If you only did one hour housework a day during the week what would your priorities be?

[silver73]

I work full-time so blitz house at the weekend and only really have an hour free Monday to Friday... was wondering what your priorities are...

At the weekend I do all the washing and drying, dust and vac, wash floors and change bedding...

Mine priorities Monday to Friday would be:

dishwasher
clean sink
make bed
clean loo
put dirty washing that kids have left into laundry basket
tidy up a bit
rubbish out
recycling out

love the idea of spending a whole hour every day cleaning the house
I find that in about 15 minutes I can
do the dishes
put the washing on
sit down and have a quick cuppa then head on out to the gym

get the kids to do the rest

I'm the same as you, OP. I also do some laundry in there somewhere, a couple of loads a week, otherwise the laundry basket would be overflowing by the weekend.

There are so many jobs that I struggle to find the time for.

Like cleaning the blinds (very dusty). Washing the kitchen/bathroom floors (I hoover them, but they really need a scrub sometimes). Cleaning the windows/mirrors. Cleaning the fridge and oven.

It's amazing what you can do in the time it takes for the kettle to boil - empty and refill the dishwasher, or hang out the washing, or clean the sink, or tidy the living room. By the end of the day I've drunk a lot of tea and done (quite) a lot of housework.

If I had that amount of free time to put aside for housework, I have to say my priority would be to get my ass down the jobcentre, sorry. DM takes that kind of time to clean, but I can't, I'd never sleep and possibly have to leave for work before I got home.

Dishwasher - fill as use things, run overnight, empty once I have more dirty things to put in.

Laundry - Usually get a load in the washer-dryer overnight, shake out while kettle boiling in the morning.

Proper cleaning - whole flat basic clean takes about 2 hours on a weekend. Extra every couple of months when I do the inside windows too. Current project is clearing out hall cupboards, so trying to do a bit of a FLYlady hotspot type blitz on that every day at the mo (coming in about 1 in 2)

Good grief - I'm expected to do that much?!

Jennie not sure I understand your reference to the jobcentre?

jenniec79 - so even though the OP works full time, you think she should get a second job in the evenings, rather than do an hour's housework?

Thanks iwasyoungonce I thought the comment was odd. Took it the same as you or possibly that she did not think I worked.

Cannot really fathom why someone would need to make a comment like that on such an ordinary thread....

I struggle to get an hour done and the place is a constant mess (and no kids yet, eek)

I try and get the dishwasher and washing up done daily along with a quick general tidy, usually around trying to cook dinner ? anything else is a bonus!! :o

I pretty much do the same as you but my priorities during the week are the kitchen, the bathroom, the laundry and general tidy as I go during the week... Everything else must wait for the weekend.

hoovering - but we have a dog! Loos, kitchen (fastidious) and try to put crap away - this is rarely achieved

I do a lot less than an hour a day -

Put batch of washing in machine (DH takes it out - he works from home)
Put last bits in dishwasher and set it off (DS usually empties it if he's in during the day)
Rinse out any recycling and shove it in the basket
Empty bin and/or recycling basket if they are full
Wipe over the kithchen surfaces

Go to work

Empty dishwasher if DS hasn't had a chance
Cook dinner
Put dishes in dishwasher

Relax for the evening

On the weekend I clean the bathroom and the kitchen floor, empty wastepaper baskets, do the ironing, and shove a vacuum cleaner and duster round anything that looks like it needs it.

Could the loo be done every other day or a v.quick swish with antibac wipe and slug of cleaner?

Is it quicker to wash up as go along than the whole dishwasher loading/unloading faff?

IMO if you could save time on other things a bit and get the house tidy every day,that is the way I"d go.I find mess breeds more mess.......

Any children who can be given a reward for putting own clothes into washing basket etc can be a help (as long as they help and not hinder with whatever it is they"re asked to do) Mine are supposed(!) to put own dirty clothes in wash basket,feed cat,empty waste paper baskets and take own dirty plates to kitchen.

