Do you ever feel like you have FINISHED cleaning the house?

[ItHasANiceRingWhenYouLaugh]

Someone I know just posted on FB that they love walking around their house when they have finished cleaning it. Mine NEVER feels finished! How do you get that feeling?

No..it's never ending, I've lowered my standards instead

I do. For me it's when the oven is clean, floors all washed, bedlinen done, surfaces clean and washing and ironing up to date.

There is also something getting at me though (shower doors today) but I still think the house is done really.

I'd imagine decluttering must help. I consider myself to be doing well if I reduce one cupboard/area beside sofa/shelf from 'exploding' to 'manageable' in a weekend. If I had no such areas of mess, then cleaning would be a lot easier as there would just be decobwebbing, cupboard doors/surfaces to dust and floors to do.

When I can see the floor, the bathroom's clean, the work surfaces in the kitchen, the pots and pans are all away and the cooker is clean, then it's finished. I don't sweat about the other stuff, life's too short, that's for another day so I suppose it's never ending here too.

Also the male members of my household are well into knick knacks and ornaments, which kills me. Ds just brought home a little china bell [weeps]

Cleaning the bathrooms (loo, sink, bath, don't bother with tiles), vacuuming and mopping all floors, dusting all low level surfaces, rubbish out, mirrors cleaned, washing up done and kitchen surfaces and hob wiped and laundry on track, is my idea of when the whole house is done.

I think I just have too much clutter for it to look polished. Also, carpets and sofas are old and grim.

Oh yes, I do!

I walk away leaving a spotless house, water filter jug replenished, clean mats and towels in the bathroom, toaster crumb tray cleaned.

My clients thank me and say how they feel guilty about making a mess after all my hard work but I don't mind!

Then I go home to my own house and start cleaning there. Five minutes after I've finished some fool comes along and turns it into a pigsty again!

Never! My it's never, ever finished!

When I lived on my own I used to finish work early on a Thursday and clean the entire house. It was totally minimal and everything had a place. I even usesd to pull out the furniture (including the fridge and cooker) and do the tops of the kitchen cupboards every bloody week

Dp is filth personified and leaves stuff everywhere - he's worse than the toddler and we have endless conversations that start with "you know we talked about you putting stuff away / putting your clothes in the washing basket..."

My housework is never finished. I always gave washing and ironing. The oven is usually in need of a clean. Even if everywhere is immaculate, windows will usually be in need of a clean. My house is probably pretty clean most of the time though it gets messy with toys etc - but I can't physically manage to finish my housework at any time! I have to phase everything. If the house is lovely, the ironing pile and washing pile will be big. If my ironing is up to are, chances are my house will need hoovered and mopped. I have an 8 month old bf baby and a 4 year old so there never seams to be an opportunity to do everything in a row

Never. Especially in winter when the cat brings in mud on his paws.

I think it's easier without pets tbh but we love him.

Pre child yes
Post child no

Mine is most days. We have no clutter, no pets and storage for everything. Once the kids toys are in cupboard at the end of the day, the dishwasher is turned on, and odd bits like shoes/ coat are in cupboard it feels and looks clean and tidy.

We are all fairly good at cleaning as we go along though, ie I had shower with kids this am, then dh did and cleaned it as he got out/ wiped screen and dried it. As soon as breakfast finished all rinsed and in dishwasher, any crumbs wiped.

So now house is fairly clean and tidy tbh. I'm sitting at desk in living room with just laptop on it, and kids ( age 3 and 4) are playing with Lego on the rug but rest of floor clear

my house is cluttery so it make it more difficult. the downstairs nismnot too bad but my room is messy right now

I don't think I've EVER sat down and thought my house is done. I sit down because I've had enough for the day not because it's finished. It doesn't matter what I do there's always something to to be done.

But I don't care really.

What xv said. 10 months into motherhood and I'm still grieving for my spotless house

No never. The more I clean the more dirt and mess I seem to find. I sometimes think I'd be better off not starting the cleaning, it would be a lot easier to ignore the grubby bits.

Every time I think the place is finally clean and tidy with empty washing basket, and I stop to draw breath... the cat poos in the litter tray and kicks litter all over the floor, ds2 does something to necessitate a full change of clothing, and dh cooks something that means using every pan in the kitchen and spattering tomato sauce up the wall.

Every. Single. Time.

ohhelpohnoitsa+Gerty- Pre-baby my house was spotless. I used to fluff up pillows ffs. My standards have been substantially lowered now i have a 6 month old mess machine!! Before having DS I would've changed my clothes had someone been sick on me....la di da

NEVER in the 14 years of being a parent. I have come close but it has been gruelling and joyless.
DH and I only lived together for a month before DD was born and I was in hospital for two weeks of that with a blood clot on my lung.
Two weeks of tidy house.

Only when the dcs aren't here and I've summoned the energy!

I am finding all very depressing tbh. I have a very clingy baby and I don't seem to achieve much despite cleaning stuff and putting stuff away in every single spare minute I have. It is not enough All my hard work just disappears.

The answer is robots! You need:

• dishwasher, cleans 95% crap

• roomba Hoover , hoovered all general crap up daily when your out. Just get main Hoover out once every 2 weeks to Hoover skirting boards/ random corners/ deep Hoover

• scoomba robot mop, washes floors after roomba has been around

• train/ bribe children. We do milk and cookies before bed only after all toys are in cupboard

• cheat, and hire cleaner few hours for anything remaining

For 6 years, we lived in a very shiny high rise apartment in Sydney, where everything was brand spanking new and sparkling.

It was just me and DH, we worked 60 hours a week and the place looked amazing all the time.

Fast forward to today, living in rural Scotland with a 2 year old and a 7 month old and it's at best "lived-in".

I used to think people with children exaggerated and were just lazy but I'm truly amazed at the chaos they can create and the amount of crap they have!

It's really like shovelling snow during a storm.

It really bothers me, to be honest.