Explain to me like I’m 5.. cleaning

[TalkingtoRosesIsMad]

Im coming out of a really bad depressive state. I have help let me just say that. However my Mum died when I was 11 and my dad died when I was 12. I went into a children’s home and didn’t learn any life skills.

I got good grades, I got a good degree at Lancaster and im now doing solicitor training. My point is I’m not stupid I just don’t know how to clean and keep things tidy. I’m 22 and live alone and honestly it feels like I get some energy and blast the house then get overwhelmed with everything/ I’m now knackered so I let it creep up on me again.

I do make sure the washing up is done, but any of you who have beautiful clean, sparkly houses all the time, please help create a daily, weekly, monthly schedule and checklist so I can get into a good routine and keep it properly.

I don’t mind paying for a system and sticking it on the fridge but it’s things like ;

how do you mop properly so the water runs clear?
how often do you mop?
how often do I hoover the rug downstairs and the stairs
how often do you clean the washing machine?
clean the skirting boards?
clean the loo
deep clean the bathroom
change the bedding
clean the fridge out
clean and stop the areas that get a lot of clutter ?

should I go through the important paperwork and file it? Even it takes hours?

I think I need to get into a routine of ‘it’s Wednesday I need to do xyz’

I tried the fly lady thing and I didn’t get it, I have heard of the organised mum method but Im not sure it would work?

i need someone to explain how to do these basic tasks and. Then how to keep on top of it so im
not ashamed to have people over.

I have Dana K White's book ' How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind ' on paperback on audiobook. It's so encouraging and works for me.

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/How-to-Manage-Your-Home-Without-Losing-Your-Mind-Audiobook/B01M5FUUJQ?gclsrc=aw.ds&&source_code=PS1PP30DTRIAL45608012400I4&ipRedirectOverride=true&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21572936055&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlerQBhDMARIsAB16H-VCuJvgeb8CpGMpaUzdxieM6AKZsdJgcGwXWA7jXOj4Psmc_OUmabIaAmhQEALw_wcB

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOW-MANAGE-YOUR-HOME-SC/dp/0718079957/ref=ascdf0718079957?mcid=d990c402542e3564a0f1f6324a73c056&th=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697241939011&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3875754986292695309&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044978&hvtargid=pla-448533568227&psc=1&hvocijid=3875754986292695309-0718079957-&hvexpln=0&gadsource=1

How bad is your house/ flat right now?
Do you have lots of stuff everywhere?
Do you have pets/ kids?

Great post OP. I have a 3 bedroom house and I like it clean, this is what I do-

Daily- bleach in both toilets, wipe down kitchen tops (and dry them with a tea towel), load of washing (dry it quickly and put it away same day if you can), dishwasher, quick hoover downstairs (but I do have small children who drop food all over the floor).

Weekly- full house hoover, steam mop hard floors (I put a little bit of zoflora on the mop pad), change bedding, deep clean bathroom, if you have a glass shower door using viakal is good to get the water marks off, also make sure you clean both sides of the toilet seat, I hand clean the floor with a microfibre cloth to get the corners. I also clean the inside windows downstairs once a week or fortnightly but again, small kids and sticky hands.

I have a drawer for paperwork when it comes and probably file it every few months.

Re paperwork: I scan it using my phone using the free app Genius Scan, save it into an iCloud folder so I can access it on my laptop and then file it in the relevant folder in my documents electronically. I’m aiming to free space by achieving a paperless office.

https://www.takeyourhouseback.com/courses/take-your-house-back

Maybe worth a look?

My DM always tells me my house is clean, but it’s definitely not sparkly!

Bathrooms, I properly clean the toilet, sink, bath, spray the tiles with flash bleach and do the floors twice a week, Wednesday and either sat/sun. Because I keep on top of it like this, it’s a 10 min job each time.

I hoover downstairs a couple of times a week, stairs and bedrooms once a week. Skirting boards, as I go so weekly.

paperwork, I either shred instantly if it’s not needed, or file it.

