...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 not liking MN moving everything!

Anyway I'm a SAHM to a 2yr old and a nearly 1yr old.

Daily- Toilet gets wiped as does sink while brushing teeth, bath/shower gets wiped after every use, 1/2 loads of Laundry every day (cloth nappies) dishes done after every meal, Kitchen sides wiped, kitchen floor swept, Hoover.
Weekly- bedding gets changed, everything dusted, Patio doors cleaned.

Everything else gets done as and when it starts looking a bit grubby!

Then change the title, Rowan. It makes no sense now

Sorry if I put this in the wrong place I had no idea there was a 'good housekeeping' section...that says alot I think!!

Thanks for all your replies though!!

northerngirl the house is clean enough don't get me wrong. I just think that sometimes the busier you are the easier it is to fit things in...well maybe not easier just that you somehow do fit it all in. I feel that I do less or equal cleaning now to when I was out the house 12-14 hours a day and I think I really should be doing a lot more.

misssaphire I will look into that website, thanks!

I'm amazed people do so much cleaning!

I tidy daily, wash dishes/load dishwasher after each meal, wipe bathroom sink/loo daily while my toddler has a bath.

I hoover when I can no longer stand the sight of bits on the floor - ie once a week/fortnight for the kitchen & about once every 3 months upstairs.

The kitchen floor gets cleaned when visibly dirty, although I do try to wipe under the high chair most days if I remember.

Beds & bath towels are changed & washed fortnightly. Hand towels twice a week.

Washing machine goes on daily, but cloth nappies account for 4 loads a week.

FLYlady is definitely worth a read - it's helped me a lot.

I do more kitchen and sitting room cleaning since I had DS (8 months) but have only hoovered about 4 times since he was born because he's either asleep or scared or maybe just because I am lazy! The whole of the upstairs of my house is a shit-pit though I do try to clean the bathroom every once in a while. My bedroom needs to be completely gutted and re-arranged but I am in the middle of a massive de-clutter and so I have things in piles or in crates all over the place.

I do try to keep the sitting room clean just because it's where DS plays and where people come when they visit. My aim is to get my house so clutter free that housework becomes minimal but I have never been a tidy as I go person so guess I will continue living in a shit pit which gets a massive clean up once every couple of months.

I don't have particular days for things but can see how that might help.

oh - and I also have started making myself completely clean the kitchen before I go to bed as it was depressing me to come down to a mess every day, plus it's where I feed DS so if I didn't clean up I would be living with porridge on the walls.

I thought that I did too much, but it's good to see there are plenty on here who do the same, if not more than me!

Daily: kitchen - surfaces, dishwasher/washing up etc, bathroom - light rinse, sweep all floors (in Spain, all marble floors everywhere), sitting room doors to garden (two sets of sliding + one 2½ year old with hands....), dining table and sitting room surfaces, bins taken out (daily collections here), garden/plants watered, toys away.

Couple/three times a week: Laundry ^see above 2½ year old who likes digging, wash and buff the floors, full kitchen (fridge, cupboards etc), full bathroom - mirrors/bleach loos etc, ironing

Weekly: change beds/towels, clean rest of doors to garden and other windows, sweep and hose down terraces

The older children do their own rooms, their laundry is done if it's in the laundry basket. If it's not, it won't be touched. They do their own bathrooms, I daren't enter, though I believe they may be better these days as they appear not to shout that they can't find things so often and ask for cleaning stuff more regularly.

Yes I have a schedule.

It's because I like to change the beds and towels once a week and decided I needed to hoover upstairs and clean the bathroom well twice a week. For me it is easier if I have specific days to do these things (my colleagues used to laugh at "towels day" but I don't care ).

I work FT and more or less always have which is another factor - I need to be organised or it mounts up. So how often do I clean - well, I clean every day. Today for example I changed and washed mine and Dh's bedlinen (kids' is a different day), hoovered upstairs, also hoovered downstairs (do that every day) and did laundry/cooking/tidy-up/washing pots, also daily tasks.

Why not work out what are the things you need to do weekly and what daily (may not be the same as mine - eg if you have a lot of bathrooms or are in the house a lot) and then work out a daily routine?

My top tip for a clean/tidy house btw is to make the most of every spare 5 mins (while you wait for the DC to clean their teeth) - that's enough time to put away a pile of ironing or polish the piano (!).

Some of you must have cleaner kids than mine! My 3 regularly spill cereal all over the floor at 8am (sigh). If I don't hoover every day it looks super-skanky. Only takes 7 mins tho to do downstairs, I timed it once.

bathkolpian you certainly sounds very clean not mucky! I like yr random drawer once a week deal, I may start doing that.

Where are the DH/DPs in all of this

hairylights

Don't know about everyone else's but my Dp works away Monday to Friday.

On a Saturday though he gets up with the kids, changes them, feeds them, washes, dresses etc, puts washing on, does dishes, does a proper bathroom scrub, cleans the fridge out ready for shopping delivery, then make me breakfast and a cup of tea and brings it in to me about 9.30/10am.

On the Sunday I get up and he has a lie in. Seems to work well this way.

Oh and he irons his own work shirts.

I work 3 or 4 days a week, 2 school age dc, dh FT.

