Tell me about your housework routine

[Cloudminnow]

Do you manage to keep your house clean and tidy? How? I work 3 days a week and never seem to be able to keep on top of it e.g. drowning in washing, 'paperwork' and stuff everywhere. Any tips gratefully received!

I thinks i do.

I have ds 20mo and Dh who works shifts, and i study full time too with no support with ds.
Basically- i do it like this.
Keep on top of the kitchen and hallway.
A load of washing every night, on timer to hang out after breakfast.
Tidy living room, with all the toys, every few days.
Everything else gets blitzed on one day a week, or 2 half days.
I do ironing once a week at nap time.
Im a night person so get alot done at 10pm when Dh on lates! I like to potter about picking things up (lates are 4 days in a row every 13 days.)

just get into a routine.
X

Thanks Penguin! I like the nightly washing idea. I think you're right about getting a routine - I just need to find one and stick with it!

I do these things every day

Put washing on in the evening, hang it out next morning and put away while DD is getting ready for the bath. I don't iron - if it needs ironing it gets done when it is to be worn.

I hoover through everyday because I have 4 dogs, and at this time of year I mop the downstairs every day too. When its dry then I only do it once or twice a week.

When DD is in bed I tidy toys away, empty bins and collect cups etc and put dishwasher on.

During the day when I'm in the kitchen I clean that as I go.

Then I try and allot myself rooms to do at the begining of the week once I know what I'm doing (self employed so my schedule changes).

So I will say change beds on tuesday and hoover and dust bedrooms,

clean bathrooms on wed.

Then theoretically I do one big job a week - clean windows, wash paintwork, bathroom tiles that sort of thing so they end up on about a six week rotation havn't done this for ages

I spend half an hour every day on cleaning and I alternate floors, ie. upstairs one day, downstairs the next.
I tend to do this either after the school run on a day where I'm on lates or off work, or in the evening if I'm on earlies.
On an upstairs day, it'll be clean bathroom, dust and hoover bedrooms, change 1 bed (so all 3 will be done during the week). On a downstairs day it'll be mop kitchen floor, empty and clean bin, thourough wipe down of kitchen sides, hoover and dust lounge, dining room and hallway.
Because it's all done regularly it never really gets that bad, which is why I'm able to do it in half an hour.
In addition to this, I stick a load of washing on after dinner each day and hang it out before bed. I iron once a week on my day off, takes about 45 minutes usually. I also get my dd's to help out with bits and bobs around the house, especially washing up.
As for the paper work, can you get a filing system? I have a plastic stretchy file thing from WHSmith that cost about a fiver with several different sections. So I have 1 for gas/elec bills, 1 for mortgage stuff/ 1 for school letters etc. I collect a little pile of letters on top of the bread bin then once a week pop them into the file, once they've been dealt with, normally most letters seem to be for information only.

daily-

normally do a load of washing
anti bac spray kitchen surfaces and make sure all plates and cutlery put away
tidy the lounge
wipe down loo seat/handles/etc with flushable wipes

weekly-

big bathroom and downstairs loo clean including mopping floor and wiping down tiles
change beds
Big kitchen clean including mopping floor

and then other than that the loos both get a squirt of bleach every other day, and i hoover all rooms probably twice a week. Everything else gets done on a as and when needed basis.

I really struggled for a long time because DH works shifts and I too work PT, and routine was impossible. But I've been better lately. I use an app called Chore Checklist which is great.

Daily - make beds, air bedrooms, load of washing, tidy living room once DC are in bed, wash up, clean stand etc.
Weekly - change beds, mop hard floors, bathrooms, etc.

