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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To worry what friends might have thought about my cleanliness

26 replies

BalloonSlayer · 03/01/2010 21:10

Lucky enough to be getting a new kitchen.

I have been clearing out the cupboards of the old one, moving the fridge etc.

Ohhh the filth! Enough to make even a student retch.

And in its new position, light shines into the fridge at a different angle, accentuating all manner of unsightly greasy splashes and splodges - ugh! - that I never knew existed.

And don't get me started on under the fridge. < heave >

I can't talk about this to my friends. What if they think: "Well Doh! She's only just noticed her kitchen is a biological hazard? Why does she think I say: 'I've just had one thanks' every time she's offered me a cup of tea for the last three years?' "

Counsel me please, any unsanitary Mumsnetters who may be out there...

OP posts:
ninah · 03/01/2010 21:13

No one looks under your fridge, do they?
I know what you mean about changing the angle though.

slummybutyummy · 03/01/2010 21:13

Would love to offer advice but simply cannot imagine what you're going through and need to keep dusting

ShinyAndNew · 03/01/2010 21:14

I've just moved my sofa for the first time since xmas eve (yes really, that long). Boak.

There were half eaten sweets, dirty knickers (dd's not mine) and god knows what else under there. I dread to think what is under the fridge freezer/oven. That's only moved about twice a year.

OtterInaSkoda · 03/01/2010 21:16

You move your oven twice a year, Shiny?

threetimemummy · 03/01/2010 21:17

"Those who matter dont mind and those who mind dont matter"

ninah · 03/01/2010 21:18

Xmas Eve?!it's not even twelth night yet

Caz10 · 03/01/2010 21:21

I can't remember the last time I moved my sofa...do people do this regularly??

Balloonslayer you have my sympathy, I can imagine the same thing happening to me tbh

shandyleer · 03/01/2010 21:23

Last time I looked behind my fridge (which I only did cos I heard a strange noise coming from there), amongst a whole load of crap there was also a .........baby squirrel
. AND I had two friends round at the time.

So, I think you have no need to worry.

JustAnotherManicMummy · 03/01/2010 21:24

I've not moved my sofa for quite some time. Particularly as DS pushed a letter under it and it got in something sticky before I could prise it back out...

Have no idea what the sticky stuff is and too disgusted to look

ShinyAndNew · 03/01/2010 21:26

Ahem I only do it because you can see whats under it.

It has high leg thingies. Plus my sisters dc show me up by sticking their tiny hands under there and pulling out bits of half eaten toast etc and then attempt to eat them

Original poster
BalloonSlayer · 03/01/2010 21:28

Haha Shanyleer, I found what I thought was a dead rat in one of the cupboards. Turned out to be one of those crappy little dogs that McDonalds used to give out with Happy Meals. I don't know why I thought it was a rat. OK, yes I do

OP posts:
Caz10 · 03/01/2010 21:29

shandyleer where do you live??!!

ninah · 03/01/2010 21:29

this thread is making me feel a lot better!

Original poster
BalloonSlayer · 03/01/2010 21:36

Actually I need to add that DS1 spilled a large quantityof juice on the worktop last week.

I was within earshot but did not leap to action as DH was there supervising < hollow laugh >

As part of the clean-up operation, DH moved the Bread Bin. I heard him exclaim "Oh my God!"

When I interrogated asked him about it afterwards he said "Well it was awful underneath but as we are getting a new kitchen soon I kust put it back."

I asked him whether we would get a new kitchen every time the area underneath the breadbin got too revolting but he was unable to give me this information at this moment in time. `

OP posts:
shandyleer · 03/01/2010 21:36

Not out in the countryside Caz, I can only think one of the cats must have brought it in. But it wasn't hurt or frightened in any way, it seemed quite reluctant to come out from behind the fridge (probably had plenty to eat back there), and it hung about the garden for ages, despite there being many noisy children there.

Original poster
BalloonSlayer · 03/01/2010 21:36

"just" put it back

OP posts:
cheesesarnie · 03/01/2010 21:37

welcome to my world.

EdgarAleNPie · 03/01/2010 21:42

my sofa hadn't been moved since last xmas...

my fridge could probably use a clean. hasn't been done since it was repaired...in um...um...yeah. then.

i think its best not to go looking for dirt. you only find it.

Caz10 · 03/01/2010 21:46

Aah this is all so reassuring! Was the baby squirrel cute?!

FuriousGeorge · 03/01/2010 22:59

Balloonslayer it can't be worse than mine.It hasn't been moved since 1964 when the house was built.Hopefully I'm getting a new one this year,but I am absenting myself from the house when it is eventually ripped out.I can see thick black grime and cobwebs down the gaps so it's going to be baaaad!

I've lost count of the spoons and knives that have vanished down the back of the cabinets,so am looking forward to getting them back-and bleaching them to within an inch of their lives.

I was reaching under our sofa for a missing piece of a game and found a halloween sweetie.

CardyMow · 04/01/2010 02:14

Errr...I DON'T move furniture....I'd be too scared of what I'll find! . No, seriously I do do it very occasionally, but only if a DC has lost a ds game something vitally important, and usually clear it then. I had to clean under the washing machine when it was replaced 3 months ago. It'd been there for 5 yrs...well, I can't move it on my own, it's too heavy!! ! I'm sitting on my sofa trying to remember when I last cleaned under the cushions...

MrsVik · 04/01/2010 06:47

We recently moved, and a ton of friends helped us. I made extra sure that the underneath of certain bits of furniture were clean before the move so I wouldn't be too ashamed - but when someone moved a bookcase (which was nailed to the wall and isn't open at the bottom so I thought I was safe) he discovered a pile of crusty old..... cat sick. How? HOW????

Everyone came to have a look to try to identify the strange stain before I had a chance to get there with my cloth. I did consider faking labour to distract them, but it was too late

I'd love to find a squirrel though!

CaptUnderpants · 04/01/2010 07:05

I love this thread.
Sadly, it is practically impossible not to be really disapproving and judgemental of other people's filth even when your own house is secretly minging. I have a friend who has four dogs and four kids, her place is truly revolting. I was round there recently and found that one of the kids had filled a wellie boot with milk about a month ago and no-one had noticed. And yeah, I told everyone. I'm only human.

FatGirlThin · 04/01/2010 07:15

LOL! My ds said 'mummy when dd moved her covers off the bed there was a brown patch on her sheet '(no it WASN't poo, we're not that bad)
dd said 'oh it's just the cat's muddy footprints' and carried on with what she was doing. Clearly I am indoctrinating them to just not worry about grub (we're not filthy more grubby round the edges)

Galena · 04/01/2010 08:19

Oh I'm SOOOO reassured! We never move furniture unless we're having work done on the house! And when we had a new kitchen a couple of months ago, we simply replaced all the appliances (to the agony of the bank account) and freecycled the old ones. We DID remove the fossilized mouse from the back of the freezer though .

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