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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

When you say your house is a tip, how tippy is it REALLY?

58 replies

starrychime · 07/01/2011 19:39

Hoping to feel better by replies here Smile. Have read lots of threads from folk who say "House is a tip, help" etc then go on to say "Right, will put stuff in dishwasher, spare room, downstairs bathroom etc out of the way" I don't have any of those things Envy and my house really is a tip. Interested to hear what others' definition is so that I can possibly feel a wee bit better. For example what is your kitchen like just now, can you walk across the living room without tripping over anything?

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 07/01/2011 19:41

Um, I'd better not say Blush I'm too embarrassed!

Put it this way. I can cross a room without tripping over, because I'm very good at tiptoeing through mess, like a cat, and I have always been this way. You know people say their husbands look around a room and don't see the dusty skirting boards? I look around a room and don't see all the crap everywhere.

slartybartfast · 07/01/2011 19:41

i am not telling.

FoundWanting · 07/01/2011 19:43

We've got seagulls circling in DS's room.

That's a tip, isn't it?

thisisyesterday · 07/01/2011 19:45

ok, i will be honest.

my kitchen, right now, is awful.

this is partly because of
a) the old fishtank that still needs cleaning out taking up worktop space

b) all the leads from said tank, plus 3 phone chargers all tangled in a heap next to it

c) i made dinner and dp is supposed to be clearing it away, but he hasn't yet

d) i went shopping earlier but don't have room for all the food so some is still out

e) i am a lazy slattern who doesn't have enough storage and as such there are myriad drawings/school letters/clay models/pens/toys etc littering the place

anyway... at this moment in time I cannot see any worktop. the sink is full. the edge of worktop near the backdoor is overflowing with things that need to go out to the shed.
there is a big bag of wet washing by the machine, there is a bag of presents/cards/wrapping paper on the floor, there is a big pack of sawdust in front of the fridge.
there are loads of shoes by the doorway that ds3 threw over the gate earlier.
on top of my hob there is a habitat bag containing a mug that needs to be returned. it has been there for about 3 months now

Blush
BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree · 07/01/2011 19:46

ok - well I'll be honest - it's awful - and the surface mess wouldn't go amiss in "How Clean is Your house" (though underneath it is clean (or cleanish - certainly not filthy).

Cheggerspartypopper · 07/01/2011 19:47

I normally mean the children have pulled things out of cupboards or deposited random things around the house. It normally means it's the weekend so dh has dumped bags and coats downstairs, surfaces covered in kitchen with meals not cleared up.

I have found that as long as my beds are made and the dining table is clear of crap then I feel ok if there is a bit of mess. I have a tidy up at the end of the day though to get things as back in their proper place as possible. I mostly clear the surfaces in the kitchen unless its the weekend when things can slide a bit.

Even when the house is 'tidy' I have piles of random crap about the house. It's just they are in piles so they look a bit neater. I try to have lots of storage so things like childrens toys are chucked into baskets at the end of the day to keep them together. As much as possible anyway.

BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree · 07/01/2011 19:49

lol thisisyesterday - I have lots of random piles of "stuff" that needs to be returned to it's owner/rightful place in another building (ie church).

I still have some of the "Voice for Life" things I brought home to look through not long after I started playing there......that was 8yrs ago (and I've moved house 4 times since then and still not returned it). A video belonging to my vicar that she gave me 3 years ago.

And various other little piles of stuff belonging to other people. Blush

Original poster
starrychime · 07/01/2011 19:50

Thisisyesterday, thanks for that - feeling a bit better, I too have an old fishtank which has been lying needing cleaned since the fish expired about a year ago - it's empty but still has all the old gravel etc in!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 07/01/2011 19:50

Actually what Baroqin said - surface mess looks awful but underneath it's not a health hazard.

Some of DS' abandoned food is though. Possibly. And the cooker really really badly needs cleaning, I'm ashamed to admit it's now got to a stage where soap and hot water isn't cutting it and I have no idea what to try next Blush I justify this by saying, well, the food doesn't actually touch the cooker, right?

That's the most embarrassing thing though because at least I can clean the rest of it away if I really tried.

thisisyesterday · 07/01/2011 19:53

yes, mine is clean underneath. i just have way too much "stuff"
or perhaps it is a storage issue... lots of my "stuff" just doesn't have a home to go to.

a trip to Ikea will remedy that I'm sure

I even have a cleaner because I am so shit at doing it all, and she came yesterday and by today it looks terrible again

actually, the sitting room is fine, it's the kitchen that is my real problem area

Original poster
starrychime · 07/01/2011 19:53

And I have just started clearing papers off the ironing board in the kitchen and came across DD's nativity programme from 2 years ago and £12 in Tesco tokens - still valid Grin and bank statements etc from Jan 2010! I think this means I have not ironed since January 2010Shock

OP posts:
Original poster
starrychime · 07/01/2011 19:55

I would love a cleaner but I would need to totally clean and declutter before I let her in and then I wouldn't need a cleaner!!!

