Basic cleaning advice, tips and information please

[ComradeJing]

This is rather but I've never cleaned as I've always been an expat brat with ayas, at boarding school or lived overseas and had a cleaner.

We've just moved to Sydney and I'm now a SAHM and no idea about basic cleaning stuff.

I mean I can put a load of washing on and do the dishwasher but it's the actual cleaning that leaves me a bit stumped. I'd like a clean and tidy home and we don't have a lot of clutter (yet, our stuff will arrive from china and then it will be a different story!) so it's not too hard at the moment but...

How often do you Hoover?
What things make an obvious difference to keeping a home clean?
Do you use those sprey bottles of surface cleaner and what do you wipe them up with?
How often do you clean a bathroom/toilet? What do you clean in a bathroom? Just the toilet and surfaces or what?
Do you do a whites, colours and darks wash or just whites and non whites?

Plus anything else you can think of please even if it sounds too basic or obvious!

daily:
in the kitchen
wash up after every meal (and give sink a quick wipe when done)
wipe surfaces before and after preparing food (you can use the spray stuff and a wet cloth but hot soapy water is just as good)
wipe down hob after using
vacuum or sweep floor

bathroom
give sink a wipe
make sure toilet is clean

general

return things to their place
have a laundry day (eg monday for bedclothes and towels, tuesday coloured, thursday whites) best to hang them as they are easier to iron (or you may be able to skip that step)

this seems like a lot but it only takes a minute or so and once you are in the habit you won't notice.

Weekly:
i do a couple of these a day so that I don't have a mammoth cleaning day.

Vacuum a couple of times a week (although some areas like hallways might need a swish of a vacuum cleaner a bit more often)
Mop hard floors
change bedlinen
change towels (2-3 times a week)
Dusting (if too busy dusting can wait as it doesn't stink but a grotty bathroom and toilet will)
wipe fingerprints from light switches and door handles (i just go round the house with antibacterial handy wipe, it only takes a couple minutes)
Thorough clean of the bathroom: toilet, sink, tiles, toothbrush holder, mirrors, bath/shower, floor
areas of kitchen not covered by daily clean. Fridge, oven, cupboard doors, splashbacks, windows, microwave, .... (if you this every week it is a lot easier)
Ironing

Monthly:

Again do not save these up, do them when you have spare time.

Clean windows
polish mirrors
clean skirting boards
vacuum up any cobwebs and in areas you don't usually do (under beds, sofas,...)
round up any clutter and dispose of it
clean lamps and lampshades
thorough clean of the oven

Your home is a lot easier to keep clean and tidy if you have less clutter so be merciless.
use BUS get rid of anything unless it is:
Beautiful
Useful (as in used regularly not might be useful someday)
Seriously sentimental.

Hope this helps.

Every day
I get up I stick on a load of washing,wash up and clean sides and cooker top of after breakfast.
I air the bedrooms and I leave the beds unmade for 30 minutes whilst the rooms are airing(it's supposed to help limit dust mites)then I stick on another load of washing,then make the beds.Nice weather I hang the washing out bad weather it goes into the tumbledryer.
I hoover the frontroom,hallway,kitchen and bathroom floors.
I wash and dry bathroom and kitchen floors.
I dust in the frontroom.
I clean the toilet.
I empty the bins and clean them out and take out the recycling as and when it needs it. It sounds a lot but it takes me less than 2 hours a day

Twice a week I clean all the bathroom,clean the bath and toilet and sink and clean all the tiles of.Takes me 10 minutes each time

Twice a week I hoover and dust the bedrooms.Takes me 30 minutes each time

Once a week I give all the paint work(doors,arcatrive,skirting)a clean(just warm soapy water)then dry with an old tea towel I use just for this.Takes me 30 minutes each time

Once a week I strip all the bedding(for me it's every Friday)get it all washed and dried and back onto the beds before the children are home from school.Takes me 20 minutes to strip the beds and they're washed within 2 loads of washing.

Once a month my husband washes the windows inside and out and I wash the curtains.Takes maybe 90 minutes.

We use polish and duster for the dusting,I spay on a foam cleaner in the bathroom,bleach for the toilet,spray window cleaner for the windows,I give the kitchen surfaces a spray with a anti-bacterial spray.

HTH

I have posted this on a few other threads. Its not domestic goddess standard but my flat looks clean and is hygenic. A barrel-load of microfibre cloths are your friend.

Monday: Bathroom (launder towles, clean bathtub, wipe down surfaces, bleach toilet and plug holes, clean toilet, clean sink, descale shower, buff all fixtures, clean floor, empty bin)

Tuesday: Bedroom (launder sheets, change sheets, dust, hoover, tidy, clear all surfaces, tidy one cupboard or drawer so they get done on a roational basis, empty bin)

Wednesday: Kitchen (bleach and shine sink and taps and draining board, wipe down electrical appliances, wipe down surfaces, wipe down white goods and fridge shelves, clean floor)

Thursday: Meal plan and buy groceries (if you do online deliveries order for next Thursday. This way this kitchen and fridege are clean when they arrive)

Friday: Tidy living room and clean floors (hoover, mop, dust, tidy)

Saturday: Garden and outside jobs

The bigger jobs are done quarterly and I have the dates on my iphone and generally run through the Martha Stewart seasonal cleaning checklists until I keel over.

I don't have much clutter which helps.

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate the fantastic advice.

Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to the thread

Two questions though...

-When you clean the tiles in the bathroom do you literally clean the whole bathroom from top to bottom? My bathroom is fully tiled apart from the ceiling...
-How often and how do you wash surface clothes/microfiber clothes?

I really appreciate the advice!

Comrade I wash my microfibre cloths when I remember to. Generally I have on in each room and a huge number of spares under the sink. I just chuck them in the machine when they look a bit mannky. Usually after 1-3 uses iyswim.

I only clean bathroom tiles once a quarter.

Hi comrade! How did the big move go?

Hi Slattern, really well thank you! First few days were hard as DD picked up her first cold and couldn't suck her thumb so was seriously distressed.

Now, however...

We're in a lovely little apartment overlooking Sydney harbor. It's amazing and DD loves it especially as the boats are whizzing past and the flight path for the airport is quite visible too. Weather is glorious and I keep looking out the window and thinking how damn lucky we are.

This saturday we are going into auction for a property that I really, really, really want so fingers crossed for it. It ticks all of our boxes and is well within budget so just hope that we can get it. After that I'll get our stuff released from China and sent over... which will mean unpacking, dejunking and general faffing.

Oh and it's now only 5 weeks until my due date so I'll potentially be moving into a new house with a one week old baby.

Part of me is horrified that everything is happening all at once and part of me is just going "fuck it, BRING IT ON!" :o

Erm... this post was rather longer than I planned...

How's your dejunking/cleaning going slattern?

Wow Comrade, you seem to be taking it all in your stride. I'm good, a bit frazzled but no more than usual. I'm really trying to stick to my weekly schedule idea. Some weeks it works better than others.

I hope you have your hospital bag packed and the route to the hospital sussed out!