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?

I disagree because there is a distinct difference between messy and dirty. Messy is having toys strewn around, maybe some clothes on your bedroom floor, cereal boxes left out on the side in the morning etc.

Dirty is piles of washing up, filthy worktops, brown toilet, smelly bathroom, loads of dirty laundry, dirty windows, dirty floors etc. Huge difference between the two, one is an actual health hazard and one is just annoying to be around (for some, like me).

My house is minimalist so it can be clean, from yesterday's cleaning, but messy from dirty laundry not yet put in for the morning wash, breakfast dishes not yet washed... My house at 8am and then at 1pm can be like chalk and cheese. It's clean because I'm regularly cleaning. But it's messy from living there with a family. So there's stuff making the mess.

So loads of people have told you how it can be true and why it's not a lie
Then you're replying basically saying thats not what you meant and untidy people with no organisation are liars because it's harder to keep clean so in your view it must be dirty.

You don't sound very kind hearted. All these lazy dirty liars must really rub you up the wrong way.

Our value isn't tied to our ability to keep our space acceptable to others. Suggest you look up domestic blisters on tiktok or read how to keep house whilst drowning.
The big fat lie is that having a clean house somehow makes you a better person.

Obviously it's possible to lift up piles of mess, clean under them and then just drop them down again. But most people don't do that. If you could be bothered to pick stuff up and clean under it, why wouldn't you then put it away/throw it away etc. Because sorting it out so you can put it away tidily rather than just ram it in a cupboard takes time. Just because you can keep stuff clean only by tidying everything away doesn't mean everyone's the same. And I know houses which are superficially tidy, with nothing on tables, work surfaces, windowsills, but if they open a drawer or cupboard, everything is rammed in anyhow.

It interests me that many things that I think of as cleaning, maybe not every day cleaning - behind furniture, taking everything out of cupboards , wiping down cupboard shelves - are now classed as "deep cleaning".

The big fat lie is that having a clean house somehow makes you a better person. Yes!

Along with the other lie, that someone who comes into work at 8.30 and bunks off at 4.30 is more moral than someone who comes in at 10.00 and is still working at 6pm.

I was a cleaner for a few years, and the people I cleaned for were largely messy - in that every week there'd be mess to clear before cleaning could start. My standard 3-bed clean was 3 hours and this allowed for gradually sorting through even the most neglected areas.

So all my long-term clients would have had messy but very clean houses, thus any person with a 3-bed house who 'booked' themselves for 3 hours per week to do housework would be the same.

Depends how long the mess sits there. DD has a habit of chucking her clothes down on the bathroom floor and leaving them for days. That pile will gather dust. Simple.

My house used to be messy but clean - not it’s a messy tip and even the spiders have moved out!

They probably mean their house is clean enough not to be a health hazard. Probably also don’t have many allergies, so don’t actually need to be obsessional. If a house doesn’t make you ill, then it’s plenty clean enough.

I'm not sure why you're bothered about someone elses home. You don't have to live in it. Whilst you say it's an obvious big fat lie for them to say their home is clean their idea of clean is clearly different to your own definition of the term. Your post comes across that your standards are better than someone elses therefore you're not as "trampy" as someone else without actually using that term directly. Maybe find something better to do than judge others that don't live up to your expectations

Who cares?

Mine is neither. I give up x

God who cares. This constant war between (women ONLY) on who has the cleanest most showy house is f*ing boring frankly.

Most of us try to maintain some sort of order but people genuinely think they’re better for having a cleaner home. Let me tell you some of the people I know with the cleanest homes have the most boring bloody lives/conversations (my mother included.)

It’s nice to keep your home reasonable for your own pride/peace of mind but we should remember our homes are to be lived in not photographed!

It’s perfectly possible. I live in this state constantly. I’m not sure why you care so much to keep popping back up and arguing with people. Maybe enjoy your clean house instead of arguing with strangers online.

My house is usually the opposite

Things are tidied away etc but it's all quite dusty and I don't hoover v often. I have guilt over the state of the skirting boards but not enough to bother scrubbing at them...

I always clean my kitchen and bathrooms but my house is messy. I have two young kids, my husband and I work full time in demanding jobs and I’m not a massive fan of cleaning! If you came round you’d probably think it was untidy but it is clean!! To be fair almost all my friends’ houses are the same!

Outing but my grandma used to say ‘a clean house is a sign of a wasted life’, which makes me feel better when I’d rather take my kids to the beach than clean on a weekend!!

There is definitely a difference between messy and clean. I clean all of the door handles and switches with antibacterial, put the toys through the dishwasher, clean bathrooms and kitchen thoroughly and regularly BUT there is a massive pile of washed clothes currently on the dining table, toys all over the living room floor, toys all over the bathroom floor and cups waiting to go in the dishwasher.

I would consider my house to be clean, in that you are unlikely to pick up extra germs by being in my home but you will have to make sure you don’t break an ankle whilst hopping o er the 100 dinosaurs..swings and roundabouts.

I'll describe mine as untidy but unlikely to be a health hazard. That's fine.

Every surface is covered in crap but floors are clean that’s the best I’ve got and I don’t give two fucks

My house is incredibly messy but pretty clean. I just move piles to clean and then move them back... I'm currently working to sort out the mess so the whole house is a cluttered jumble. But I can assure you it's clean underneath the boxes and bags.

Whenever I feel the urge to do a big clean I stick an episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners on and thank God I'm somewhere in between the slobs and the obsessives. There was one poor sod who flossed her oven knobs!

I've just spent the last 45 mins cleaning the bathroom & spare bog so the weekend is free but I resented every second of that 45 mins.

I feel like my house fits that bill! Everything is clean, and cleaned regularly. I don’t clean AROUND the junk! I move it, it gets housed, then either the hubby or kids create a whole new pile of clutter 🤣 we definitely have too much STUFF, which I can’t say enough. But apparently everyone needs absolutely every part of it .. I need to kick them out for a week and declutter 🤣

I think there are loads of "your house can't be messy and clean" people who have "tidy but dirty" houses. Do they really pull the fridge/washing machine/chest of drawers/sofas etc out and hoover regularly? Or dust on top of door frames? Take everything out of all the drawers/cupboards and clean the bottoms?
If not the that's just as dirty as someone who "just cleans the worktop that isn't cluttered"

Exactly, it’s lived in and gets untidy!