Do you have a set routine for cleaning? How do you do it?

[Nbg]

The housework is just getting too much for me.
Without meaning to sound like I'm showing off, we live in a big 4 bed house and there is mess everywhere.
I have no routine or structure to my days hence all the mess all the time.

I've considered the Fly lady thing but tbh, the whole faffing about shining your sink and putting on make up to do it just seems daft.

So how do you do it?
Do you have a set routine that you do week in week out?

Shining (i.e. Cleaning) your sink does work to kick start your cleaning. But I don't do the dress up and makeup thing, you can just pick the bits of the FLYing stuff which appeals to you ;)

I have to admit that my sink is shiny actually

Only because we have a dishwahser though lol.

The shiny sink thing seems to work like on a wave effect - start there and work outwards. I think the getting dressed business does help - I move faster if dressed for the day rather than still wafting around in dressing gown. What I won't do though is the shoes - I always wear slippers in the house because we have polished floors and good stair carpet. The rest of it is pretty useful - yes you may find yourself falling by the wayside but it is pretty easy to get back on. I get a bit impatient with babysteps and surge ahead and actually that suits me.

Wash up when you have no plates left
Dust when you can't see in the mirror
Hoover when you can't remmber what colour the carpet is
When you follow these simple rules you do feel really satisfied and a sense of achievement when it's all done

lol albatross
Like your style.

I do do the flylady thing

though I don't necessarily do it in full make-up

but behind all her barking motivational speaking there is a really good system for getting your house done if you can wade past the schmaltz

Hmmm maybe I should sign up.

I'm currently doing it in stints with Peckarollover on msn

Every so often I have a blitz and then after a few days it goes pear shaped and I'm back at square one. I need to keep on top of it.

I got like you a few years ago Nbg. Well probably worse, as I am still not great on tidiness and housework.

What worked for me was dividing the important weekly jobs up and alloting them to different days. I tried to do those jobs on the right day and I have stuck to that basic routine ever since, eg Monday is cleaning downstairs and changing the sheets on my bed, Tuesday is ironing (and watering plants! - a job I always forget) Wednesday is changing the sheets on the kids' beds and doing their rooms, Thursday is bathrooms and Friday is shopping and catching up with ironing.

I don't keep to this religiously, but it helps me to keep on top of these basic things knowing I should do them once a week. Sometimes, I play it that once I have done those jobs, I have the day free, sometimes I try to do the next day's jobs too, sometimes I use the time to do the things that aren't on the list, like cleaning a kitchen cupboard.

My routine is pretty vague really, but I did find that once I had alloted certain jobs to certain days, even if I did not keep to the routine, the house began to get cleaner and I felt less stressed.

Now that sounds like what I need to be doing.

Do you find the house still clean if you stick that way and what about other washing?

Oh another thing that has helped me over the years is something my MIL told me. She said, always attend to those little jobs the minute you see it needs doing, eg wipe away the mark on the wall the minute you see it. That does work too. I had a mark on my bathroom wall for months which I kept seeing and thinking I would clean when I did the bathrooms, but I kept forgetting! Much easier to just grab a cloth and wipe it straightaway even if you are about to go to bed when you see it.

(I think this is just revealing how pathetic I am normally at keeping the house clean!)

My house is never that clean and never ever tidy but if I told you that I could go weeks without cleaning the bathroom before, but now, at its worst, I only go 2 weeks without cleaning it, you will see a) how bad I was and b) that the rota at least is an improvement.

There is no rhyme or reason to why I do things on certain days - it was just what fitted on the week I made the rota. I do keep intending to add in some more jobs and make my routine better - rather like flylady suggests I think.

Thanks for not making me feel sooo bad Nbg - glad I'm not the only one out there with no routine who despairs when she looks at her messy house. I have the flylady book and today I am going to start again and shine my sink.

I have always been tempted with Flylady but the thought of all those emails they send really puts me off (I am hopeless at deleting stuff)
I have recently gone from having cleaners to NOT having cleaners. My cleaners were crap and I was hopeless at telling them what to do so when we moved it was a relief to leave them without sacking them ...
Anyway, since we moved (5 weeks ago) I have set up a good system.
A big plastic box that I take around the house and put in stuff that isn't where it should be. I then go round and redistribute those items (toys, clothes, general crap) to their right places. I do that towards the end of the day. Takes 5 minutes or so.
Cleaning: Mondays - vacuum and mop floors.
Tuesdays - Dusting (mainly the wooden stairs which look terrible after a week)
Fridays - clean bathrooms (not a huge house but we have 3 bathrooms - we rent and quite frankly I think the landlord is just plain greedy )

I make DH clean the oven when it needs it and clean the windows inside and out when i can't see out of them.

constantly and with persistance

I forgot ... Bed linen changes happen at weekends ...
Ironing happens whenever there is something good on telly in the evening (not that often in Australia I have to say )

Well I dont iron I have a tumble though

I have done the box thing Ghosty. Its full already and I've only done the kitchen!

