Cleaning: how often?

[gumcontrol]

I'm a second year student and curious as to what the minimum standard for cleaning is, and what's considered excessive. Any tips welcome as well! My family is a bit lax and I find that when I go home for the weekend I'm quite shocked by how long it's been since the toilet was cleaned, how little handwash seems to be used other than by me, so I'm worried that my parents were lazy buggers and I'm still not doing enough, if you see what I mean. TIA

I dust and Hoover once a week - includes picture rails, shelves, skirtings. Thoroughly clean bathroom once a week. In between, whatever maintenance is required so the hall carpet may need vacuuming, the kitchen floor sweeping, etc and I always wipe down the kitchen work tops whenever food has been prepared and wipe over the hob after cooking.

Things like kitchen units get cleaned every two-three months, insides of windows about three times a year.

You will probably get an enormous variety of responses as to what is normal.

Your parents are presumably 50ish, so possibly are getting to the point where their eyesight is changing. If they wear glasses, they may not have them on when they are in the bathroom or washing up and possibly literally don't see the dirt anymore. I've noticed this with my own family and see how often glasses are swapped over for different tasks.

The handwash thing is more problematic. Do they put it out especially for you and use a bar of soap when you aren't there?

It might be nice of you to run the Hoover around, put bleach down the toilet and give the surfaces a quick wipe over while at your parents too.

Presumably they don't charge you for staying over at the family home, so doing the washing up or offering to strip your bed at the end of the weekend and put the washing machine to save them a job would make you popular.

My mum's 60, so good point greenhill. She only wears them for reading. My father passed away a few years back, but I don't recall him being overly fussy about cleaning.

I'm forever offering to do things, as well as reminding DB it's best to get into the habit before uni, but I should probably insist! I don't find it acceptable that my mother naturally expects to do three people's housework herself, but she's always giving me the old "You're here to relax! Let me!" Think I'll just get on and do things next time. I don't want her to think I'm nagging her to clean the toilet or implying I don't like the way she does it. If I do it, worst case scenario is she doesn't even notice.

Weekly cleaning tends to be the average/standard, with kitchens done daily.

Mine is a little different as I'm off on mat leave so house needs more cleaning as we're in it more.

Generally
Daily - Hoover living room
Wipe down kitchen
Washing load
Put ydays washing away
Wipe bathroom down with anti bacterial wipes at night

Weekly -
Hoover whole house
Dust every room
Brush down stairs
Window sills
Thorough bathroom clean

Fort nightly
Change bedding
Steam clean floors
Steam clean bathroom
Steam clean kitchen
Steam clean all floors not carpeted

I think it will be different when I go back to work though.

Your parents sound like mine. I personally have slightly higher standards.

I hoover daily, sweep and mop daily.
Clean bathrooms daily and change beds (top pilow cases, bottom sheet and flat sheet) daily
I also dust daily and my kitchen is always being cleaned. Most things gers donenon a daily basis.
Weekly I change beds completely. Do skirting boards and door frames and the front and back door traps.

We go through 2 bottles of hand wash a week 2 adults and 3 children

1. I suspect MN isn't really 'typical'.
2. This question divides MNers over a massive range though.

1. Whatever you, or your Mum's standards of cleaning are though, I can not believe it is in ANY WAY helpful for you to go home and start trying to tell your younger brother what to do around the house

When it looks dirty.

A bathroom used by one woman will need less cleaning than a bathroom used by a family including a hairy man and muddy dog.

Crikey outnumbered when do you have time to do anything else?! Please don't tell me that you have a full-time job as well!

Why does a bathroom used by a long haired woman need less cleaning than by a hairy man howtorebuild?

We have a cleaner who gets the whole house hoovered, surfaces dusted, floors cleaner and bathroom and kitchen spotless once a fortnight.

In between, I/dh do whatever looks dirty but the kitchen surfaces get cleaned every day and a full clean of the bathroom happens on the week in between.

My mother has terrible hygiene standards. I have to wash cups and cutlery if I want a cup of tea when I see her. I've spent years worrying about it, but people will only do what they want to do. You're probably best accepting what you realistically cannot change and saving yourself a lot of stress. It is hard to step back though.

The hairy Man I once shared a bathroom with needed more cleaning as his beard hair in the sink, chest, leg and back hair was found in the shower, bath, sink, floor. I don't have much body or head hair so don't shed much, just toothpaste on the sink mess and head hair I gather during conditioning, then put straight into the bin. I had to clean loads after a hairy Man.

Ladies loo's in pubs are normally more messy than the mens though. And the showers in ladies changing rooms. The hairy plugholes. Yuck.

80smum I do work full time (on mat leave atm) it takes around 45 min to do my daily clean. Which I do before work everyday when I'm in. Then hoover before bed. Some people may see it as OTT but I grew up in a very messy house and I think it made me the way I am.

I don't need to shave my legs as the hair is fair and not much of it, I don't shave any of my public hair either. I also don't go for hair products, makeup or creams, just deodorant and perfume, I am pretty clean.