I have a proper mop and bucket that I do once a week, but I also have one of those spray mops, just for any in between cleans that is used every couple of days.

I change the bedding weekly, I love getting into bed with fresh sheets.

I leave my washing machine door and drawer open, to avoid mustiness and mould, I throw the powder into the drum so the drawer is clean, I might wipe the door seal around once a month or so, or when I remember. Rarely run a cleaner through it tbh but I put a cleaner through the dishwasher every couple of weeks.

When the fridge is running down on supplies I will wipe it down before my home shopping delivery, so once a week.

Put stuff away once you’ve finished with it, so there isn’t lots of clutter building up. This will be easier to do living alone. Just don’t put it down thinking ‘I’ll put that somewhere later’ find the place it belongs as you have it in your hand.

I find that unnecessary stuff stops me cleaning, so try and keep the house tidy every day, and have a good Chuck out occasionally.

Im a lot less house proud than the lady above, I have a dog and a child.

Daily I do the pots, clean the kitchen sides, do a load of washing and try to get it put away, check the toilet is clean and pick a random area to tidy- often toys, but it might be a pile that appears regularly on the table, the shoes and coats that appear in the hallway, the stuff on the stairs to move up/ down, or wiping down the cupboards when the sun appears to show me up.

Weekly, I will hoover all of the downstairs (and do a top up when the dog hairs build up, so can be 2/3 times a week), change hand and kitchen towels every couple of days, wipe out sinks every few days.

About every 10 days- 2 weeks, I will mop the floors, clean the bathroom more thoroughly, change the bedding.

Other stuff- clearing out, filing paperwork, cleaning windows, wiping down door handles and woodwork is when I notice it. Realistically, I provably do each of these a couple of times a year.

My house is nowhere near the cleanest, happy to say that, but I'm generally happy to have a friend come round.

I live on my own. I don’t clean the loo daily. I do it about every 2 or 3 days depending on how it looks. I wipe out the wash hand basin every 1 to 2 days, but that takes seconds. I usually do that when I go to the loo. I clean the bath (I shower) about every 4 days.

I wipe the kitchen sink out every time I wash up. Most days, I’ll have a quick wipe over some of the kitchen cupboards or fridge as I’m finishing the washing up. I always wipe the surfaces too.

I Hoover about twice a week.

I dust the skirting boards once a week with the Hoover.

I like the organised mum method. There is an app, also a book about “the method”. Basically there are some jobs you do every day, and then each day you focus on a different room of the house.

theorganisedmethod.com/get-started/

For me (two teenagers, 2 adults, 2 dogs and a cat in a three bed house) I do the following:
Before work (like coming home to a clean house):
• Hoover all floors, upstairs and downstairs. Takes approximately 20 mins
• Wash up/load dishwasher with breakfast things, wipe all kitchen surfaces (include bin lid in this!)
• Spray and wipe down sink and toilet, clean out the toothbrush holder!

Weekend:
•Change bedding (always on a Sunday, no idea why, just the household law!)
•Properly scrub bath, shower and shower screen (it is always wiped after every shower).
•Mop hard floors
•Run through work day routine as above.

That is my way of keeping it clean, if you live alone you probably won't need to do anywhere near as much! Hope this helps 💐

Buy a robot hoover on Amazon. You don't need to spend more than about £90.
it makes such a difference. I have a Lefant brand.

Oh I forgot, bleach loo daily after it has been sprayed and wiped! Laundry is done daily.

I split the jobs up so bathroom is one, dust and hoover upstairs another, dust and hoover downstairs another, then kitchen/utility/loo another.
Towels get done one day, bedding another, and tea towel gets changed daily.
Little and often is how I prefer to do it.

Split things into daily, weekly, every 3 months and every 6 months.

Daily:
shower and put clean clothes on
make your bed
wash the dishes
wipe down kitchen counters
Put dirty clothes in the washing basket
a glug of breach around the toilet rim
Before you go to bed, take all the cups, cutlery, wrappers from around the house and sort them.
Quick hoover in the kitchen/lounge.

