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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

House is superficially clean but grubby round the edges, is yours?

26 replies

PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 12/06/2015 08:18

Clutter is not the problem, everything has a place (mostly!), but once I've done the basics each day: washing on, dishes, tidy up, Hoover, wipe down of kitchen/bathroom surfaces and occasionally a quick dust of other surfaces, then I'm tired and bored and have a million other things to do.

But now I'm spending so much time in my house (may leave) I'm noticing things that we never get a chance to do: cobwebs and windows, down the side of the washing machine , inside drawers etc.

It all feels like a mountain that we could never get to the top of.

OP posts:

BasinHaircut · 12/06/2015 08:45

That's how I feel, but we have clutter too.

We've only been here 2 months and are about to start some building work and so I have completely given up on anything other than the bare minimum as everything is about to get covered in dirt and dust anyway.

Sometimes I think that I get too hung up on housework and actually it occupies much more brain space that it should. I haven't dusted in the couple of months we've been here and no one has died! 'Clean enough' is the mindset I'm trying to get into

yehbutnobutyeh · 12/06/2015 09:12

In answer to your question, yes it is grubby! I have recently come to the realisation at the age of 34 that nothing is ever clean at the same time (as much as I would like it to be) so I make a list of all those as hoc bits that need doing and task myself with one a week or whatever feels reasonable on top of standard cleaning. Inevitably no one else notices when they are done but it makes it feel less unsurmountable...!

And Basin 'clean enough' is a great mantra. What's the phrase about cleaning being akin to shovelling snow when it's still snowing...

cozietoesie · 12/06/2015 09:26

...nothing is ever clean at the same time...

Oh Yes to that - even if you move into a sparkling clean new house, the odds are that you'll be bringing in at least some things that could probably do with a wash.

I'd relax a little, OP. If something out of the ordinary run of things is really irritating you then have a go a it but make sure you save time to live a little (or a lot) as well.

LoisWilkersonsLastNerve · 12/06/2015 09:31

I would love to be a fly on the wall of these people whose house is Show home clean and tidy HOW!

Moreisnnogedag · 12/06/2015 09:34

Absolutely. I sat in the conservatory (cheap build done 29 yes ago with polycarbonate roof) and the cobwebs in the eaves are so bad they waft in the breeze. But I hate flies so am reluctant to destroy them.

Our house is presentable just don't look to closely in the corners. I'd love to never have to rush round cleaning if someone says they're coming round.

fairnotfit · 12/06/2015 09:37

I hear you, OP. "Superficially clean but grubby round the edges" sums it up perfectly.

Bathrooms are clean enough; beds are changed weeklyish ; I keep on top of the laundry. But things like washing down the kitchen cupboards, cleaning behind bits of furniture, turning out cupboards... not to mention the clutter... it rarely happens, and never all at once.

It's like pushing water uphill.

DownWithThisTypeOfThing · 12/06/2015 09:50

Yes and do you know what? I'm not bothered!

If I wanted a sparkling-even-on-the-skirting-boards-behind-the-sofas clean house something else would have to give - nicely cooked meals? Picking the kids up from school? My job? The kids' activities? Spending time together/relaxing? No, not giving any of that up.

Only so many hours in a day and so long as we're not contenders for Life of Grime and people don't have to wipe their feet on the way out, I'm ok with that.

Tidy & cleanish is as good as it's ever going to get.

nigelslaterfan · 12/06/2015 09:55

oh empathy empathy empathy, but mine sounds a little worse

LoisWilkersonsLastNerve · 12/06/2015 13:18

Loving the similies here, like pushing water uphill
Can we sack talking about housework and play that game?

At my house, it's like turning up to an earthquake site with a dustpan and brush....

mrsmeerkat · 12/06/2015 13:24

I am like you op. I am on maternity leave and these bright days are showing everything. I have my washing up to date and house is decluttered so once I finish my coffee I am going to wipe the fridge washing machine. Polish. Skirtings etc. Dh is going to do the cobwebs and light fittings - he is taller than me by about a foot

OMGmetoo · 12/06/2015 13:29

Morrisnogedag, you might find that the old cobwebs are too dusty/abandoned to be of much fly catching use! I find that the in-use ones are nearly invisible. I love cobweb spiders.

avocadotoast · 12/06/2015 13:31

Hah, mine isn't even superficially clean at the minute (3 week old baby puts a stop to any cleaning plans). Usually it'd be as you describe though OP. I don't care tbh, as long as we're clean and wearing clean clothes and aren't getting food poisoning that's the main thing

Original poster

PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 12/06/2015 14:18

Avocado your job is to sit on the sofa and cuddle that baby! Mine is 6 months old now and I'm still sitting here and cuddling... hence how I've noticed so many bits of the house I never get round to cleaning

OP posts:

cece · 12/06/2015 14:20

Perfectly normal in my opinion.

formerlyofLadysmith · 12/06/2015 14:25

Exactly how my house is. People describe it as clean because it is tidy, & I keep on top of basics, but just step off the main tracks & the grime will get you...

