To think cleaning is a skill?

[Ca2026]

I obviously clean my house and it’s not dirty or anything like that, but honestly it never looks or feels like when we’ve had an actual cleaner in.

Thinks like the skirtings, always still seem to have tiny bits on them, or the sink it marked again a few mins after cleaning it.

So AIBU to think that cleaning is a skill just like DIY, decorating etc? You can be good at it without being a professional but still takes skill?

Yes, I am terrible at cleaning. Things always seem to look more dirty when I’ve finished 😭

I definitely think it is. It's the whole thing together, tidying, cleaning. I don't have it. I clean. I tidy. But rarely does it all look put together.

I'm so glad that this topic came up. We've just moved into a shiny new office in the city centre. Our lovely cleaner comes in of an evening (often I'm the only one still.around) and, in a Ninja-like manner, does the whole office, which is definitely more floor area than my house. After maybe 75 minutes, he cheerfully waves goodbye and wishes me a good evening. The office sparkles. The floor is hoovered, the bins are emptied, the kitchen area is absolutely dry and ..... it smells heavenly 😍 I mean, how?

Whenever I 'clean' at home, I have to motivate myself for ages first. The house isn't huge: just your standard Edwardian terrace. I pick a room, I faff, I make a cuppa, I see if there's anything interesting on the TV. Eventually I get going. Two hours later, the room (yes, just the one room 😳).is certainly cleaner but nothing like the professional job at the office. If you've seen the Harry Enfield sketch where Kevin attemps to clean the car, then that's me 😬

It's an absolute art 😍

It's like anything - you can probably do it to an ok standard if you just get a damp cloth and wipe around (etc) but if you want to do a thorough job it's something you need to work on and learn. Most people are fine with "ok standard" so don't really bother beyond that.

A bit like the way anyone can put paint on a wall, but they can't necessarily do a great job.

It depends on the house too. My old house looked dirty even when clean.

my new house looks clean even when dirty!

I’m not sure if it’s skill or having a good interest in it. I have neither unfortunately.
My friend loves cleaning and getting into the nooks and cranny’s etc so she’s really good at it. Says it helps with her mood too. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s products and technique as well. A friend had been a hotel housekeeper, and she was great. After each thing was cleaned she used a dry towel to polish it. My current cleaners aren’t cleaning the shower well enough. They don’t do the tiled surface, and it’s getting a pinkish tinge on the grout lines. I need to go and give it a scrub. One day.

I’m not sure it’s a skill, because it’s not difficult. I used to be a cleaner and I think it’s more about the effort put in than the skill of the person.

I find it very difficult 😳

If you have dogs or cats then that pet smell never truly goes away same for the hairs and paw prints, your dogs may be immaculate but your home won’t be

Kids make a huge difference evens grown ones

Make Sure you’re using a powerful plugged in hoover, cordless ones are not as good

Use correct products for correct jobs- one cloth isn’t for all and will smear grease and grime around

Clutter has a big impact both visually and spatially, cleaning around clutter isn’t cleaning

Frequency of deep cleans make a difference, if you’re only a tidier and light duster every now and then the results will never be as striking as a thorough clean

Sometimes things just need replacing, tatty furniture, damaged flooring, dusty plastic ‘plants’ will never give a sparkly feel

Open the windows and let fresh air in, try to create a through draughty so floating dust particles gets blown out

It’s easier to clean somewhere you don’t live. I have read about friends who cleaned one another’s homes weekly for this reason.

I think it is one of those things, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Or rather, the faster you can do it.

The cleaner in the office mentioned above, does it all day every day and so has mastered the art of doing it well and fast.

Also, a cleaner will make more emphasis on the final touch. So after the dishes are washed, they will also clean the sink for an example.

I used to be a hotel housekeeper back in the day.

We used to use a pillowcase to buff everything up for the final touch. Sinks, baths, windows, mirrors. Every single day.

Definitely a skill, because a good cleaner sees things and cleans them that less good cleaners don’t even notice. They know how to make a room look put together and sparkle. Arguably it’s not ‘highly skilled’ because in theory it shouldn’t take years to learn how to clean all the different surfaces etc. But cleaning consistently, thoroughly and in a reasonable timeframe is definitely a skill.

It's definitely a skill. To me cleaning is very boring, so I do all the essential jobs, but things like dusting every corner, cleaning paintwork etc tend to get missed. I've learnt shortcuts for doing things, like rinsing out sinks and showers after they're used and it helps the general feel of cleanliness. However, if you live with other people who don't have the inclination to consistently do these things, you're always going to be fighting a losing battle!

But it does make a huge difference having the knowledge and experience to know which tools and products work best and to have an 'eye' for it. I would say its easy enough to tell when a place has been cleaned by someone skilled in it and someone who isn't even if they physically worked just as hard doing it.

It's smell for me.
I can clean a room reasonably well but my cleaners also leave this incredible smell I just can't replicate.

YANBU, we can't afford a cleaner and do it ourselves. Our house is tolerably clean but not professionally clean, if that makes sense. DH is definitely better at it than I am, too.

Yes I think it’s a definite skill coupled with technique and products. I’m also a much better cleaner now compared to when I was young…but I don’t have the energy or motivation that I had when I was young. Actually not the vision or ease of movement!

Yes! I worked in housekeeping for a while as a teen, and I learned two amazing things:
Turn the duvet case inside out to easily put it onto the duvet when alone
Go round bathroom porcelain with a tea towel after you've cleaned to give it that hotel shine!

There is definitely a skill level to be learned. We accept that people learn to cook, learn to drive, learn to swim or learn to run; just about any activity really! Cleaning seems to be about the only activity that people seem to think is just absorbed without any training, and that makes it easier to dismiss its value and the people who do it in society (whether professionally or domestically)

There is knowing what products and tools to use. These might need tweaking to circumstances e.g. hard water area.
There's knowing how to do it logically and efficiently.

It's not something that comes easily to me, but has improved with age and infuencer cleaners like The Organised Mum. It wasn't something I ever enjoyed and previously it would build up into big blitz jobs of deep cleaning and decluttering that would take hours per room and just lead to burn out where it took ages to psych up to do it again. Sometimes deeper sessions are necessary, but learning to do frequent light maintainence cleans and tidies means that they don't build up like they once did, and they're never as bad as they were.

Things like getting storage to match your needs/ space also makes a massive difference.

Like training to run my first 5km, it's something that I've had to learn to do in a sustainable, managable way.

It’s skill - but also a dedicated length of time and hard work in it. I know I’ll do jobs but rarely dedicate 3 hours to hit the whole house in one go. Also I don’t do whole rooms at once, I’ll have time of tidying or hoovering, or cleaning the kitchen floor etc, but not “20 minutes just on the kitchen then 10 minutes just on the living room” etc in a methodical way for 3 solid hours. (I will take time off cleaning to do stuff like put the washing on etc that a cleaner won’t do).

Yes it is! I pay a cleaner and they do a much better and quicker job on my house. A good professional cleaner knows what products to use on each surface, how to get specific stains out, how to make it look sparkling when they're done.

I've had one or two cleaners that were doing it as an occasional thing while studying or whatever and they were not as good. It was no better than doing it myself so I let them go.

yes its a skill. Compared to how I clean now to what I did a decade ago, things are much easier to keep on top of and look a lot cleaner! My mum never let me help clean as a kid though I had to learn myself!
Its the same with gardening though.

But given you used to be a cleaner, you probably have ‘the skill’. There is no way anyone would pay me for my services as a cleaner (without lots of training anyway).