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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

So tired of having to clean top to bottom every time someone comes around.

39 replies

WS12 · 16/04/2018 04:36

Well that's just it really. Every time someone comes around I need to scrub my house basically top to bottom and pick everything up, tidy clothes away, vacuum and mop... we've just moved to a new place so there are lots of first impressions going on if you know what I mean. I want a clean tidy house, it doesn't have to be spotless. But it feels grubby... think finger prints, sticky marks...

I just feel so overwhelmed like I can't keep on top of my house keeping. My house can easily be tidied but it always seems to need a good scrub. Bleaching the floors, wiping food splashes off walls... wiping dust off the tv units etc etc...

How can I kee on top of it? Does anyone use a tried and tested 'timetable'? I have two DC age 5 and 3 and don't currently work so I'm willing to try a daily routine or even weekly. Help what can I do?! I've even thought of having a cleaner in once a week and asking them to pull a room out and scrub it - one week kitchen, next the living room, and so on.

OP posts:
Original poster
WS12 · 16/04/2018 04:37

And when I say having a cleaner in, that's to help me stay on top- so I will still do what I do, and have the cleaner on top of that. It's all I can see helping to keep on top of things...

OP posts:
sixtimesseven · 16/04/2018 05:19

I have heard of something called the Fly lady where you learn a routine to keep on top of things. You could look that up.

gastropod · 16/04/2018 05:20

I have a cleaner once a week and use baby wipes for the rest!

Nanna50 · 16/04/2018 06:19

Why do you need to clean top to bottom every time someone comes around and how often is this happening?

Believeitornot · 16/04/2018 06:20

How often do you clean?

Wittow · 16/04/2018 06:24

Your standards sound very high. I always tell myself there is no one with a clipboard coming round to mark my houskeeping Wink

Fleurchamp · 16/04/2018 06:31

The organised mum method?
The basic plan is 15 mins of essentials every day and then 30 mins on a particular room each weekday. I don't follow it religiously but the little and often thing seems to work for me.

EmmaJR1 · 16/04/2018 06:43

Posts like this make me realise how slack I am...

Bathroom/kitchen thoroughly once a week. Hoover through 2/3 times a week and steam/bleach floors every other week... everything else as and when I find time.

I CBA with more. Maybe I need a cleaner?

Are you particularly worried about what people think? I'd just think oooh nice House wonder how they are decorating?

DragonsAndCakes · 16/04/2018 06:46

Do your floors really need bleaching for visitors? Can you encourage more of a shoes off policy to keep the floors cleaner?

NapQueen · 16/04/2018 06:49

My checklist for visitors:
dishes clean, loo clean, living room tidy, quick sweep of rooms people visit.
If anyone is coming with kids I make sure the kids rooms are cleared enough for them to all go play but not tidied as they make a mess anyway.

Anything I cant be bothered or dont manage to get tidied away gets chucked in my bedroom and door shut.

AlishaMary · 16/04/2018 06:50

I’ve never bleached a floor in my life.

Re visitors I think a quick tidy and clean toilet and sink make the best impression. Maybe vacuum if you’ve time.

overmydeadbody · 16/04/2018 06:57

To stop the sticky fingers marks only allow eating at the kitchen table, get your children into the routine of washing their hands when they arrive home from anywhere or come in from the garden, and after eating.

Get into a routine for the house cleaning, all you'd need walls be a dedicated hour a day

Have a shoes off policy of you don't already.

Oblomov18 · 16/04/2018 07:00

I'm much more slack than you.
Tidy up, quick hoover, clean bathroom, toilet and kitchen floor.
That's it!!

ShotsFired · 16/04/2018 07:05

You are being ridiculous @WS12

Unless your visitors are Inspectors from the Good Housekeeping Institute on a formal ratings visit, then get over it and just enjoy the company of your friends and family who have come to see you.

you could always get one of those signs which reads "excuse the mess my kids are busy making memories

ShotsFired · 16/04/2018 07:09

@overmydeadbody ^Get into a routine for the house cleaning, all you'd need walls be a dedicated hour a day.

