AIBU to ask how you keep your house clean??

[Kat256M]

Cleaning is just not one of my many great qualities! I am trying to keep our new place clean and already feel like I am losing the battle. I need:

1. A POWERFUL lighweight cordless vacuum. Looked at Shark but reviews seem iffy-please recommend specific models if you can. I havr Henry and it is a pain to move around so I don'xt do it often enough
2. Tips on how to keep the bathroom clean-the slowly creeping mould around the bathtub/shower is killing me

I know you have secrets because there are some lovely houses out there...I can't believe everyone spend their nights scrubbing floors with toothbrushes or something😂

I don’t like cordless vacuums, they simply don’t have the power to get up dust.
I prefer my Dyson and the long hose with attachments it has for small nooks and crannies, upholstery etc

On mould, if there is some when I move in, I will pull out old caulking, do anti mould treatment, let it dry and then replace caulking with anti-fungal caulking. I will apply mould killer to grout and then when dry, I will refresh by putting new grout on top. After that it is a case of using a wiper blade to get water off the sides of tub and shower partition after each use and leaving the window cracked 24/7. The mould never comes back.

Actually that's a lie - I do, but not as well as I used to.

Agree with PP re cordless - I use sharks with long cords. Lakeland do a great spinning steamer and floor cleaner.

My main bugbear is muddy walls from waggy tails.

I try and rope my teens in to help
out to try and keep on top of things so jobs shared between us all

Bedding changed once a week (teens strip their beds)
bathroom cleaned once a week or wiped around in between if needed
kitchen cleaned and tidied daily when clearing up after dinner
hoovering and dusting weekly or extra clean when needed or if having guests!! Same goes for floor mopping
washing put on most days either before I go to bed or before I go to work - if someone is at home they will then put washing on line (or indoor clothes airer)
washing folded and put away as soon as dry
bins emptied as needed

I try and put everything on its place so that nothing is lying around

My house is clean but lived in. Would love a spotless every day house but we have a dog that likes to dig in the garden and I work full time

we have a cleaner and our house still gets dirty immediately. But the one thing I’m great at is shower mould with zero elbow grease.

Mix up a few tablespoons of bleach and water in a little bowl (very strong, like 2 parts water to one part bleach). Wearing rubber gloves, dip pieces of cotton wool or of balled-up loo roll into the bleach mix. Blob the wet tissue onto the mouldy bits and leave them there, they stick fine even completely vertical. Pick them off the next morning. Done.

I'm not overly house proud but keeping a house tidy is the biggest challenge. Dont let the dishes or washing pile up, keeping on top of the dishwasher and laundry is constant fire fighting here.

Once surfaces are clutter free it's easy to run round with an ostrich 🪶 feather duster or spray and cloth. DH hoovers weekly, we have 3 vacuums . Gtech cordless for light and quick jobs/ Sebo for deep hoovering/ Henry for mucky building clean ups.

I use antibacterial wipes in the bathroom for the loo, scrub the loo bowl with bleach and leave to work its magic. Cif cream and a long handled dish brush for the bath, taps and sink. I finish off with some mould spray or limescale spray in the work areas. Takes 5 mins after my Sat morning shower.

Cleaner once a fortnight and ignore it in between. It's very low on my priorities. Life's too short.

Also following as I am crap at cleaning and want to improve!
I did get a good tip off tiktok for the shower screen- clean it with washing up liquid- and it works brilliantly.
Seems the trick is to not let anywhere get dirty.. just keep cleaning daily.

Samsung cordless vacs (I have one) outscore Sharks on the Which? website tests every time, and much cheaper.

For those with a cleaner, do you stay home whilst they are in or leave the house and leave them to it? I'd find it restricting having to be home as out most of the day

I keep the house generally clean and tidy by never stopping 😂🙈 I also have cleaners come once a fortnight.

A lovely cleaner, once a week and she uses my ten odd year old argos basics vacuum. I have a Shark but the £35 cheapie is far better.

I bought a Bissell Crosswave, so it mops and hoovers. Brilliant for spills, perfect for the porch floor that is always dirty from muddy shoes, wood floors and kitchen. it has been brilliant for me as I lack the willpower and time.