I'd agree with the delegation. I would air all the bedrooms with the bedding flung back, get one child to empty all the bins if overflowing, another to do all the recycling, sweep all the rogue toys into a big basket to be sorted out at the weekend, get kids to empty and reload the dishwasher, take the laundry a stage further, then sit down and have a gin whilst watching a SciFi DVD and barking further commands at the offspring.

Alternatively you could read my blog post on how to clean up in under an hour in the morning whilst getting ready for school

A whole hour every single day? Christ on a bike. My house is lucky if it gets 30 minutes.

dishwasher
clean loo
empty bins
hoover

the rest can wait!

I only do one hour a day, if at all
I do have a cleaner though who comes in every other week.
most time goes to doing laundry.

My house is a total tip at the moment, honestly it's the worst it's ever been but I would say washing dishes, keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean, keeping the living room clean and tidy, putting out rubbish and recycling.

Jennie, can you keep your house clean and tidy in less than an hour a day then?? If so, I would love to know your secret!

How long do most people spend on housework every day? What is the minimum amount of time needed to keep an average sized house presentable?

An hour everyday and a blitz at the weekend...

Blimey, I load the washing machine before bed, do 15 mins of running around before leaving in the mornings, dishwasher, unload washing machine, tidy a bit everyday then once a week spend 1 hour dusting and hoovering, another 30 mins doing the bathrooms, then 30 mins or so per week in the kitchen. Floor every week, but other things on a rolling basis.

The 15 mins of tidiying is very worthwhile. If you keep on top of things it really doesn't take long to keep the place looking respectable

Once in a while I will have a blitz, but nowhere near weekly

Ironing done in the eves in front of TV

If I gave my house an hour a day it would be a showhome

That said I don't class cleaning up after dinner and doing the dishes as housework... that shit just needs to be done if we want to be able to eat our next meal!

I do a load of laundry most evenings in the hope it'll be good enough the next day to hang it out, if it is I do another in the morning to chuck out on the line too and I'm trying to train myself to fold it as it comes off the line/out of the dryer now to avoid the piles of laundry accumulating. It gets put away while I'm getting the kids ready for bed. Dp does the after dinner clean up, that includes tidying downstairs and if the kids don't take long to get to bed I help him finish it. Takes far less than an hour though and the whole downstairs is tidied.

Mopping and hoovering get done as needed (or tbh a bit past needed ) and beds get done as needed or if they survive 2 weeks with no one wetting them, bleeding on them (nosebleed prone children) or vomiting on them (cats more than kids unfortunately ) I'll do them then. dd is responsible for tidying her own room and I try and make them tidy the boys room too but have less success there so usually end up doing it while they're in the shower in the evening, doesn't take too long as long as hey haven't had terrorist friends round and I do it every couple of days.

I need to learn to make time for blitzing of bathrooms as tbh they usually get left too long but then again I don't really subscribe to the notion that my honour depends on a toilet clean enough to eat out of so.......

An hour a day is doable for sure, and without needing to do the whole of Saturday cleaning too

I do one job each day, hoover up, washing floors down, changing beds etc and none take longer than 15 mins

Clean the loo as I leave the bathroom- Tesco Value 12p shower gel in the loo brush pot and swill it round -takes all of 15 seconds. Spray the mirror before I get in the shower and wipe it off when I come out- thats less than a minute too. I make the bed as I get out of it, and make DS' as I open his curtains, again all of a minute each

Agree the biggest job is laundry, but I fold while I watch tv and put a batch away in adverts. What I dont do well is empty washing machine and take it to the tumbledrier.

Why not do your hour in 4 15 minute batches, so do a morning thing that is making beds, clean loos, getting a LOL on, emptying dishwasher etc, then 1 15 minute splurge when you get in, 15 once kids are in bed and then 15 before bed getting ready for the next day