OP posts:
moondog · 07/01/2011 19:55

Why I wonder, Starry, does hearing that other people's houses are tips make you feel better? Wouldn't it make you feel better to sort it out and have done with it?

I don't mean to be rude, it's a genuine question

thisisyesterday · 07/01/2011 19:55

Bertie. my old cooker was terrible. we inherited it with the house and i never cleaned it

wanna know what i did? i bought a new one Blush

how awful is that? one of the rings went and to be honest we probably could have got it fixed, but i decided to get a new one instead.
i can't believe i've just admitted to that lol

i WAS considering getting one of those oven cleaning firms out to do it for me though before it broke

BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree · 07/01/2011 19:55

a typical tidy up in the living room when things have slipped badly would be

a couple of nappies (wet - or barely wet so not really manky ones - honest!) from DS3 that he wears over night, dirty clothes, toys, bits of random (non food) rubbish, dirty plates, mugs, spoons, toys, games, shoes, jackets all of the floor.

Bad kitchen worktops no space would be seen and would contain dirty plates/knifes/spoons etc, wrappers/packets of food that I've opened (and not put the packaging in the bin), paperwork, food that should be put back in the cupboards, keys etc etc

Yes - it can get bloody awful here sometimes.

Although - it's been clean and tidy since the start of the week and so far it's been kept looking ok Smile

thisisyesterday · 07/01/2011 19:56

moondog... i think it makes you feel better because then you know you aren't the only one!!

you are right of course, the really good feeling does come from getting it all sorted out.

i am going to put the fishtank on my list of weekend jobs I think

CointreauVersial · 07/01/2011 19:57

You need this thread.

moondog · 07/01/2011 19:58

It just sounds so bloody depressing to live surrounded by all this shit and detritus.

NewYearNewPants · 07/01/2011 19:59

Mine is moderately OK today, as have shoved things under any available surface had a good tidy up. It is usually fairly clean, but quite messy. Play room is often strewn with toys. We don't have a front room. We moved in 3 years ago and it is STILL full of junk! Kitchen is clean but quite cluttered. Our bedroom is a nightmare. Always full of mounds of clean washing waiting for the tidy fairy to put away.

Bain of my life. Nothing works. Fly lady hasn't succeeded. I am not a slattern, I am just VERY busy. Working full-time, studying part-time, doing voluntary work, trying to spend some time with my kids and caring for an elderly, sick parent. DH is self employed and works like a dog. We just don't have time to be tidy Sad

Original poster
starrychime · 07/01/2011 19:59

Moondog, good question! I WILL get it sorted, probably. I just need to hear that I'm not a total horrific slob. Same reason I like watching Jeremy Kyle and How Clean is Your House I guess - just to make me feel a wee bit better about things Smile

OP posts:
moondog · 07/01/2011 20:00

You need a system, ladies and then it is easy as you just need occasional top ups to one big blitz every few months.

NewYearNewPants · 07/01/2011 20:00

It is depressing moondog. Every now and then I do a big clear up and clean out and feel like a new person. But within a month the washing has built up, the clutter is back, the kids don't tidy their bedrooms for one day and they're like bombsites, I have one late night at work or one frantic day and it all goes to shit.

BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree · 07/01/2011 20:01

nah = forgotten abandoned toddler food generally goes hard and crusty (we found half a satsuma lurking under the shoe rack when we tidied the other day - it still looked like half an uneaten satusuma but was as hard as a rock Grin Bread does the same (especially toast) it goes hard as a rock.

I think I've only ever found a handful of mouldly abandoned food items since I've had children actually (and believe me when my depression was really bad my house was as described above and dirty Sad). It's odd - as if I leave a plate of something and forget about it, or a mug gets left upstairs it goes mouldy - so why doesn't my children's half eaten food

scrappydappydoo · 07/01/2011 20:03

Can I ask - if you're surfaces are covered in stuff how can they be clean underneath? I've never got this - I have piles of random stuff all over the place and well they're on piles of dust with dust gathering on them Blush - so how do you keep a cluttered house clean?

From where I'm sitting there is one armchair completely covered under ironing to be done - toys scattered over the floor - rug is a bit 'crunchy' Blush and the whole place needs a good vacuum and sweep but its difficult as dds are frightened of the hoover and the floor needs clearing first.. that's just the living room I don't want to think further - BUT I have been ill so its all gone to pot a bit

scrappydappydoo · 07/01/2011 20:04

your I can spell honest Blush

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