I need to declutter. I am a person who has lots of piles of things with no home for it to go to. If I can declutter and actually take stuff to the charity shop instead of it never leaving the house, I reckon that could be easier.

Little & often- do one room a month where I pull out the furniture (only my hubby & I )
I love my shark cordless pet (no pets though), far better than my two cordless Dysons- clean around my new bathroom & en-suite every time we shower or bathe, then dry with window vac & polish up chrome with vinegar & water, micro cloth.
clean around kitchen after tea, sweep around the edges with oxo long handled brush & pan (god send) Mop once a week.
windows when I feel like it- job done

I’ve recently got a cleaner and can’t believe the difference it has made to the cleanliness of my house and I’m less stressed about having to get everything done at the weekend.

Tell me more about the mopping Eufy?! @Bluesuitredtie ?

I have the vacuum-only one. I had assumed mopping functionality was likely a bit gimmicky, but sounds not from your post? I had two Eufy's at one point, one upstairs and one downstairs but one died and I've been looking to replace at some point... most of the downstairs is hard floors so mopping could be handy. How much can she mop?

@Kat256M the Shark I have is the "Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner [IZ252UKT] 2 Batteries, Up to 80 mins run-time*, Flexology, Pet Model"

I got it from Amazon and the two batteries, with a double-charger* is amazing. It also has a light on the main head, which I thought was daft at first, but it really does help to see little bits on the floor that might otherwise get missed.

*My Bosch had two batteries but you could only charge one at a time.

I have very long hair and I am always baffled by the fact there are NEVER any hairs wrapped around the roller brush. How do they do it?! My Robot hoover needs regular de-hairing but never the Shark.

I also have a eufy which is fantastic (if only he could climb stairs then he'd be perfect!). Crack open the window after showering to avoid mould. Try to keep all surfaces as uncluttered as possible. Pop stuff in a cupboard rather than on the side of the counter etc.

My house would look so much cleaner if I didn't have 2 long-haired indoor cats + a hairy husband though - within an hour of hoovering there's usually some tracked litter and tufts of fur about the place, but they're worth it (she tells herself whilst rocking to and fro).

Does anyone, however, have advice for handling hairy husbands in bathrooms? His chest/leg hair gets everywhere and it sends me to despair...

I think a hairy husband hoover would do the trick. Can someone please invent one? In the meantime, perhaps a lint roller for hairy husbands?

Sharks are great - for a while. I have had 3 replacements under warranty - they have all eventually lost suction with no explanation. Now have a Miele. Superb.

Pay the cleaner

I do a half arsed job of it 😂

Seriously! It’s much easier to e.g. spend 5 minutes halfheartedly mopping the floor every week, which gets it 80% clean but takes next to no time, than to leave it to build up to a once a month job but have to take an hour to do it because it’s filthy.

The first way takes 20 minutes a month and it’s “clean enough” all the time. The second way takes 60 minutes a month and it’s dirty most of the time.

Often “good enough” really is good enough.

Cleaner. 1-2 hours a week

I'm thinking of hiring a cleaner but totally overthinking!
I know family and DH will judge so I'll keep it quiet (so stupid, shouldnt pander but anything for a quiet life and it's my disposable money 😁)
Never had a regular one before. Are you in when they are,? I can imagine feeling like a spare part if so lol

For the bathroom we keep it as dry as possible to avoid mould by keeping windows open, using the ventilator. We dry the surfaces with a squidgee and cloth after showers. And we use Viakal which stinks but works great on timescale.

We have a cordless Dyson which is good for quick clean ups as it's cordless but it's battery life is rubbish. So I wouldn't recommend a Dyson but I'm sure other cordless vacuum cleaners are better on battery.

I use Dettol wet wipes to clean surfaces and a feather duster.

I feel like the above keeps the place generally clean but would love a better method to keep things more clean and tidy..

Would love a cleaner but just can't find one that does things properly 😭

Not to hijack the thread, but how long have you had the Miele? I hate my Dyson and am looking for a new one x

See I don't understand how that works. Great for a couple of days after they've been but surely you can't go a fortnight without sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor, hoovering the carpets, wiping the worktops, basins, cleaning the shower.

And everyone on MN knows you need to bleach the toilet 3 times a day 😉