is a shame as they do pay for it to be cleaned regularly.

^^ yeah I'm with this poster. Dust and fluff in corners under the bed and atop the doorframes I can't get worried about. I'm sure plenty of mumsnetters think I'm a slattern but tbh I have better things to do than ensure my home is like a showhome.

Very very dusty. I visit peoples homes a lot & the very dusty ones have several things in common;

-the couple are usually into gaming
-the couple like ‘stuff’ - usually HP memorabilia & Star Wars.
-the couple have a lot of books - the ornaments are in front of the books
-the couple form strong sentimental attachments to things like wedding invites, pebbles, rocks, shells, novelty wine glasses
-things like alcohol are out on display not away in a cupboard
-utensils on worktops in containers
-mug trees
-tea/coffee/sugar canisters on work tops
-bathroom is always (& I do mean always) a disaster zone.

Why would anyone care enough to start a thread about other people's housekeepping but not care enough to come back to the thread?

Why are you bothered?