All these take me seconds. I do have a dishwasher though

Weekly
Saturday mornings are house admin.
Do a wash or two. Wash everything you used that week, including the towels and the kitchen cloth wipes.
Put everything back in its place. If you haven’t got a place for them, you don’t really have the space: get rid of it.
Deep clean the bathroom.
Dust, starting with the top. As in: the highest shelf, then move on to the next, windowsills, tables, skirting boards etc. Use a microfiber cloth and I use zoflora. That’s for all surfaces you can put something on.
Hoover first the sofa, take the cushions off too. Then the floors. I start with my bedroom, then the rest.
To mop the floors, use hot water and whatever you have for floor cleaning. Go from the furthest point in the room towards the door. If the water is really bad, tip it and do it again.

1st of the month (or the first Saturday of the month) I do a machines cleaning: washing machine, dishwasher. I also wash the bins and my front door, kitchen cabinets, door handles and light switches

Every 3 months I move furniture to hoover underneath, wash the windows, wash the car (I hardly use it).
Every 6 months I clean all the drawers and wardrobe and all the furniture (sides and back).

Hope that helps.

@TalkingtoRosesIsMad Can I just say as a Mum of a 22yr old, that you should be bloody proud of what you've achieved so far and that maybe you don't need to put quite as much pressure on yourself to have a perfect house, but that good enough will do.

I've always had trouble with keeping the house tidy, especially when I was a young adult and I'm only just now getting a grip now my kids have left home, but I have a chronic illness and have learnt to be kinder to myself. I also discovered Clutter bug on you tube and that helped me to realise that my ADHD brain was never going to be able to follow normal cleaning and storage systems.

You’ll get some people tell you they do XYZ every day and other people saying they do that same thing once a year. Different people have different standards and preferences (and also a few OCD habits thrown in)

Dont let other people’s cleaning practices make you feel bad or like you’re not doing enough.

I think the key is to do things as you go along during your day to keep on top of things. If you make food in the kitchen make sure you wash up and wipe down the hob and sides.

If you’ve done washing and it’s dry put it away instead of leaving it in a pile on the side for a week.

Have the attitude of “put it away don’t just put it down.” When you get in from work your shoes/bag/coat etc aren’t just dumped somewhere they’re hung up, put in the cupboard etc. When post comes through the door deal with it there and then don’t just place it on the side.

Hoover a different room every day when you have a spare 5 minutes or if it works better for you do the whole house once a week instead.

Try a few things and see what works for you. I like to break my cleaning up and tackle room by room so when I get the chance I’ll do the hoovering/mopping in the living room, dust the sides and chuck the sofa throws that the dog lies on in the wash.

Maybe the next day if I have time/energy I’ll do a bathroom and that involves cleaning surfaces with a bathroom spray and a cloth, bleaching the toilet bowl and hoovering/mopping the floors.

a clear and clutter free house is alot better for your mental health that a sparklingly clean house and you’ll find the tidier you are the easier it is to lightly clean and keep things at a good level.

How do you mop properly so the water runs clear?
how often do you mop?

I got a Robovacuum that also mops- I do the mop function couple of times a week; vacuum daily. I have no pets though. We leave shoes at the door. If there is a spill etc mop as needed.

how often do I hoover the rug downstairs and the stairs

i assume downstairs means main floor? If so daily with robovac ( say I go to the gym, put robovac on when I’m back it’s clean)

how often do you clean the washing machine?

as needed. I do fair bit of laundry so every 2-3 months.

clean the skirting boards? - weekly

clean the loo- weekly

deep clean the bathroom- weekly

change the bedding- once a week

clean the fridge out- once a week; the night before garbage collection I go through fridge and throw off/ expired stuff

clean and stop the areas that get a lot of clutter ?- such as? I make sure everything has a place. If something looks cluttered u clear it right away

should I go through the important paperwork and file it? Even it takes hours?- yes. Then add to it as you go.

i suppose if you have lots of stuff, spend the time to see what you don’t need and declutter. Then declutter every 6 months. I find that helps with keeping on top of things.

