To ask if it’s petit bourgeois to clean the house before guests arrive?

[HomeostaticSetPoint]

Just that. We always clean the house thoroughly before guests, even play dates. Bathrooms, bins, everything. I’m wondering if this is because we’re lower middle class as my posher friends don’t really bother. What’s the norm?

Does it matter? surely if it needs a clean it needs one, if it doesn’t it doesn’t

I’m a panic cleaner, sometimes I invite people round just to force myself into cleaning

I don't think it's a class marker as such, it's more about anxiety/confidence. Posher people tend to have a veneer of self-assurance which probably means they are less likely to panic about what people think about them, especially if they are privately educated (that's why people pay for education, not for better teaching) but it's not universal, and there are less well-heeled people who don't give a monkeys either. So I think there is a correlation with class, but it's not clear-cut.

I clean for adult guests. Playdates, no. I would clean after the playdate.

Me too. 😂

The question is, are you comfortable inviting people round to an unclean/untidy house? I’m not, but my poshest friends couldn’t care less

My house is pretty clean and tidy but I will check the loo and basins before people pop over and probably have a quick hoover downstairs.

Good idea!

The question isn't answerable because everyone has a different definition of clean and tidy. You mention bins. I wouldn't empty any bin unless it was full and I don't consider that to be not clean.

I'm firmly MC but I clean before guests. When it's very close family I don't clean quite so much (sorry DM) but friends and extended family I will.

Are all your "posh" friends utter mingers, then? Why don't they clean their houses? I have some quite posh friends, who all live in nice clean houses, none who live in squalor!

It's more working class to just polish the taps and spray Pledge in the air.

My Dc learnt the term scurryfunge at a very young age, they used to ask who was coming round if they saw me tidying 😅. Not sure it's a class thing though, more that I'm usually embarrassingly messy!

Yep I’m an anxiety cleaner before guests come round

Oh soooooo wannabe bourgeois.

When I leave my filthy middle-class mansion house for a play-date with the ruffians in the (whisper it) affordable housing, I always KNOW it’s gonna be spotless. I mean, you can spot those poor folk with the working class pride a mile off - the sparkling windows, the immaculate porch way… and then you get inside and WOW. It’s like, what are they trying to prove with all that vacuuming?

I know it'll be unpopular on here but unless we're in the middle of doing DIY, my house is always guest-ready.

Not mingers, but definitely ok with skids in the toilet bowls.

Actually, the code I have noticed with posh people is to call my house a ‘normal house’. So gross.

I think it depends how clean your house is to start with.

I wouldn't want a guest to feel uncomfortable so I'd make sure the kitchen and bathroom looked hygienic (yeah I know they always should but most people can have an off day what with kids and working ft). I'd empty bins if they were full. I'd* clear the dc's shite off the sofas so people could sit down. I would not clean something that was already clean.

*getting dc to clear away own stuff is a wip.

Do they have cleaners and refuse to do any cleaning themselves?

If you're proper posh you do not do your own cleaning.

My home is never cleaner than it is in the ten minutes after someone rings to tell me they’re popping in.

Actually, the code I have noticed with posh people is to call my house a ‘normal house’. So gross

Why are you friends with these ‘posh’ people if you find them so rude?

I wouldn't clean before guests coming over unless the place needed cleaning but I would always tidy up. If we have unexpected guests, I think the place would always be presentable enough

I remember that documentary The F*cking Fulfords about some short-of-liquid-assets aristos. At one point the missus was hoovering their filthy mansion and the bloke did indeed yell at her to "stop being so fucking middle class" 😂