Hoovering happens when we're expecting visitors two or three times a week :)

I work 3 days a week. DP works fulltime

Daily .
Get DS 1 to unload the dishwasher from the night before
Load dishwasher with breakfast things (he gets ocket money he needs to earn it)
sweep wooden floors, downstairs, hallway, dining room, living room
Put a wash on and dry it either by hanging outside or Tumble dryer, weather dependant.
I PUT THIS AWAY AS SOON AS IT COMES IN. But put uniform in a sepertae basket (it's so much easier emptying1 basket of washing and putting it away than waiting for it to pile up, then you're wasting precious mn time putting it all away
clean/mop floors in the evening, load dishwasher switch on. Antibac surfaces

twice a week I
polish , clean the bath, sink and bathroom floor, change towels/flannels/

Once a week
Hoover the stairs and upstairs and iron uniform that's been piling up all week, change bedding in the summer, (I leave it 2 weeks in the winter, less sweating ), do the 'big' jobs, my big job day is saturday, I set aside a couple of hours on a saturday to do the more bigger cleaning tasks. (ironing) this is if I'm skint otherwise it goes to the ironing sho more often than not. Big shop at Tesco

Once a month, clean the windows. My DP and I have an agreement I do inside he does outside otherwise i'm paying £11.00 for a window cleaner.

weekends prob about 1 1/2 hours spent cleaning, daily probably about 1/2 hour.

I usually work 3.5 days (full time at the moment though) and OH works full time.

At breakfast, as the kettle boils I make the kids their breakfast and clean as I go. I usually empty the dishwasher from the night before and then it is ready to be restacked with the breakfast dishes straight away. It is a slimline one so goes on most days. (When it bloomin works - am back to washing by hand at the moment as it is broken)

Then, as the kids get all their bags etc ready I run the hoover over the floor. We have a dark carpet and it shows the bits. THe hoover is permanently plugged in and stored within reach. I like getting home to a clean floor.

The laundry is done towards the end of the week (usually start on Thurs). It airs outside if the weather is nice enough or hangs on a few airers if not over Fri and Sat then is put away Sun. The kids are responsible for putting their clothes in their own drawers and keeping their rooms relatively tidy. Pocket money hinges upon this.

Beds are stripped after the Sat lie in every week or so and the windows are opened to let the place breathe.

When the floor upstairs starts to show the bits I take the hoover upstairs and hoover through.

The bathroom sink, bath and sink are an ongoing thing. If any grubbiness is starting to show then I give them a wipe down as I brush my teeth or while I am sitting on the floor of the bathroom as the kids splash in the bath.

I am a teacher and make sure that every school hol I tackle one big job for every week I am off and schedule redecorating for the longer hols. My house is q cluttered as we have too much stuff for the size of the house we live in (and my OH is rubbish at throwing stuff away or tidying up) but it is clean enough not to be embarrassing.

Think you just need get your own routine going....... First few weeks I struggled felt like I was going round in circles. I try to tidy up last thing at night I.e put toys away dishes in dishwasher and put a wash on. So in morning empty dishwasher, hang out washing ,make beds and polish all by 9.30 then when DS has nap do my floors and sort out clean clothes and put them away. Then get myself ready hopefully before he wakes up. However doesn't always work like this ...... Just do my best and my house is always clean by lunchtime and I make it out for the afternoon . Xx

Ok i have a 2 year old , studying at home for 2 things and I don?t work but am a volunteer co-ordinator for help for heroes so emails, meetings to arrange etc from send from home

chuck clothes in washing machine as they come off every night ready to hang out in morning (if it?s a full load) I also don?t iron until it needs ironing the night before (i get our clothes out the evening before)

Wipe the bathroom down as I get out of the bath.

Chuck bleach down the loo and give it a scrub use flushable wipes for handle etc

As I?m making breakfast bleach all the sides and wipe cooker and fridge down.

Then have breakfast with my little one, then sweep (lino floors) and mop floors and hover rugs (little one helps me)

Chuck some polish around then that?s it done for the day.

In the evening i put him to bed, tidy all his toys away, then deal with post and study, and do my work.

It never takes me longer than until about 8am to have the house tidied cleaned and us washed and dressed (he does get up at 6am)

Then wash up as I go, so if i use the cheese grater will wash it up while something else is cooking. I?ll even wash the pan I?ve cooked in before I sit down to eat while waiting for dinner to cool down.

Once a week I bleach all skirting boards, light switches and clean my windows, bleach fridge and fully bleach bathroom and change all bedding and have a clear out i hate junk

It did take forever to perfect my routine and anti bac wipes are my friend my friend says I?m the laziest clean obsessed person she knows