What's your basic cleaning routine that leaves your house in an acceptable state?

[thedrummerswife]

Following a very busy time at work, I'm now off sick with stress and depression. Nothing much had been done in the house and now I need to get back into a routine. However, I have no motivation and am tired and struggling to get going.

The house isn't untidy (apart from ds 23 room and I'm not riding that!), although the garage and cupboards are full of clutter, but all I've done recently is occasionally dust the living room, wipe over washbasin and loo, wipe over kitchen work surfaces and hoover.

What's your usual routine and how often do you do things like cleaning skirting boards, doors, tiles, lamp shades?

I washed the kitchen floor today for the first time in months! Now I don't know what to do next, it feels overwhelming

I'm not thinking of decluttering at the moment, I just want to feel like my house is acceptable.

Then I'll tackle the garden ...

Rainbow, how do you convince small people to clean skirting boards? Mine are evil (boards, not children), but I can't think how to make it a fun job for them......(clueless).

Op, my only tip is wipes. Buy them all, toilet ones, floor wipes, kitchen wipes, polish wipes. For some reason it feels like a quicker job, grab wipes, wipe, bin, done. Like changing a nappy. Whereas clothes etc make it seem like a real job iyswim.

Please can all environmentalalists politely look away.....

wipes are very expensive too

Oh and BTW op, when I had depression, the state of my skirting boards were very important. Baby wiped every one before anyone came round, etc.

So in the gentlest way possible, maybe rather than cleaning advice, can I suggest a bloody great book, a cup of gin tea and a well deserved massage. Or whatever is a treat for you.

Not at pound shop pinkfrocks. Yes, more than basics bleach and old rags, but for overall sanity....

I find that something like Flash, Cif and Tesco bleach and a pack of J cloths does the job.

Java you just say "if you are very good and grown up you can try dusting the skirting boards"

Doesn't work anymore but worked a treat aged about 4!

Skip.

Shovel.

Thank you Java I'll make sure I do plenty of reading too

There's a lot of daily bleaching of bogs. Every 7-10 days here. Guess that makes it a little environmentally friendly? or me less lazy

Rainbow I need a skip to clear the garage

In my wardrobe I have piles of clothes that don't fit (fluctuate between size 12 and 14, but more 14 these days) but I daren't get rid in case I do manage to get back to size 12. Consequently I have no space, everything falls out when I open the cupboard and yet I have literally nothing I like to wear that is comfortable

I can't really afford a shopping trip. and clothes don't seem to sell on eBay for more than 99p these days.

I tend to sit in front of the TV and tidy out a drawer or sort some papers.

Vacuuming produces a good result for not that much effort, as does putting bleach down the loo and spraying furniture polish on the radiators to produce a nice smell.

Leave house and £20 in kitchen.

Go to work, come back and cleaner has done it.

I do an extra tutoring shift a week to cover the cost of cleaner. Sorted.

Java has it right OP.

Someone on here had a good tip re tidying: just get up and tidy away 10 things now. Doesn't matter what they are, pick easy or hard ones, whatever. When you get up tomorrow the house will be 10 things tidier than it would have been, and you might even find that after 10 you are in the mood and manage another 10. Do it before bed every night and that's 70 extra things tidied away this week!

I pretty much never do skirting boards, I am too busy fire fighting the onslaught of STUFF and basics like wiping down surfaces. Little and often is definitely the key - clean it before it gets too dirty so it's a quick job - but it is so much easier not to bother if it's not properly dirty yet. I have multisurface wipes stashed round the house so they are always to hand. I don't think they're expensive, they are about 2p each. To me that is well worth it for saving the time overhead of sorting out cloths and sprays before and after cleaning.

