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?

I think when you are ‘a cleaner’ it’s easier to stay on task. Doing the whole house in 3 hours, say, without stopping to reorganise a cupboard, nip out for some milk or start the dinner, is unlikely to happen in your own home.

I agree. Sadly, DH and I both bloody hate cleaning so it's a complete chore. I feel so much more relaxed when the house is spotless but actually getting it that way is like pulling teeth. It's only us in the house as well, which should make it easier 😩

We both have raging ADHD though (me diagnosed and medicated, him not but undeniable) so housework is basically wandering from room to room, getting distracted and leaving fifteen half-finished tasks in my wake.

I also get frustrated because I find that "proper" cleaning takes me far longer than it should. There is a lot of useful content on Tiktok though, like professional cleaners sharing tips. One that surprised me is how versatile washing up liquid is!

I agree it is a skill!

Like most skills, it can mostly be learnt - I don’t think it’s like an inherent power you either have or don’t have. But again like most skills many will remain better at it than others.

Yes, I think this is a fair assessment!

I grew up in a messy house,df wouldn't allow DM to touch anything (I was born in 1950) friends weren't allowed round. I'm super tidy..I clean as I go , the bathroom is done when I get out of the shower,takes a couple of minutes. Back in the bedroom, make the bed which has aired..my ex h had his own cleaning company. He cleaned a specialist electrical substation,had to wear full hazmat, because of risk of sparks and electrocution. We tried employing people,all awful.. In the end it was the kids and myself. I was nursing,ft often had cleaning jobs as well. Worked as a Home Help at some point..I do have 2 dogs,used to be 3, also had cats, chicken, rabbits, mice rats and 4 dks. I had my first GC a year after my 4th was born,looked after him, the gd born next on my nights off, and then my friends 4 kids after school..it wouldn't have worked if I had let it mount up. The first manufacturer of the electric vacuum cleaner was Spangler, not Hoover. I have a shark pet vacuum cleaner now, corded. Got through several Dysons, over priced,and LG cylinder which I kept upstairs in my last house... cottage with very narrow, steep stairs, given to my DS when we moved into a bungalow and it lasted 15 years.

I enjoy cleaning and am pretty good at it.

You need a routine, I do upstairs one day and down the next.
Windows in and out monthly.
Then alternate weeks I remove all sofa cushions hoover and replace and dust and polish all light fittings.

Having a cloth to buff sanitary wear after cleaning makes a huge difference as do the right products, only ever use white vinegar on glass and don’t use silicone polishes like pledge, they eventually leave a residue that builds up.

Regarding smell, I think when you have been using a product you tend not to smell it.

I use a Tallow and Ash fabric conditioner watered down in a spray bottle to spray sofas, curtains etc.

I listen to podcasts or audio books when cleaning.

Finally opening doors and windows to air the house is vital.

I think you learn as you go and can get faster and learn which tools work better but as someone that has recently self taught decorating and DIY as well as can clean well, I don't think either is an unlearnable skill.

The main difference is with cleaning if I miss a bit then I'll shrug and get it next time, whereas DIY I take it slow to get it perfect because otherwise its a faff to fix (no, I won't live with it!)

Professionals have the benefit that they are literally being paid to carry out a task from start to finish. Doing anything yourself at home means it's easy to get distracted or put stuff off until the next time you go to the shop to buy the product or piece you need.

The most empowering thing I learnt about teaching myself DIY is that I'm such a perfectionist that I often get a better result than the men I know are good at it. I'd always assumed it was hard. But actually you can fuck it up quite badly and still get a good result! So have a go!

The trick woth cleaning is to always do a job before it looks like it needs doing. You can do the oven in little more time than it takes to boil the kettle if it's not let dirty. This morning I wallpapered a small wall in less time than it took to listen to the Eras Tour!

I find it therapeutic. It's my son who makes a mess, myself I clean here and there continuously so that it doesn't build up. Saying that, if I'm having a bad few days or sick my house gets wrecked and it's daunting to then clear up so much mess all at once, so I break it down.

For example if I go in the kitchen to make a coffee, as I'm waiting for the kettle to boil I'll throw in a load of laundry and wipe down the counters. Then next time I go in I'll clean the sink. Sometimes when I go to the toilet I'll then just clean the whole toilet.