I do the box thing too, only I use the washing basket! And, like everything else, I don't do it at a set time, just whenever!

My cleaning lady comes in Thursday am for a couple of hours (small house)! I pack DS off to Grannys for the day. After she's done the living room I tend to do the ironing or I swan off to the shops or friends for coffee. Honestly!

I don't think its the sink and make-up really - its the managing 'hot spot areas' and gradually chipping away at clutter by doing the missions...you just have to show a bit of zeal for a couple of months (not loads of time, but being consistent in doing the routines and tackling a mission most days) and then once the routines are established and the clutter is clear it sort of looks after itself. If you want to set your own routines, I guess the key things would be 1/start with just one small change and do for a few days 2/then do a plan of how you can realistically tackle all the jobs in the time you have over the week, without being too ambitious 3/a quick tidy around the bedrooms after everyones up helsp a lot, plus also do it once kids are asleep 4/get everything washed up and tidied away after meals straight away - make it a rule that everyone clears their own plate 5/try to do things when you notice them, so if you see a dusty skirting board, pick up a wipe and clean it, 30 seconds, done and suddenyl it becomes a habit and your house is cleaner 6/some things need doing twice a day, some only once a week, its just working out what - like if you wipe around the kitchen every day, most of the surfaces, and clean up other spills etc when they happen, and put things away as much as possible, it never really needs a special weekly effort.7/putting a load of washing on every day is a fly tip I use, then I can iron once or twice a week and sort clothes out before bed while listening to the radio, because that's my chill time 8/routines take at least two weeks of committment to establish, preferably four, then even when you miss them for a while they are easy to pick up again becuase you have seen the benefits. I started fly last year, and it made me much happier - it was always a chore before then, now I quite enjoy and everything feels more manageable. Plus what i put into my routine now is not just about home organisation, or following the tips (I don't even get them now) but me - like finding the time to look after myself a bit.

great tip about the box, thanks! I have just typed a very, very basic routine on wordpad. In theory it should be easy to stick to..........I think number one rule should be no computer til after it's done as I've lost may hours of my life on here.

I live in a pretty big house too NBG with 2 small children and a dh away fro weeks on end.Also work f/t and do a part time MSc. My house is neat and tidy. Always. i will tell you why.

Once a month have an all day clean of every room. Ruthlessly root out old toys,magazines,outgrown clothes and dispose of as appropriate.

Teach your children to bmake their beds,put their clothes away and put things back where they found them.

Never go to bed without tidying and preparing for the next day.

No shoes in the house (cuts down hugely on dirty floors and carpets)

Menu plan

Iron once a weeek.

Voila!

Nbg....this is not the thread for a Saturday morning!!

this is a Monday morning thread!

I function better if I am dressed in tracky bottoms and no makeup rather than wafting round in pjs.

No routine though. I clean it when I need it.

I do think the key is storage so everything has a place. Maybe sort that out first and I do agree that the more room you have the more mess you make.

We used to live in a huge place and it was a tip all the time. We have now downsized and it is much tidier.

Jiminy..could you retype yours with some paragraphs cos it would be easier to read!

please

Not meaning to offend.

Some good points.

MD, the cleaning before bed is a vital one. I sometimes do it and the next morning its great to come down to a tidy house but more often than not, I dont do it.
Obviously an area to work on.

DD doesnt tidy up very well after herself either. She brings alot of toys downstairs and doesnt take them back up.
Ds's arent too bad as they are only baby things and I just throw them in a box.

Dotcom, I agree it is a monday thread but monday this week turned to tuesday, then wednesday and so on

Agree on storage too. This is why we have clutter because thngs dont get given homes.

I keep my house very empty. My sisters call it the laboratory.

When I wake up (6:45 am) I feel peaceful every morning as know the kitchen is clean and tidy,brekkie stuff out, and bags packed and ready by the door.

I find this level of micro control means i get more out of my day and life and on a day to day basis there is very little tedioushousework to do..