To think it's impossible to work full time and keep a clean/tidy house without a cleaner?

[FishfingerFlinger]

I feel like I'm constantly desperately trying to keep our house from falling into complete squalor, panicking about unexpected guests when the place looks like a bombsite and it's all generally getting me down.

If you're generally keeping on top of having a presentable, clean house while having a full-time job, DC, but without paying a cleaner...HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Like, really break it down for me - what are you doing, when are you doing it, how much time does it take? Where am I going wrong?

(and before anyone says its a DH problem - he more than pulls his weight, has a demanding full time job and is also managing a renovation project on the side so he's swamped).

Well, having viewed numerous houses with my son when he was recently buying, some do,yes. Honestly, if you won't make an effort when your house is up for sale,when will you? It made me wonder what else was left undone?

Me too

Yes get a cleaner with having crohns on top of -
working full time on nhs!

We both work almost full time and we struggled to keep the house clean and tidy until we got a cleaner (and our kids were mid-teens). Now, between us, we do the kitchen after dinner every night (washing up, dishwasher, surfaces), we do a proper tidy up the night before the cleaners come, empty the bins, strip the beds, change the towels and household linen the morning they come and leave the rest to the cleaners. If you can afford it, it's a no brainer in my book.

Some people can manage to do it all themselves and work, wrangle kids and pets and have a social life, I am pleased for them, we can't/don't want to enough! We aren't all the same and that's fine.

I never have clutter as I just do the dishes!

😂

No need to call it "ridiculous". A family of 12 - wow!

I don't want to do dishes. 😂

I'd spend the entire day doing dishes: morning breakfast, morning mugs, lunch, snacks, diner. It's endless. Plonk in dishwasher and forget about it, and all the extras: toothbrush holders, other things I forgot.

I do draw a line and would never bake a cake in the dishwasher
or clean anything loo-related in it. Some people are weird 😂

Who said anything about a family of 12. That's how much it takes to fill a dishwasher. So could equally be 3 meals for 4 people. Or if you eat lunch out of the house, 1.5 days worth of washing up. It's still a lot quicker than doing it by hand.

I mean, we have a cleaner - she comes for 3 hours approx every fortnight. I could theoretically therefore do what she does at the weekend, ie do a complete top to bottom blitz on either Saturday or Sunday, bathrooms cleaned, kitchen cleaned, hoover everywhere mop floors and dust.

then it’s just a case of keeping on top of everything else as you go, I.e. we keep it tidy, wipe surfaces down after cooking, odd quick hoover if notice something, regular laundry done a few times a week on any WFH days.

My 10yo timed himself loading and unloading and packing away- it took him 6 minutes! I can’t understand why you
would spend more than that standing at the sink washing dishes and pots and think you’re saving time?

Mine too - I genuinely didn't realise it was so unusual. I also grew up in a house where my dad did pretty much exactly 50% of everything (school runs, dinners, bath and bed as well as housework) and when he retired he took on everything while my mum worked.

DH also grew up in a similar home - even though his mum stayed home, his dad did all the cooking and lifts to activities. FIL is now widowed and still cooks, cleans and does all his own DIY and housework even though he's 82.