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've got a dirty house so it seems hard.

Like pp have said I do it daily.

Once the kids have been taken to school a quick spray with side cleaner, and a wipe down with kitchen roll and it’s done. Same over the kitchen cabinet doors as white and show all sorts of streak marks. and stuck a load of washing in.
Then it’s a quick wipe down the dining table and living room sides with the same process, run the Hoover round the living room. Put the sofa back together then sweep and mop the hallway with method floor cleaner( you just squirt on straight on the floor and go over it with a flat mop thing)
go upstairs, reset the kids room, toilet cleaner in the toilet and spray the tiles in the bathroom
takes me 20/30 mins max a day

I do wipe the kitchen sides multiple times a day though. I swear everytime some goes in the kitchen they manage to leave crumbs and sauce residue on the sides.

then once a week I’ll give the downstairs skirtings a quick Hoover when I’ve got it out, and give the mirrors and inside windows a quick wipe over. And Hoover the stairs. Maybe another 30 minutes.

rubbish/recycling goes out when bins are full

I was never a good cleaner, my old house was never like this. Ex left me with 7 years of crap and never helped clean dispute not working. but since moving into a new place and having a fresh start, doing a little bit every morning seems to make life so much easier to stay on top of as it doesn’t get time to build up.

I honestly just can’t relate, I’ve never viewed basic cleaning as hard. How dirty is it that you’re just spreading grease and crumbs around?

Presumably, if the crumbs aren't coming off, they must be sticking to the grease. Why is there so much grease?

Are you twirling round the gaff with a chip pan or something OP? Why is there so much grease everywhere? If you’re wiping down a greasy cooktop and then using the same sponge to clean other stuff afterwards, you’ll be smearing the residue elsewhere, even after rinsing.

Do you clean your cleaning stuff? If you don’t swap out or wash your rags and sponges and mop heads, you’re always just moving dirt around.

Dry bits like crumbs need to be swept up first, then clean the least dirty surfaces like worktops (drying with a tea towel as you go), then drawer & door fronts, and last any really greasy surfaces (hob etc), then chuck the scouring sponge and tea towel straight in the wash. I’ve got loads and just keep swapping them out as soon as one gets dirty or greasy. I only use fairy liquid and hot water for pretty much everything - sprays are mostly useless and leave a residue.

But the real key is keeping on top of stuff as you go, just getting in the habit of wiping up floor spills, cleaning down surfaces when you’ve finished cooking, washing pet bowls. Takes literally a few minutes to do, and then when you want to do a more thorough clean, weekly or whatever, it’s really quick and easy.

As in so much of life, little and often is a good rule of thumb. Or, "clean as you go" as my old Home Economics teacher would repeat (over and over) 🙄

My own favourite tools are microfibre cloths, fluffy dusters, fairy liquid and rubber gloves.

marrynsomeone who finds it easy! Thats what I did…

Before wiping anything, dustpan and brush all surfaces, small appliances and walls, cupboard handles etc onto floor, then use a dry cloth to sweep micro crumbs off too. Sweep with broom o to corner and dustpan up. Then hoover rest up

Hot soapy scrub and rinse surfaces with a proper scour sponge and again wipe off

Then use your sprays etc to sanitise and polish and fragrance
Go from top to bottom and stay calm

I suddenly realised that if I put a sheet of old wallpaper on top of the kitchen cupboards, I could just replace it when it got greasy, rather than have to scrub grease off the cupboard tops once a year when I remembered.

Thats some joined-up-thinking I'll be doing that now too

Purdy&figg spray and a microfibre cloth, or washing up liquid and a scrub mummy (the one with a sponge on one side and scourer on the other) and I rarely use anything else. And I am a cleaning queen/slightly obsessive 😂

Dustpan and brush to clear up crumbs and wipe surface every time I use it. Takes seconds.

I'm glad someone said it.

Starting to feel like a freak for spraying and wiping after every meal!

Sides daily after each use , breakfast , lunch , dinner and whatnot.
Sink sprayed and scrubbed after washing up I can't stand water marks.
Cupboard fronts sprayed and wiped weekly . They seem to always get marked. It's a 5 min job.
Inside the cupboards maybe 3 monthly? As I list what we have to use and meal plan before a bulk costco shop

Sweep off crumbs into bin. Damp ecloth and some flash spray. Buff up the granite with a dry e cloth.

Sink I use a non scratch scrubbie and cream cleaner (stainless steel sink) and the same type of scrubbie on the cooker.

Glass cleaner and kitchen roll to polish off the induction hob.

I’m one of those annoying people who always has a clean house. I’m a stay at home mum to a toddler and we have a dog. My house stays clean because:

1. I don’t have clutter. Every year I go through every single possession we own and ensure I only keep things we like or need.

2. Every thing I own has a place where it belongs- and most of those places are in cupboards, shelves or drawers.

3. I clean daily. It’s just routine now. It’s never that difficult for me and doesn’t take that long because it’s never really dirty when I start.

There’s some things I clean daily - toys always picked up before nap and before bed, surfaces wiped down, quick wipe down in bathroom, baby’s high chair after meals etc.

Then some things get a weekly deep clean - like the bathrooms and wiping cabinet fronts etc. The rooms we use less often are cleaned just weekly and it only takes a minute to do them. The sheets are changed weekly.

4. Good quality robot mop and vacuum used daily, sometimes we put it on twice a day.

5. I’m in the habit of putting things away right after I use them - and am trying to instill this in my daughter (she is capable of putting her own toys away at 20 months old with a lot of encouragement).

6. I do laundry daily, as well as dishes. We wouldn’t just leave dirty clothes on the floor or dishes in the sink - dishes straight into dishwasher and clothes into the basket is the habit.