to think that saying "my house is messy but clean" is a big fat lie?

[SwordViolin]

People say this all the time, my house is a mess but it's always clean but how? If your house is a mess then who knows what filth lurks under piles of papers or clothes or boxes. Anytime I've ever been in a messy house it has always been pretty dusty and unclean. Times when my house has been messy its much harder to actually clean, I need to tidy everything up and organise the space to get ot properly clean.

I mean it's fine if your house is messy and not cleaned because that's life we all have different tolerances of mess and dirt, we all have different circumstances but why say "my house is messy but clean" when it is so obviously not true?

Of course it can be messy but clean. Our house has toys out daily, laundry hanging up drying, dishes on a constant cycle of going in the dishwasher and being put away.

It's cleaned weekly by a cleaner and every day we will wipe surfaces/hoover etc needed.

It's not a show home but it's definitely more messy than dirty.

Do you have DC?

I can clean and tidy and everything is perfect. Then kids get home from school and it looks messy. Bags dumped on table, homework spread out, Lego out etc. But it's temporary mess. I can tidy it afterwards in a few minutes

Temporary mess because people are living in the house is very different to clutter and disorganisation

Depends on your hoover and the traffic it gets, I do use my cord free carpet sweeper most days and I clean my carpets every few months or as required.

As I said unless there is a medical condition 🙄

we have five rooms in our house four of those rooms are clean and tidy the fifth room is my OHs territory and i refuse to go in there as long as he dosent drift his hoardy stuff out of that room i dont care how untidy or mucky it is but im not going to tackle any of it

Well aren’t you spiffy OP.

Mines clean, the cleaner came today. But the children’s rooms have Lego everywhere so they aren’t tidy.

Why do you care? It doesn't affect you, and the tone of your posts is very judgemental - like your version of clean is the only acceptable one.

I have a shark hover and three children (four if you count dh), pets are not allowed into carpeted areas. Only areas actually carpeted are upstairs and the livingroom due to the layout the livingroom is the last room.

Laminate is also hovered and wiped daily. Sofa is washed monthly etc

Yes I have 2 kids and yes they leave stuff about at times but they do pick it up and put it away when asked.

A bit of dust doesn't feel like "dirt" to me.

I mean sure, it's technically not sparkling clean but it's nothing like real grot and grime.

When I think of a clean house I don't mean a perfectly sterile place.

Mine tends to be tidy but not as clean as I would like it!

Mine is currently a disorganised mess but underneath it's clean.

I wouldn't let visitors in but none of us are going catch anything or die.

Jesus, who’s scared of a little bit of dust? Dust isn’t dirt. Dirt is dirt.

people with cluttered messy homes all the time claiming their homes are clean.

I don't hear people say this?

Like PP, I think a house can be clean but untidy / a bit chaotic. For example, my kitchen can be cleaned thoroughly - as it is daily - and then have DC homework on the table, my laptop & work files, some dishes left at the sink, a wash waiting to be hung up.

I admit, I find this stressful as it takes away the pleasure of a clean kitchen!

I also admire people's homes that are very streamlined with no 'stuff'. I aspire to that but recognise I actually like 'stuff'. That said, I'm doing a lot of proper decluttering at the moment, in an effort to reorganise DC bedrooms to provide for a desk in each for homework & it's a great feeling!

You sound a bit judgey tho.

Young kids in a house - will constantly be messy but clean- in fact the only way to keep a tidy house is spend an entire day picking up after them constantly. Also messy in larger houses is very different to messy in smaller houses

I think all of mine is clean and tidy at least twice a week, but very seldom at the same time. I don't have as high expectations as some on here though, who clean bathrooms every day!

Trust me, when some people say their house is messy, it really is messy.
Of course, if there's stuff all over the floor, then that floor is not clean!
(This coming from someone who considers her home clean even only hoovering every 2-3 weeks).

I have 3 dds. Dd2 has the ability to make the house look like a tornado has just been through. We tidy Thursday evening, cleaner comes for 4 hours for thorough clean Friday, by Sunday the house it messy.

Who cares...

I voted that you're not unreasonable, but I reckon what people mean is that they keep on top of the bathroom and kitchen, and do the floors reasonably often.

That's me, anyway. My house is frustratingly messy and I'm struggling to get a handle on it, but I couldn't let the bathroom and kitchen get dirty or avoid sweeping for days on end.

Why do you care?

It is possible to be both. My ensuite is clean because I cleaned it yesterday but it is also a bit messy because there is stuff on the floor.

The rest of the house is also messy but also not the cleanest but it's hygienic. No food rotting anywhere, bins not overflowing and the sides wiped down but it does need a dust and the floors need mopping downstairs and hoovering upstairs. Once I've done that it will be properly clean but someone will come along and leave their stuff all over the floor so it will become messy but clean. Until it's a bit dirty and messy and then the cycle continues.

It only takes minutes! I spray the shower with method Shower shine when finished so that rarely needs done properly. Loo cleaner, quick wipe down of sink/ bath, quick scrub of loo then wipe seat and sides. Cloth in laundry basket. Stick the robot hoover in and close the door for five minutes while I do the other bathroom. I can do both bathrooms in about 15 minutes and that includes a cup of tea whilst bagotti (robot hoover) finishes off.

Why do you care?

I think messy covers a really wide range of things. I can do a deep clean, but an hour later it is messy - clothes brought in from the line needing to be put away, things brought home from outside waiting to be dealt with, toys on the floor. The difference is that my clean that messy home will be tidy before I go to bed, or in a day or two. But I have heard people describe their homes as messy when they are cluttered and have stuff constantly piled up in different places and in that case, when it is permanent mess, yes, it is impossible that it is clean.