If you work full time and are never on your own at home...

[Frankenterfer]

When do you clean?

I'm out of the house from about 6.30am to 6.30pm, Mon to Fri. Exhausted in the evenings. Never get much done at the weekends due to trying to get out of the house and do nice things.

We have a lovely house but it's cluttered and it's making me miserable. My lovely husband will pitch in with some things but doesn't 'see' what needs doing beyond the dishwasher and his laundry.

I do have a cleaner come once a fortnight to do a quick whip round but it does need more. I find it very difficult to clean with family at home because they're just in the way.

How old are 'the family'?

1. Cleaner every week
2. All members of family equally responsible for upkeep of home

Don’t buy the “doesn’t see” argument unless he has a visual impairment - that’s code for “it’s really your job” - have an honest conversation and if he doesn’t participate 50/50 he needs to hire someone to do his part

(I had this right after I got married - bathroom was filthy after his use - and I was just super honest and asked him who he thought was going to clean it and why did he assume that I should clean the bathroom after him .... he got it immediately ... and hired someone to do it)

Family is husband and 7 year old. I'm incredibly lazy / avoid it, because I feel overwhelmed now and don't know where to start. They aren't bothered by the state of the house, whilst I fantasize about moving out on my own!

I find it tough as well. My husband will do stuff if I ask, or he has a bit of a tidying up frenzy every now and again in the living room or kitchen, but generally speaking we have too much stuff/clutter and none of us like to clean. Six year old daughter is a bit resistant to tidying but she can be helpful if I give her 10p per job.

I try to follow a routine. The Organised Mum blog has a great breakdown for daily jobs to help get you going. I do believe that little and often is the way to go to keeping on top of it, and decluttering definitely helps enable the cleaning. We can't afford a cleaner, so I just do what I can, when I can.

Out of the house 7am-7:30 pm four days a week and don't really clean at all. Dh (WFH) does most of the cleaning, cooking and shopping. I do the washing, ironing and gardening, and clear up the kitchen after dinner each night. Every so often I'll do a blitz clean or batch cook to help dh out a bit, and we could get a cleaner but he chooses not to. Dd2 (16) still at home will help if paid asked but he doesn't seem to ask her much.

I lost my mojo round the house when I started work full time last year, it would get left for ages and then I'd spend hours blitzing it then get fed up and leave it again. My husband has got ME and so I do most of housework because he just can't and we need to have a clean home. I have got stuck into it again, had a clear out of junk and am now loosely following the organised mum routine, less than an hour a day and the house is so much better. More importantly I now feel better about me and the house because it is getting done.
I do lunches for the following day on a night time, get up at 6.45, put a load of washing on, clean the loo & sink, tidy round the room and then spend half an hour cleaning (whatever day on tomm). I iron on Sunday afternoon whilst watching a film! Everything gets touched over the week. If I started work earlier, I would make myself do it on an evening for half an hour whilst tea is getting ready.
No easy answer I'm afraid, but the house feels so much better.

You can clean with a 7yo in the house.
I'm lazy too but not bothered about being lazy.
Someone should tackle the floors once a week (sweep or vacuum).
Plus, Maybe choose one room a weekend to spend one hour on. As long as you've done your hour, you can untick your lazy box.

Can you get a Cleaner weekly?

We struggle. Between us we work 75hrs a week, but with short commutes and one of us doing shifts. Young family and neither of us home alone. No money for cleaners or ironing people. We tend to do bits in the evening, then other stuff as they become noticeable. It’s a struggle, but honestly, my kids need not to be stuck in the house every weekend so I can clean it. I don’t think I’d have a cleaner if we could afford it though, so I don’t complain

I’m sorry but the oft repeated truth that men don’t “see” mess is just nonsense.

They do see it they just haven’t ever been given reason to think it’s their responsibility to do anything about it!

He should be doing half.

Implement a new rule. He doesn’t sit down unless you are also sitting down. If you both do 15-20 minutes a night the house would be fine.

Why do you need to be alone in the house to clean?

Why isn’t your 7 yo helping? At that age they can hoover, dust, polish mirrors and windows, empty bins and tidy things away.