Just breaking it down throughout the day like that. I was very messy in my twenties, always had a messy house. So I do think it is a sort of skill you have to learn and get better at over time. And it takes effort to start being like that

It's a skill in the respect you can learn certain techniques and methods for cleaning and cleaning quickly. For example not leaving smears on glass.

It also requires an eye for detail.

You can speed up cleaning if you have a good eye for what "looks dirty" and cleaning just that, rather than stuff that doesn't. That doesn't make a room clean, but it does make it look clean.

My living room is clean. Not because I care about it looking clean, but because I hate dust. If you hate dust you clean stuff a lot of cleaners don't clean, because out of site ledges is where a lot of the dust is. A book left on the sofa, I don't really care about.

Agreed and I always think those who derive satisfaction from it do a better job. I hate doing it so always rush through as quickly as I can and I definitely don’t piss about cleaning skirting boards and such. My Gran and Mum are obsessed with cleaning so their houses are constantly immaculate with nothing out of place.

I learned a few skills as a volunteer at a animal rescue.

There's an order to things - top to bottom, dry to wet. Plus techniques like a rubber glove for pet hair and newspaper to buff dry.

But a good domestic cleaner also knows how to manage the jobs well - remembering to do the biweekly, monthly etc jobs.

Eating with a knife and fork is a skill also
anything we learn to do could be called a skill

like cleaning - it’s one that most people can learn to do without difficulty

I use
method rhubarb on the hard floors
Reed diffusers in the bathroom
a linen spray that’s called clean washing - on the bedding and throws
scent sachets in the wardrobe
windows open every morning and evening

everyone comments how nice my house smells

What is method rhubarb?

I've had the same experience! I spent so long cleaning my old house and it never looked really clean. I spend a lot less on the one I'm in now and it always looks clean.

Intereating, we are moving soon. Hopefully this will be the case for me 😂

This, you just squirt it straight on the floor to mop

https://amzn.eu/d/00RFqP23

It's really just doing everything as you go. Put stuff straight away, leave sink clean every time you use it, wipe worktops all the time. Dust regularly (light fittings etc). I keep a cloth and spray in the shower room so I can give it a quick wipe every day or so. If you do little jobs all the time, it doesn't get too bad (and I do work full time and have 2 cats and the house is always fairly clean). Me and husband do a bigger clean every weekend - takes about an hour.

I try but am not good at cleaning and can never seem to get on top of everything. In the last couple of months I have made a bigger effort to de clutter so it is looking cleaner in general. I also go the extra mile now eg yesterday cleaning the sitting room I wiped down every window sill, pulled out the timber basket to clean underneath. They are things I would have cleaned around before.

I agree with pp, it can be learnt. I never had anyone to teach me general cleaning and housework norms and I think this is why I have fallen behind in things. I only recently learned about using detergent and fabric softener. I used to only use fabric softener 😌

@TheNinkyNonkyIsATardis that's a great tip, using a rubber glove on pet hair. My desk chair is thick with cat hair- it's one of their favourite spots. I will give that a try. Thanks for sharing

My sister and my brother in law (no connection!!) can have a place looking like it’s had a team of professionals in after an hour or so, actually bil said he’d clean up for us the other day while I walked the dog and I got back and was in shock at our kitchen! I take hours and still only get to that ‘it’s a bit of a mess’ stage. Cleaning and cooking definitely come naturally to some people

itsthetea
Eating with a knife and fork is a skill also
anything we learn to do could be called a skill
like cleaning - it’s one that most people can learn to do without difficulty
but there’s not really gradients to how well most people eat with a knife and fork whereas if you even look on cleaning threads, some people have a flare to make a place look like it’s from the cover of a magazine, others have the same time and leave smears/ marks etc (me!!)

I fell down a Traveller Tiktok cleaning rabbit hole and realized that cleaning must be something engrained within you from an early age. I don't think it's a skill as such, but I wouldn't dream of taking my shower doors off weekly or the rubber seals on fridge/freezers fortnightly to clean them. These women (and girls) did these things very swiftly and effortlessly as they've been doing it for years. It's very nice to watch but I could never be bothered to do half of it.

I’m with you on team “must be a skill”. There is a bit in Lorna Sage’s autobiography where she talks about her parents moving into a new modern house in the 60ies and she says her mum was awful at cleaning, she only managed to move the dust around, it seemed never to be clean. That’s me: I move dust and other things and you can see where I’ve been but it doesn’t look the way it does when the cleaner has been.

Is that skill or effort? There isn't really a skill in dusting!