...to ask how often you clean your house?!

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

When both my husband and I were working we used to just clean the house when it needed doing. We didn't have a rota or a schedule (bleurgh!!) or anything like that. However, now I am a SAHM I'm wondering how often other people do things? Do you always change your beds on a certain day for example? What things need doing once a week, once a day and ad hoc?!

I think there's a lot of truth to the saying 'if you want something done ask a busy person!'

I need help working out how often I should clean my house.....hmm that'd sounds pathetic!!

Thanks

I'm a SAHM to a Home Ed 5yo, a 2yo and 6mths pregnant.

Things that get done every day (or almost!) are tidy round the living room (me), cleaning kitchen (DP), hoovering living room (me) and washing (me).

Weekly, upstairs hoover & tidy, bathroom clean, mopping, changing beds.

Anything else gets done as needed. Having a few basics that I do every day keeps things in a state where I don't panic about sudden visitors but as it doesn't take long I don't mind doing it.

work 3 days per week (althought first day on mat leave today and Ds at nursery so doing nothing!!) but i

do kitchen sides, floor daily, usually when DS is taking an age to finish breakfast

Bathroom sink, sides etc - once a week big clean, every day or so i wipe the sides with cleaning wipes whilst DS in bath

dusting - lounge 3 times a week or so - no idea how it gets so dusty

hoover - make DH do this at weekend but in my defence SPD makes pushing the hoover agony at the moment

sheets - 7-10 days (much easier now i have an 8kg drum washing machine - highly recommend!)

I have a list of essentials that need to be done every week.

Some weeks it doesn't all get ticked off and I get stressed, basically I am setting myself up for failure AND writing it down so I can clearly see said failure !

I might as well get a big stick to beat myself with :)

Hoover daily (I have two hairy dogs)
Wash kitchen floor weekly
Change beds weekly
Clean fridge when strange smell becomes impossible to pass off as 'just cheese'
Kitchen surfaces daily
Bathroom probably not as often as I should

Otherwise, I have a lot of Yankee Candle Clean Cotton candles which simulates the fresh aroma of housework surprisingly effectively.

I have a cleaner that comes every week for 2.5 hours.

Clean the loo, dust ect as and when it needs to be done.

I change the beds every 2 weeks.

I hate cleaning!

Lots but I have a cleaner who comes in three times a week and so I don't do it myself. Still seem to spend half my life tidying up, washing, cleaning the kitchen etc though !

How do you clean if you have a small DC at home? The thing that really needs doing often here is the hoovering but DD is terrified of it so I can't do it while she's in the house so atm it gets done never. Argh. Wtf do I do?

Other jobs like cleaning the bathroom I don't really want her to "help" with and I feel bad ignoring her/parking her in front of CBeebies while I do it. This is the only way I could get anything done though, though do manage to get some done in the evenings. What does anyone else do? Help!

Here hoovering gets done never, likewise dusting (too much FUCKING CRAP everywhere to dust, I hate our clutter). Sheets get changed once a week if the weather's nice, slightly longer if it's not. Washing/washing up several times a day. Bathroom theoretically once a week but has been on my to do list for a while currently We don't have a kitchen

From next week DD will be in preschool two mornings a week and I've been fired so hoping to get a bit more done then.

if she's afraid of the hoover, get the broom out.
my kids get to "help" with a dry cloth and dry(ish) foam, or they can watch cbeebies for that time.

I don't yet have DC, but I clean up as I go along (kitchen) . We (between us) do the bathrooms about twice a week ( we have two bathrooms in our rented house, both small - it's mostly me that cleans them), hoover the main room / front hall about once a week and the stairs/bedrooms/landing once every 2-3 weeks.

Dusting happens fairly rarely (whenever the landlord is coming to inspect)

It'll be interesting when the baby comes along and I go back to full time work and DP becomes a sahd how that changes/stays the same.

I do it while they are eating. They take forever to eat breakfast and lunch, so I whizz round while they do!

I have a timetable of which jobs get done on which day. It's the only way I can keep track of what I need to do without losing the plot.
DH works far too many hours to get involved in the housework before anyone starts griping at my use of "what I need to do"

Whenever someone who might care comes round! So not that often.

And also at weekends so we have a nice house to relax in.

dita my DD is 18 months and I just take her round the house with me as I clean. It does mean she pulls a lot of stuff out of drawers and cupboards as I am cleaning so the cleaning does tend to take longer than if I was alone as I have to put things shes dragged out away at the end.
Luckily she's no longer afraid of the Hoover. I used to have to carry her in a sling to Hoover until she got so heavy I couldn't manage, at which point I just hoovered around her as she screamed (evil mother that I am) and she quickly got used to it.

Erm as I am sitting on the bed eating biscuits probably not the beat person to ask (although I am 8 days from my due date)

Hoover when it needs it, might be everyday then might be a few days.
Kitchen everyday
Bathroom full clean every week, wipe around whenever.
Bedding once a week
Washing when the weather is nice or it won't all balance on the basket!

ladywithnomanors : Ditto

eeek I'm feel very much a slob after reading some of the answers to the OP.

I hoover everyday well I push the Miele around the lounge. I wipe the loos seats if they look a bit "stained" and I wipe the drainer and sink most mornings.

towels get a hot wash once a week and bedding gets changed every 2/3 weeks.

Oven gets cleaned when the smoke gets a bit overpowering and hob gets a wipe down if something boils over.

I have a cleaning schedual, a copy of which is kept in the household ledger. This way, if I am not there, everyone can see what needs to be done, and when.
short version-

daily: dishes, kitchen surfaces, sweep floors, water plants, empty garbages, tidy up

every other day: laundry, bathroom, wash kitchen floor, recycling, counter tops, dresser tops

weekly: change bedding,washing windows, tidy pantry, linen closet

as needed: washing walls, cleaning light fixtures, sweeping the porch, decluttering closets

Hoover daily (just the living room)
Clean upstairs (inc bathroom) one week and downstairs the next. It means my bathroom and kitchen floor only get cleaned every other week which is a bit scuzzy but hey ho. It is clean enough for us and I like free time to do other things.

I do a lot of cooking and baking and daily chores (dishwasher, washing, ironing etc) take up a lot of time

I'm not a SAHM but even when I was on mat leave and at home for a year housework was low down on my priorities. So long as the house is hygienically clean and tidy then I'm happy. I Hoover, dust and mop kitchen floor once a week and DH deep cleans kitchen and bathroom once a week. We tidy and wipe as we go along each day. In all housework takes no time at all. But then again we have no pets and even DD (3) is quite clean and tidy.

When we are expecting visitors to stay ... well if they are fussy visitors ... well tbh if my Mum is coming to stay

So annually - ish

Laundry is done every few days and on a short wash cycle so we can get it done and drying before work. I don't consider cooking a chore as we both love cooking.

Yabu.

Hang on - so basically when you worked, the house was reasonably hygenic but now you're a SAHM it must be scrubbed on a rota??? Smacks to me of boredom.... Find something more interesting to do!

Hello

Just to let you know, we've moved this from AIBU to 'Good Housekeeping'.

MNHQ