To ask how some people make cleaning look so easy

[Fragmentedbrain]

Started cleaning my kitchen at about 9ak this morning. It's chaos and grime. I wipe a surface over and over and over and the crumbs and grease just won't go. I've got every spray and every sponge and cloth. It's SO HARD. Tell me your secrets, adept adults.

You need to sweep the crumbs away with a dry cloth first or they just get stuck. How often do you clean? A quick wipe down daily doesn't take long and stops the grime building up. If you leave it a while it is difficult to shift it.

As above. I do a quick wipe-over of every surface, every day, and then do a blitz on everything once a week. Job done.

I should think all the sprays are just totally shit and useless. Lots of products are just total crap.

If you have grease, use a kitchen degreaser and a scrub daddy or something like that.

I work the worktops everyday and usually multiple times if food is spilt, usually with some washing up liquid and damp sponge rather than spray - I can’t imagine just leaving a dirty worktop.
However, I don’t wipe the top of kitchen cupboards, as I see absolutely no reason to do so ever (dust or grease up there makes no difference to me) whereas others often do!

Also, if you put a product on a surface, you need to leave it a few mins generally to allow it to get to work. You can't just spray and scrub usually, or the results will be poorer.

For a deep clean, rather than a swish over at the end of each day, I use a steamer.

The heat removes grease and grime without chemicals.

I wipe down after every small thing I do in the kitchen.

That sounds obsessive, but the damp sponge is always right there in the sink, so I make a cup of tea, and whilst I'm waiting for the kettle to boil, I give the sides a wipe over. It takes 10 seconds.

I never let anything accumulate. Recycling goes out when there are 3 or 4 items to get rid of, and I use the stick cordless hoover (which is mounted on the wall of the kitchen) to hoover crumbs at night.

Cif, water and sponge daddy. Scrub, then wipe away with damp towel.

Yeah if you just wipe up crumbs after every meal all it needs is a squirt of dettol once in a while. we have a cleaner who does it all with dettol and sponges once a week, the cooker, the surfaces etc. Clean the tops of cupboards about once every fifteen years or when moving house!

I have a dinky little pan and brush specifically designed for worktop debris.

I'm going to hold my hands up and say I've tried most of the eco friendly cleaners and apart from white vinegar and bicarb have found most not much good.

So for me having a good product, not quantity, so not one of each brand/flavour, for whichever job I'm doing is key, and wipe as I go daily...good clean down weekly.

Also spay the product on and go find something else to do for 5 minutes, leave it to do the work then come back and wipe it off.

Clean the things that clean for you too, vacuum cleaner empty often, wash filters once a week.

Washing machine I do once a month.
Dishwasher, my dishes go in rinsed so once every 3 months.

Finish with a capful of nice fragranced disinfectant down your plug hole.

Air fryer after ever use...

Oven... well, yeah, let's not go there.

If it's that greasy, neat Flash liquid and a scrubbing brush. Scrub it on, leave the resulting gooey mess for a few minutes, wipe off with a cloth wrung out in very hot water. Repeat until all the stickiness is gone. Works on any washable surface.

I like cif for cleaning the kitchen. I’m wiping down constantly tbh then do a bigger deeper clean once a week. Usually only takes about an hour but I think that’s because we’ve kept on top of it during the week.

Op hugs, my sister, bil, sil and mil clean a room for an hour and it looks like a cleaner has been in. I can clean for hours and not get close to their standards (and that includes when they’ve helped clean in my house eg because something is on)

If it is properly greasy you are leaving it too long between cleans! I clean my worktops daily and wipe crumbs inbetween, things like cupboard doors, tiles etc get done a couple of times per week minimum.

I think if you’ve left it a long time since the last clean, just accept that it’s not going to look spotless this time! Try to make an achievable, regular habit of it, and every time you clean you’ll lift a bit more dust and dirt.

I use washing up liquid for nearly everything. It's cheap and works well. Just fill the sink with a bit of hot water and washing up liquid, use and replace as needed, and it saves having a cupboard full of sprays. If I'm not doing a kitchen or bathroom (e.g. wiping down doors or something) then I take it with me in a big tupperware. I do use glass cleaner and a glass cloth for all mirrors, windows and glass splashbacks though.

Cream cleaner.

Baby wipes are my go to for cleaning everywhere. I do a bit of cleaning every day to keep on top of it.

You need to wipe benches after every meal.

If it’s got really greasy, wipe off the crumbs and then rub neat washing up liquid into it and then wash it off.

It comes naturally to some people. I'm not one of them people.
My friend and Dsis are excellent focused cleaners, even underwear folded neatly, it has downfalls, they find it hard to relax and sometimes judge others for leaving the toaster out.
My house is clean, tidy, it'll never be spotless, we live in it. If my Dsis gives my house an hour clean on occasion, it's sparkling.
She's very focused in life.

I am like you OP. Not lazy but utterly useless when it comes to cleaning and organising. I look at friends neatly folded laundry with amazement. Faith had it that I became a sahm. I'm great with children, I'm creative and active and I feed them nutricious meals. I'm also good at organising homework sessions and explain things they haven't fully grasped. But I'm so utterly useless and feel so bloody stupid and ashamed of myself for my lack of organisation skills when it comes to house work.

I don't understand the love for baby wipes. Awful for the environment and, the few times I've used them, I find they just smear dirt around and don't pick it up.

The cleanest houses I've been have been where all the people living there care about keeping things neat and tidy, they seem to be wired to need to put things away, wipe surfaces down every single time. I like things to be neat and tidy and try to make myself deal with tasks as they crop up, but occasionally I just can't be bothered.

I would say my house is 'visitor ready' 9 days out of 10, but I never manage to consistently care enough to get it to look like a show home, so it always has that lived in feel. My DH isn't the tidiest of people and we have 2 dogs, so I think I would drive myself nuts if I spent any more time cleaning than I do already!

Elbow grease products are very good especially to degrease. I've learnt not to let it get too dirty so I keep on top of it regularly