I target clutter because otherwise cleaning is more tricky. So declutter every so often and divide what you don't need into bin/charity shop and sell (if you want to of course). Then I do a room at a time on a different day each week.

I have no cleaning tips for you. I came here to say you must be an amazing individual in order to come through so much adversity with the loss of your parents at such an early age and growing up in care and then making it through uni to become a solicitor. I’m sure your parents would be really proud of you.

We have a cleaner twice a week who does upstairs one day and downstairs another. However on top of that the robot vac/mop does the hard floors downstairs every other day, I do the worktops and sink in the kitchen a few times a day. The toilets get a squirt of cleaner and a quick whizz with the brush every other day.

dishwashers get a clean cycle with a dishwasher cleaner every two weeks. Washing machine gets a cleaner cycle about once a month. Microwave is cleaned about every fortnight and the fridge gets a good clear out and wipe down about once a month. Oven is self cleaning so gets a wipe down occasionally internally but not often - every couple of months.

carpets are cleaned (washed) 2-3 times a year. Soft furnishing like throws and cushion covers a couple of times a year (unless they’re actually dirty).

bedding is changed once a week.

Anything else is just as I notice it.

Wow OP, you are doing so well. I really hope you manage to organise your house in a way that makes you feel good. I am just going to share two tiny random things that helped me.

I use cheap washing up brushes for a lot of things (obvs not the same as the one I use for the washing up!) I find they are really good for random things like getting mud off the bottom of boots, cleaning things you can’t quite reach like scrubbing the far side of the bath and putting a bit of distance from a yucky job like scrubbing mould from something or pet sick up.

And the other thing is if you need to move a spider, use a wine glass and slip a card underneath, as then your hand is further away from the spider which keeps both you and the spider calmer.

I’ve just realised both of these tips involve keeping my hands at a distance from the thing I’m actually doing which probably says a lot about me!!

Good luck!

1. daily jobs: cleaning down kitchen worktops, put things away
2. bi weekly jobs (choose 2 days a week and stick to them, I do Monday & Friday mornings): hoover all floors, hoover all sofas, load of washing (I tend to only do it twice a week even if it means I have multiple loads so I don’t have jobs on some days)
3. weekly jobs (this all happens on a Friday alongside the biweekly jobs for my big clean): clean bathroom, deep clean kitchen (bleach sink), mop all floors
4. every 2 weeks to a month jobs: wash rugs
5. every month or so jobs: clean skirting boards, dust, clean washing machine (just get a liquid you can whack in on a quick cycle from home bargains)

I find I am more productive when I ring fence my time ie Tuesday & Friday mornings (like half an hour) are for cleaning and that is when I get it done. I have a routine ie start with hoovering all rooms (they are already tidy but if you have too much stuff have a declutter), then go round all rooms with the mop, for the bathroom I have all my cleaning products in a separate bucket so I have less to think about and they’re in the bathroom cupboard.

Other tips:

• make sure everything has a home, less clutter = you don’t have to tidy before you clean. Have a declutter if necessary
• buy a second hand robot hoover (Cex is where I got mine) you can even get them with a mop function
• I use a spray mop as well but I have dogs, would recommend they’re like £10 and good for general cleans (ie not stubborn stains)
• have a plan of attack for cleaning. I always start in my kitchen, then work my way round. If I am in a room and I see something in that room for another room, I’ll leave it by the door as I won’t leave that room until it is clean - this saves time
• my friends who complain about cleaning have no routine and just clean when their houses are filthy so obviously it takes ages. If you have no clutter and a routine so you know what you’re doing next it won’t take all that long - promise

It’s the first part of your post that’s important. You’re building an excellent life after coping with so much. Your clean house is a symbol of that, but it won’t be long until you can have a cleaner if you want. I’m much more impressed by your strength. Don’t forget to stick some uplifting songs or podcasts on while you clean. You’re winning at life as well as cleaning. X

This!