Keeping on top of deep cleaning the house

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I'd say we're generally pretty clean & tidy

Our house is always (just about) visitor ready. We never let dirty dishes accumulate. We wipe the counters before & after every food prep.

We have a cat so we keep on top of hoovering due to her hairs.

It seems orderly. However i had yesterdsy off work & decided to deep clean our bedroom. Omg! Once i started looking at the skirting boards & the edges where the wall meets the ceiling, in the corners, behind stuff erc - seriously, the dust & cobweb levels were shocking

Today I'm tackled the bathroom. Again sink, toilet & bath cleaned v regularly but when I pulled out the storage unit for products! Again dusty, hairy, just generally filthy

I work full time, so does dh. We both do equal amounts of cleaning but somehow we're obviously not keeping on top of it all.

I don't want to spend all weekend every weekend deep cleaning! I need down time too

how do you all manage it?

Ultimately I want to enjoy my home tje way i love being in a hotel. I want to get it to that level & then keep it like that. I feel I'm missing some vital method or system..

We don't have a cleaner.

Again, thanks for all the responses. It's really interesting to read all the replies & the varied approaches to this.

Our house is almost 200 years old. We have lots of free standing furniture & shelving. While dusting things like coffee tables & sideboards & cabinets is part of a weekly (mostly!) routine, taking all the books off the wall of shelves & cleaning the shelves & dusting the books most definitely is not. We did this about 6 months ago & it was shockingly dirty & super satisfying! It actually made me wonder how huge bookshops like waterstones etc keep theor books & shelves dust free. I'm definitely going to buy a microfiber duster for stuff like that. I have no interest in getting rid of the books!

I'm working on de-cluttering. We're not into a super minimalist look & we have collected beautiful things over the years which we love.

But less loved stuff also builds up. And storage is an ongoing battle. I've filled 2 black bin liners from our room & the bathroom in the past 3 days!

We have a pantry & it had gotten WAY out of hand so about 6 weeks ago I just had enough & i woke up one morning & decided it was getting done. It took an entire weekend & I had the throw away and enormous amount of very out of date food- bottles & jars etc.

We repainted the inside & i got some lovely new storage woiden boxes & washed & refilled the kilner jars & it is a JOY to use now. And we've ruthlessly maintained it ever since

It's inspired me to want the same for the rest of the house now

Agree. I certainly don't.

And I think this is the issue when people say things like "Why do you need to deep clean?? I never deep clean!" because they probably do stuff like throw away empty bottles immediately and do take products down and wipe a surface weekly or so and see that as regular cleaning.

IMO (partially reformed messy person) normal cleaning feels like deep cleaning if you wait for dirt to get really ingrained. Whereas if you can get into a routine (which I do not pretend, at all, that I am in BTW!!) of cleaning stuff before it gets noticeably dirty then you never get to that stage so it doesn't feel like "deep cleaning".

If you like podcasts, I am a big fan of Dana K White A Slob Comes Clean, she explains a lot of these things and helped me see how people have different starting assumptions about cleaning/tidying/belongings. We can use the same words but have a totally different meaning behind them and talk past each other.

My cleaner keeps on top of it all. I don't have the energy for this and I want a social life. I keep it clean between weekly visits I.e washing up, not having a floordrobe
My job is so ghastly if I didn't have my weekends free I'd go insane.
I happily sacrifice other things to pay for it.

No, I don't want a pat on the back, people ask how do you keep on top of the deep cleaning. I genuinely assumed that was something specific, not the usual day to day stuff. Which if you do it day to day,it doesn't mount up.

I understand what you're saying but have to admit that while we keep on top of what i consider day to day cleaning, decanting contents of cupboards or pulling out bedside lockers & beds to hoover behind, or moving heavy furniture, washing curtains or sofa cushions (all all of which we've done recently) is far more than the 'day to day' that we can manage after work or on precious weekends.

I'm enjoying a v unexpected bonus this afternoon - I emptied a drawer in the kitchen where loose coins get dumped & noone's bothered with them for years. I counted them & I've scored an unexpected £150!!!