Fuck. That. Shit. Who wants to spend an hour cleaning every single day?!

[Outside the work our cleaner does] If it looks messy it gets tidied, if it needs wiping it gets wiped, if it needs hoovering it gets hoovered. Good enough.

merrymouse · 16/04/2018 07:11

theorganisedmum.blog

I second the organised mum method.

Bluntness100 · 16/04/2018 07:14

You need to do the basics as you go. You mention putting your clothes away and wiping food splashes off walls. Those things you should do as soon as and they only take a couple of mins. Don't leave your clothes laying around, wipe food splashes off as they happen. Just keep it tidy,

The rest, the actual cleaning, should only need doing about once a week.

SoyDora · 16/04/2018 07:21

To avoid sticky fingers, only allow food at the table. Mine are 4 and 2 and know they’re only allowed food and any drink other than water at the table. Then they wash their hands.
I’m not sure why floors need bleaching before you have visitors? I have a very clean/tidy house and never bleach floors!
Do you think maybe your standards are impossibly high? I can’t see anyone visiting you judging you on having a bit of dust on your TV or unbleached floors.
Anyway, here’s how I keep on top of it with a 4 and 2 year old...

  • they tidy away their own toys. General rule is one thing away before you get the next one out. They don’t always do this but know that it’s their responsibility to tidy toys.
  • Hoover 2-3 times a week (we have a dog as well as two pre schoolers).
  • Kitchen surfaces wiped after every meal
  • Main bathroom wiped when DC are in the bath
  • Mop floor once/twice a week
  • Every time the DC go upstairs they have to take something that belongs up there and put it back
Yogagirl123 · 16/04/2018 07:32

OP you are making a lot of work and stress for yourself, do you visitors go all round your house then? I have a lot more relaxed approach, toilet clean and hoover round and I don’t worry about tiding up, people are coming to see me, if they want to judge me about my home, they needn’t bother visiting again 😜

silverysky · 16/04/2018 07:34

I think it makes sense to tidy up just before visitors come round. I think just about everyone does it. There is less time for it all to get dirty and messy again. Floors, kitchens, bathrooms and toys need tidying and cleaning constantly because they are constantly in use. Limiting use would seriously restrict quality of life!

zzzzz · 16/04/2018 07:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
WS12 · 16/04/2018 08:48

Thanks for your ideas everyone!! Some of these sound great - esp the 15 mins of essential cleaning each day and then 30 mins in each room.

I don't clean often and that's my problem. My house is kept tidy I guess, and as clean as is safe for us all (wiping surfaces, cleaning toilets etc) but I realise reading through things like food splats on cupboards aren't always cleaned up straight away and so need a scrub. I guess I just stop seeing it after a while. Some times I get so embarrassed 😕

My sisters house and my parents is spotless - I think I have issues about it. Always felt like I couldn't keep up a nice house...

OP posts:
Original poster
WS12 · 16/04/2018 08:49

I'm going to buy a bucket full of things I need to clean. And do the playlist - room a day until I start seeing results.

I also think I need to do "more as I go". I often just dump all the washing from the line on the spare bed and shut the door 😂

OP posts:
MessySurfaces · 16/04/2018 09:11

OP I think that's all fine! You need to develop a strategic eye- when someone is coming over I sometimes do a quick walkthrough trying to look with fresh eyes and dealing with the high impact stuff- clean sink and loo, zap dust bunnies and major cobwebs (we seem to have speedy spiders...), clutter in key first-impression spots. Dark grot on white doors.Either being thorough if I'm trying to impress or just very strategic if it's a mate bringing kids. You are aiming for welcoming- so a bit messy is good!
I think the problem is a weirdly high standard from your parents. Put down the bleach! (Its bad for your immune system and lungs anyway)

zzzzz · 16/04/2018 09:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.