To think you should never cohabit with a man unless he’s paying the majority of the bills?

[ThisSereneSnail]

Split finances = split energy.

Messy kitchens can be caused by cooking that requires lots of pots and pans (talking to you Gousto and Hello Fresh).

If you don’t think they're caused when you're at home then when are they caused?

Ey?

If we're all out of the house...how is my kitchen getting messy?

Today was an office day for me. Which means at 7am DH left, having only eaten his breakfast. At 730am DD and I left, having only eaten our breakfasts. So when I got home from the office at 5, there was three bowls and three cups that needed washing up, and they were in the sink so the kitchen looked pretty tidy.

If I'd got home and the kitchen was messy, I'd be wondering who had broken in.

Tomorrow I'll WFH so it won't be too messy but there's going to be a few more pots. And Friday I'm off and DD is off and we have visitors coming so there'll be loads going on in there. It'll definitely be messier with people in the house.

@MerlinsBeard1 I know I'm late to the party, we may be straying a tad from the original question and this is none of my concern at all but....... do you never consider getting a cleaner ? Sounds like quite a labour of love keeping your place clean. Although I reckon you could probably give us scruffy Herbert's a few good tips on efficient cleaning methods.

Can I ask how you keep the lawn mowed ? Do you have one of those robot doo-dahs ? And how often do you clean your showers please? In fact what products do you use against limescale ? Merci 🙏

'neither of us would want to waste so much time cleaning it.' I don't see it as a waste of time, being in a nice environment is good for everyone.

I'd definitely need a cleaner if I were working.

Making a sandwich for yourself during the day and immediately putting it in the dishwasher isn't making a mess. Many people come home to the remains of breakfast etc because they don't have time to wash it up in the morning, so my point is, with me being here the house stays cleaner and tidier. The same with dinner, I have already prepared it and cleaned up as I have gone along so there is no pile of shit waiting to be cleared after we have eaten, aside from the plates and cutlery of course.

'If we're all out of the house...how is my kitchen getting messy?' It's not getting messy, it's just staying messy.

You answered your own question. 'So when I got home from the office at 5, there was three bowls and three cups that needed washing up.'

Three bowls in the sink isn't "messy".

After dinner the kitchen is wiped down and everything tidied away. So three bowls in the sink is because people live there, it's not messy.

It is exactly as tidy when I return home from work as it was when I left for the office. It only gets messy once we start cooking and eating, which only happens when we're in the house.

I don’t want to put my sandwich in the dishwasher! That’s taking cleaning a little too far! 😁

Yes we have spoken about it, but I really don't like the idea of staff. I couldn't relax with someone in my house, cleaning my personal things, it feels invasive and I don't think I'd like the dynamic of 'come and clean my stuff while I swan off to brunch.'

Half the battle is having good products and gadgets.

We have a quick ride on mower. The showers get cleaned once a week with bleach and the limescale remover is called Viakal. I leave it on for and hour and wash off. The glass cleaner I use is Koboclear by Vorwerk. It's a paste on buff off product that leaves no smears, it makes window/mirror cleaning easy.

I have extendable brushes on poles to get cobwebs off the ceiling beams. I use a cordless Dyson hoover and floor cleaner.

Ha, very true 😂

Which is possible without cleaning for hours and hours, especially if you don’t live in a giant house.

I don't see how people can possibly keep a clean home if they aren't cleaning it for hours and hours regardless of size unless they have low standards.

Properly cleaning a regular sized bathroom takes an hour alone. My first house at 23, when I was working FT was a 2 bed with one bathroom, it still took hours a week to clean.

Bit extreme. No one wishes they’d cleaned more when they’re lying on their deathbed.

When we lived in the uk we had a large house - 5 bedrooms, multiple bathrooms etc. I had no wish, working or not, to spend my time cleaning. Hence outsourcing it.

i can’t see how it could take an hour to clean one bathroom

I don't see how people can possibly keep a clean home if they aren't cleaning it for hours and hours regardless of size unless they have low standards

Or maybe they are just more efficient?

Maybe they just clean more energetically or efficiently than you?

What on earth are you doing, scrubbing the skirting boards and grouting with a toothbrush? I have a small one bed flat and it takes less than an hour to clean the entire flat.

I have a small 2 bed with a small bathroom.

Bathroom takes 30 mins to clean, because we do things like wipe down the bath/shower door when we're getting out of them. Every few days we'll give the toilet a wipe round and throw some bleach down it.

The kitchen, we wipe round after washing up the dinner pots. So the "big" clean takes 30 mins as well, because there's not much "muck" getting anywhere.

Because it's a small bungalow, we can vacuum the whole thing from one plug in the hall and if it's done regularly a quick vac takes 5 minutes. A big vac takes maybe 20 for the whole house and DH tends to do that weekly.

It doesn't take hours and hours when you are efficient and clean as you're going. It sounds like you either aren't very efficient or won't let anything be less than immaculate at all times. Which is quite a sad way to live.

My standards aren’t low but they aren’t show home either. It definitely doesn’t take hours and hours, I have better things to do with my time and need to be efficient.

Of course they don't. Nobody wishes they'd worked more whilst lying on their deathbed either.

I don't exactly get off on cleaning either but I do enjoy sitting down in a clean home.

'i can’t see how it could take an hour to clean one bathroom.' Quite easily if done thoroughly. Bleach down all the plugholes, bleach around the shower sealant, descaler on the shower screens then washed off with a window cleaner, cleaning the toilet inside and out, cleaning the bin and changing the bag, cleaning the sink including pedestal, polishing taps, dusting the radiator, washing towels and putting fresh ones in, cleaning the bath inside and out, descale the shower head, clean the windows, hoovering then floor wiping the floor, polishing mirrors.

Potentially, if they are on a cocktail of speed and cocaine.

So you clean as you go along like most people do when it comes to after dinner mess etc. Basically the things that can't be left. Therefore, you are spending hours cleaning when you add it up, you're just doing breaking it up and doing a bit each day in the same way that I do, just on a larger scale.

Many people still have to invest hours at the weekend because they don't get the time to do the laundry for example whilst they are at work during the week.

'It sounds like you either aren't very efficient or won't let anything be less than immaculate at all times. Which is quite a sad way to live.' As previously explained I have a large house and gardens so it does take time to keep on top of it all. I wouldn't say doing PT cleaning in my own home, having every weekend and evening free and time to do what I want during the week a 'sad way to live.'

When I was working FT and had to catch up with the domestic chores in my 'free' time it was rather depressing though.

I am show home level. Everyone has better things to do with their time, cleaning isn't exactly a blast. I don't think working the equivalent to a PT job to keep my home lovely is a bum deal all things considered.

I just don't see the need for show home level, homes can still be lovely and clean without show home level. I'm good with that.