I think the problem with our skirting boards may be that they are shoddy The house was a new build when we moved in ten years ago, the decorating was very shoddy, we have emulsions the walls in nearly all rooms since except our bedroom but haven't done any of the woodwork. Because the skirting boards weren't sanded down smoothly, the dust and dirt stick to it and are difficult to wash off I can't EVER face sorting them out, as when freshly painted the cat and dog hair will stick to them

I am with Rainbow, my kids cleaned all sorts of liw to the ground things: skirting boards, the bracing/framing between the legs of the sideboard, the trestle part of the trestle table. For years the youngest was stuck with those tasks as, even though not a small child she was still the smallest person in the house. But around ages 12 and 14 she out grew her sister by a tiny fraction, there was much drama and tiptoe standing and complaints about hair puffiness, as i was forced to measure them to confirm. Oldest dusted them that day, but i soon had to give in and get a dustmop. (Which, now i think about it, i have never seen in UK. Huh.)

I tried a routine but sort of became a slave to it and got very fed up. So now I've gone back to the "do all the bits I can see as I see it" kind of way - more haphazard but less stressy, for me at least. Re skirting boards - does no one put on an old sock and then run their big toe along the top with a lovely ballerina point? Old sock in wash basket - job done!

I think you have to de clutter along with the cleaning, but 1 drawer or shelf can be done. My daily routine is a hybrid of fly lady
Mon - porch and dining room
Tue- kitchen
Wed- bathroom and children's rooms
Thurs - my bedroom
Fri- sitting room

On it's day, each room gets a clean and tidy ( superficial) and one drawer or cupboard de cluttered. It keeps me reasonably on top of things. I catch up at weekends or do the garden.

likklemum
Cleaning routine?
Washing daily,
Dishwasher daily,
Bed linen weekly
Everything else done in the hour before a visitor arrives

This is me too. Works fine, see no need to change it!

Baby wipes - rat cheap, clean everything, especially wood work ( wouldn't dream of using them on a baby's bum BTW)

I just Hoover my skirting boards with the brushy adaptor. They don't seem to get dirty, just dusty.

I got a new local cleaning company in to do a "spring" clean and they now come fortnightly for a couple of hours to do floors and bathrooms. They are amazing and I will never look back. Having just recovered from glandular fever and gone back to work, it had all got on top of me but now all I have to do are the little bits between their visits. Shame there is no "love" optionon facebook. They are called THE CLEAN MILE.

I hoover the whole house every day,and mop downstairs ad the bathrooms.
Do dishes,wipe over sides and hob,clean bathrooms and do about 5 loads of laundry every day,and put them away.

I do that every day,so all the other bits and bobs just get done when i remember or get the time.

I used to do the daily stuff then once a week pick a room to do thoroughly. If you have 8 rooms then every 8 weeks the skirting boards in each room get done. I bought a long antistatic nylon bristly thing from John Lewis and it means I can 'sweep' along coving and skirting to get rid of cobwebs and dust skirting in one sweep.

My main tip - wipe over with an E cloth EVERY time you use a basin. Never needs cleaning then :)

Terrifiedmothertobe...I have new carpets so I am hoovering more than usual ATM :)
Last weekend I did a huge de-clutter.
I do it every year when the kids go back to school after the hols.
It's also just prior to my ds2s b day and the inevitable avalanche of gifts :)
So I threw out 2 bin bags of broken, incomplete toys and used colouring and sticker books etc.
I also donated 5 bin bags of games, toys and DVDs to the children's ward where ds2 had his op in July :)
We have also ebayed some stuff and that has paid for the dc Xmas gifts :)
I hate clutter. We have lots of ikea trofast storage. It's ace.
During the summer hols I surrender to the filth and we go a bit feral :)

...and thanks to this thread I am now going to Hoover my skirting boards instead of dust them :)
I have a dishwasher so that helps.
I also have a pyrolytic oven...every 6 weeks it beeps at me and I turn the pyrolysis function on and it burns off the gunk and you just wipe it away :)
Marvellous.
Also, my induction hob.
God, I would never go back to gas. It's so easy to clean. Just wipe with hob Brite and there you go.
I am actually very lazy :) I buy stuff that makes life easier for me. My attitude is do it once, do it right - and then you don't have to do it again :)