Monday - dh thoroughly cleans kitchen, laundry
Tuesday - dh thoroughly cleans bathrooms, laundry
Wednesday - I do a big food shop
Thursday - change beds (everyone does their own)
Friday - dusting, incl skirting boards, pictures etc
Saturday - hoovering, laundry
Sunday - ironing, bill paying and other paperwork

We have a general tidy up at the end of each day. If the kids bathroom is particularly yucky I get one of them to give it an extra clean. I whizz around with the dust buster as necessary as we've got pets. I pop into the supermarket daily for odd bits we've run out of.

Gosh I can't believe how much people clean - am a bit embarrassed at the small amount I do .

DH and I are both pretty tidy and tend to clear up any mess we make straight away. Dishwasher goes on whenever necessary and I (SAHM) do the laundry whenever there is a full load. We have a cleaner once a week and we really don't do a lot in between her visits. I do keep meaning to get into regular sheet and towel changing but at the minute it's just when I remember as necessary.

DD is nearly ready to be weaned and I'm starting to think of ways to minimise and deal with mess on the kitchen floor (cannot face the thought of sweeping and mopping kitchen floor daily).

dh does his fair share, he is in charge of cleaning up the kitchen every night. filling the d/w, wiping all surfaces, sweeping floor, taking bins out...
he also does the weekly shop and our finances. I think it is quite fair tbh.

I don't know about anyone else, Hairy - but my post said "we" "we" "we" There's no my or his jobs. There's a house to clean. End of story

Oh, Clary, I feel it. I always feel we should be doing more. My mum was on her hands and knees round the house every single day. Washed the skirting boards in every room every day, did the doors, washed all the ornaments daily, etc etc. I always feel that I am failing to keep my house clean because I always think of her, scrubbing everything, for 4-6 hours a day.

Logically, I know that she is an extreme case but I still can't get rid of the little voice in my head that says things like " How long since you washed the top of that door frame?"

Hoovering as and when - main areas every day and rest of house at least once a week.

The bathrooms/loos/shower cubicles get cleaned properly once a week and the toilets gets a quick wipe round every day (I have small boys with a bad aim!).

Beds get changed weekly, children get nagged to tidy their rooms weekly with the threat of everything remaining on the floor being sucked up the hoover.

Dusting gets done whenever it looks hideous because it's my most hated job.

magnificent you wash the top of the door frame?
never occured to me that that needs cleaning :o

Mousy, it was only a few years ago that I learned that some people actually clean behind their fridge. That would never have occurred to me. :o

I have a schedule, because I was fed up leaving all the cleaning to the weekend and then spending endless saturdays cleaning all the things. Now we spend an extra twenty mins every weekday on specifics task to keep on top of things. THere's only the two of us, and no pets, however.

Daily, if needed: shop, cook, quickly clean kitchen, wash-up, wash clothes, sweep kitchen
Monday: Tidy away all clothes, books, papers etc.
Tuesday: Dust bedrooms, living room, study. Hoover quickly.
Wednesday: Clean bathroom and WC quickly
Thursday: Clean kitchen. Wash teatowels, towels, bathmat.
Friday: Tidy away all clothes, books, papers etc.
Saturday: Deep-clean kitchen. Deep-clean bathroom and WC. Hoover and mop. Wash bedclothes.
Sunday: zip. nada. rien.

Kids do their own now woohoo... Stay at home but kids are older.. Do cleaning as needed or when husband nags ( don't ask). Would do more if it wasn't for Mumsnet.

I can do a super clean within 20 minutes ( 3 of us)

We have a 12 week old puppy, so kitchen floor is swept everyday and hot washed with disinfectant at least once a week, more if gross. Living room is hoovered 3 or 4 times a week, bathroom deep-cleaned once a week on Fridays, wiped over as needed, kitchen surfaces done very day, proper clean once a week, bedroom dampdusted every 2ish weeks (not very dusty here thank goodness) along with rest of house. I flick around the living room at least once a week like a french maid in a farce with my feather duster from Lakeland and it's brilliant! Really makes a difference in no time! Plus puppy thinks is all a game! Washing done probably around 3 loads a week (mostly DH's stuff, no idea how he creates so much laundry) and sheets done every 10 days to 2 weeks, depending. Sometimes more if nice weather and I can dry outside. Going to get carpets shampooed once puppy is finished housetraining so nice and fresh. DH has allergies and ezcema so have to be on top of it all, plus nice to have it done, esp in case MIL comes to visit, as she's OCD about it all.

I didn't know you had to

All my schedules are on my MN approved blog, austerityhousekeeping.wordpress.com and I would say I spend about 90 minutes a weekday on cleaning and laundry at the moment for a family of 5/6, aiming to be finished by about 10.30am at the latest with all the main jobs. I also have a bit of a tidy up at the end of the day. I spend 30-45 minutes a day doing supper as well. DH and DCs do evening washing up, morning dishwasher and general helping with putting away laundry and so on.

PS If I am really pressed for time, I load up a cleaning caddy with absolutely everything I need including bin bags, sponges, cloths and so on, set a timer and alarm, put a new hoover bag in, and clean for a set period only, going like the clappers. I can make the house look and smell pretty damn good in an hour if I really go for it (5 beds, 4 receps, 3 baths). But then I need a big cuppa and a long sit down soon afterwards!