Does anyone else have no clue what they’re doing when it comes to cleaning?!

[Stitchosaurus]

I’m 37 years old and like to think I’m a fairly intelligent, sensible person and yet I’m realising that I am a complete and utter idiot when it comes to keeping the house clean.

I noticed some smears on our living room wall after my little nephew had been round, so started rubbing them away with a damp cloth...only to find that I then needed to do the entire room because that one little patch was now several shades lighter than the rest - probably because I have never ever cleaned the walls in the seven years we’ve lived here! It didn’t occur to me that I needed to! They looked totally fine until I cleaned that one patch.

Is this a thing? Do people clean their walls regularly? It genuinely never dawned on me that it was necessary.

There have been other examples of having my tiny mind blown by things as simple as a cleaning cloth or one of those white eraser thingys - who knew they actually worked and got things so clean? Not me!

Is anyone else a cleaning dunce? And if you’re not, please tell me your basic routine/tips so I can educate myself!

Hopefully some domesticated people with tidy houses will answer soon giving proper tips. I know there are quite a few different programmes you can follow if you want something structured - google the organised mum method, flylady or kondo (though that’s more decluttering than cleaning). All three of those have had follow along threads on here so you could read through those for inspiration.

I have a high IQ, but am stupid at practical things.Women aren't born with a cleaning gene!

Marking place.

Although I do recommend the sprays you can get for treating mould etc on grouting. Spray on, leave for a while (evacuate the area, it stinks of bleach) rinse off. Needs replacing every year or so, as it seems to lose effectiveness after a while.

Dettol general antibacterial spray - actually better than some of the gentler cleaning fluids for removing muck, eg around door handles etc. Spray on, wipe off. A bit yuck once you've done (for example) half of a white door or doorframe.

To be fair, leftover packs of baby wipes are not bad for removing odd patches of muck from door frames. I do mine while I'm on the phone.

I also like Method daily shower spray. Literally as easy as it sounds. I spray it on while I'm in the shower, nearly finished, then rinse off just before I turn it off. Obviously I rinse my feet afterwards properly as well. Not a total weirdo.

The only things I use are microfibres cloths from a pound shop, thick bleach for the toilet and a spray bottle filled with a general surface cleaner that has febreze in it.
There is absolutely no need for Mrs Hinch and her multiple cleaning products. Hot soapy water is as good as any antibacterial spray.

for me my mother died in my teens and i was left on my own at 16.I got my own place a few years later from the council and my gosh it was a learning curb.I was so used to my mother doing things that being on me own was quite the change.

I couldn't work out how not to rust my mothers old cast iron frying pan so it stayed in the cupboard.
When the oven started smoking o how am i supposed to clean this
the toilet how do i stop limescale

Thankfully i was at least taught how to do laundry just didn't know how to iron lol

Its taken me years to work things out its trial and error unfortunately lol

If your walls are that dirty they need painting not cleaning IMHO
Although I guess it depends if you have wipeable paint or not

I have had moments like that when living in a place for a while. Where I'm like "how the hell do you clean a sofa?"

Or "Am I meant to wash the curtains?"

Or "Do the lampshades need dusting?"

I realise now that everything gets dirty and dusty. Especially with kids in the house. Also-fucking-lutely everything and everywhere. But yeah I have had some "Eureka" moments.

Ps. If you think the walls are dirty see what's on top of your kitchen cupboards. Boak!

that moment you realise that stuff like behind the fridge or top of cabinets need cleaning because the cat comes to you covered in cobwebs =p