Plus a ton of foreign coins which im not exactly sure what to do with....

This windfall def makes tackling these jobs feel worth it 🙌

I don't manage - cleaner once a month is how the house gets more than a light clean!

OP your post inspired me last night to tackle the sideboard as I was watching Netflix. Its Dust free inside now and well organised so thank you!

I have a cleaner. I work full time and am a solo parent. I can’t do everything.

I do it myself 😩 it’s all a bit much and ny house is quite large .
Some rooms like the spare room I will just rush in with the hoover and only give it a proper clean if someone is coming to stay .
Also my husband’s study , he’s supposed to keep it clean but he doesn’t , so I go in there once every few weeks and have to spend too much time moving everything to clean it properly.
i try to keep the downstairs really neat , tidy and clean and manage the rest when I am able

The delayed start function is on most washing machines and is a God send. I set it in the evening to finish when I get up so I have time to put it in the dryer or peg it out. I do the same again some days so it finishes when I get in from work.
I like TOMM but it takes some getting used to I just do same stuff everyday then on a Thurs or Friday evening do the bathrooms bedrooms hall stairs etc so it's good for the weekend. I leave the bedding and towels for the fri sat wash cos they're easy to fold and put away.

OP this is so normal. I’m similar to you but there’ll always be parts of the house which are a bit dusty etc. I think it’s fine, don’t sweat the small stuff

Our home is tidy and clean…on the surface. Had to move the settee when having new flooring fitted. OMG! The fluff! But who keeps pulling out beds and sofas to clean under them? I don’t. Only really at Christmas when moving the furniture to make room for the tree etc. Otherwise, bollocks to it

I have never understood this "deep cleaning" stuff. A house just needs to be clean enough, because there are so many more important things in life..... friends, family, work, art, sport, literature, hobbies, travel, fun..... take your pick!
I think you need to be cleaning less, OP, and enjoying your life more.

I just HAD to move my bedside lockers last week for the spark to put in USB sockets. Couldn't tell you the last time I did that! Immediate need for dusting and wiping. Did the minimum, socket installed and spark left a bit of dust from the drilling. So I vacuumed behind the lockers.

That's done for another long while whew!

Otherwise it's spotless kitchen and bathrooms. That's my one rule, the rest of the house is hit and miss, but is clean and tidy but no deep cleans here unless someone else does it for me! I have far more interesting things to do in my retirement than cleaning. 😊

I know it's each to their own, but this is possibly one of the most depressing posts I have ever read on this site.

AI will take over cleaning tasks soon enough. I am looking forward to THAT robot in my house.

If you could afford it maybe look at getting a cleaner once a months to clean paintwork/doors/windows and other bits that aren’t daily.

Gosh I didn't mean to depress you! I really enjoy the process of cleaning and providing a lovely clean and comfortable home for my family!

YABU

We obviously have different standards. Although I still manage to have a job, see friends and family, hobbies, travel, mother 3 children, care for our pets, read books all whilst maintaining a clean home.

I keep on top of it by not doing it.

I am so pleased to read this. I am basically the op, things are basically clean and I wouldn't be ashamed to have a visitor round but there's a bit of dust and the paintwork can be slightly grubby (pets and a toddler) But in Mumsnet world you'd think that Porton Down would be round to seal the place before industrial fumigation.

Glad to hear there are other people who don't spend their entire weekends with the marigolds on!

Shamelessly following this thread for tips! I am exhausted trying to keep on top of it! I did the cutlery draw today.. next weekend oven and fridge.. we have a dog do this house is uber clean.., dog beds get washed weekly, toys and towels too. Food bowls picked up after each meal and cleaned. It’s not everyday stuff - I am on top of that it’s other bits.. example I should tidy up the towel cupboard instead of being on Mumsnet but am simultaneously feeding the baby!! My excuse!

🙄

Do you do candlelight suppers as well Hyacinth?