NoSquirrels · 12/06/2015 14:26

Yes to all this!

I don't enjoy housework, and even when it is clean(ish) and tidy e.g. when we have people visiting then there are always the small grotty things that never get cleaned. The ridges that accumulate grime by the dishwasher, the skirting boards behind the sofa, the grubby edges.

We don't have a cleaner and I think if we did things would be so much better as all my energy/enthusiasm for it wouldn't be sapped by the weekly/everyday cleaning.

It doesn't help that my DH has never and would never notice or think about stuff like this. He has never cleaned a fridge out in his life, I'd imagine, and wouldn't know to even consider that you should descale the kettle or clean the oven. It's like a whole invisible area of life that is only stored in my brain. He's got better about everyday chores and tasks, but it does annoy me greatly...

to those with cuddly babies. Enjoy them. The dirt will always come back but the baby years won't.

Mulligrubs · 12/06/2015 14:28

My house is like this, it doesn't help that it is 3 storey either - my son is 20 months and gets bored particularly on the ground floor with the kitchen, a spare bedroom and a bathroom so I don't spend as much time as I should down there. It does get grubby round the skirting boards and light fittings etc!

My kitchen is clean, my bathrooms are clean, the bedrooms are tidy and clean which is what is important to me. A few cobwebs or dust behind furniture now and again doesn't bother me.

Monty27 · 12/06/2015 16:25

Totally normal, in fact, its impressive you sound so on top of things with a six month old baby, and you're quite entitled to carry on cuddling .

Mine are grown up, the house is like yours, mostly has a place, and yes the windows need doing and the skirting boards and wood in the hall and stairs could certainly do with some elbow grease and soap and water. But then I've been tidying up the garden a lot at weekends and that looks quite tidy. So, no your house will never be perfect probably, but it sounds in good nick to me.

Enjoy your baby.

kimmyw · 12/06/2015 17:58

The kitchen and loo are clean. The bathroom is cleanish. There is no clutter but a few toys lying around. Could probably do with a hoover and dust/polish.

AwkwardSquad · 12/06/2015 19:46

Yup, I agree with PP, perfectly normal and healthy!

In the past when I'm expecting people to stay, I've deep cleaned (anxiety and self esteem issues). The ONE thing I've missed is what gets noticed. So fuck it, no more. If it's all at a reasonable level (not super sparkly) nothing will stand out!

WorldsBiggestGrotbag · 12/06/2015 19:54

The only time I've ever had a completely clean house is the day I've moved out of a rental properly and done to final deep clean!

feebeecat · 12/06/2015 20:01

Yup, I agree,mostly ok, but don't get too close to the edges. Also what is it about it never all being clean at the same time? I spend time tackling one room only to discover another exploded when I wasn't looking.
And as for the recent good weather, well garden looking less jungle, but seem to have misplaced at least one dc in house somewhere - does it ever magically come together??

CremeEggThief · 12/06/2015 21:14

Yep, yep. Extremely tidy and all basics done, but it hasn't been dusted for a couple of weeks, the fridge and kitchen cupboards haven't been cleaned since January and the oven since Easter last year.

LetThereBeCupcakes · 16/06/2015 08:27

Yep, same here. I have 2 big dogs so they do a very good job of spreading grubbiness everywhere.

When DH and I first got married, MIL said to me to do the basics, then polish something. The smell of the polish makes everybody think your house is immaculate! It works, too.

echt · 16/06/2015 08:34

Same here, which is why I
I'm glad it's winter in Au, so low lights and curtains drawn, so less grubbiness to see.

Having said that, the days are more often than not dazzlingly sunny, even in winter, and show up the dirty windows, of which there are many. In my defence, I should say that because so much rain is bringing in sand from the desert, i.e. most of Australia, cleaning windows is a fool's occupation. They look good for about 24 hours max.

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