What’s your housework routine and how clean is your house?

[GordonBrockman]

I think I must be doing something wrong, I really try to keep on top of it but there’s so much to do and it’s never properly clean!

I’m pretty on top of the basics (well, mostly, seem to rush through a lot of that and do a half arsed job much of the time) but it’s the other stuff that doesn’t get done. For example the shoe cupboard has loads of little bits of mud and the black bits of AstroTurf etc in the bottom of it but I never seem to get the time to empty and clean it. Larder cupboard is full of crumbs and is a mess, but again don’t seem to get around to emptying it to give it a proper clean. Top of kitchen cupboards/wardrobes etc need dusting...Middle of the floors are clean but haven’t pulled sofas out for a while...stairs vacuumed regularly but rarely get round to cleaning all the fiddly bits of woodwork around the bannister spindles, surfaces dusted regularly but not light fittings/radiators/curtain rails...There’s not one room that I can say is properly clean 😳

(Doesn’t help that we have very high ceilings so lots of this stuff requires a stepladder...hmm maybe I need to allocate a day to ‘high up’ cleaning)

Honestly do people really have time to keep on top of all this stuff as well as the day to day tidying and cleaning?? I feel like I have to rush to get a load of washing hung up before the baby starts crying or the three year old needs me for something or the older ones need picking up...

I find lowering my standards has helped a lot.

In all seriousness, currently on mat leave with 7 week old. Older children at school. I normally work ft shift work - I'm not responsible for it all, we all live here. DP does his share too. I delegate stuff to the older DC.

So and we keep on top of it all by just keeping doing it. Storage helps so there isn't a ton of stuff to move as it's all got a home and isn't cluttering up.

Bathrooms I clean properly every week - although DP standard of cleanliness is much higher than mine.

Although today I've spent nearly all day ironing when the baby has slept to try and clear the back log.

Organisation and storage is the answer I think.

and low standards

I could have written this op. I have no answers!! I live in an old house too and it never has that clean sparkle.

I've got one of those little dust buster type handheld hoover things. I hope you know what I mean if not I can try and link.
If I've not had time to do a full top to bottom clean then I'll use that to get the worst of the crumbs/mud/cat litter cleared up.

I can't think when the house feels cluttered so I try and clear out all the old crap we never touch regularly. Seems to keep things fairly organised.

As for the rest of it I have to be in a proper mood to do a full clean. Otherwise it's just surfaces cleaned and then a proper hoover as and when I get a minute

I am sadly lacking in routine and as a result my house isn't clean enough. For example I tend to just notice the sink needs cleaning and do it, then another day realise the shower screen needs doing, so I'll do that, rather than do the whole bathroom X times a week which is probably much more efficient.

Glad I’m not the only one. I read all these posts where people say they’ve cleaned the house top to bottom that morning and are now relaxing in a sparkling clean house and I think how?? It’s never ending here!

I did manage to clean out the larder cupboard this morning though —but failed to mop the floor instead—

The 2 people I know with really clean/tidy houses + DCs, either get up really early to clean, or go to bed really late...

I need my sleep more...

I do try and force myself to clean up the kitchen in the evening so that it’s easier to use in the morning, but that’s still hit and miss. Rest of the house isn’t great, and I’m trying to improve, but it’s a slow process.

I have a no bits and bobs left about policy by sticking to that at least the sides and other dumping areas such as hallways are clear, though probably a little dusty I feel less bad if rooms look tidy.

Another vote for lowering your standards. Does it really matter if the house isn't gleaming? I think not.

If it gets really bad, I just take off my glasses so I can't see it...

Lower your standards or get a cleaner.

My house is not great tbh. I try to keep on top of things using a phone app. There's a number of different systems out there. They all tend to work by splitting tasks into daily, weekly and monthly.

So each day you do the daily things. For e.g: wash dishes, do laundry, put away clothes, take out bin.
Then each week you have a list of weekly tasks (clean bathroom, hoover living room, tidy kids rooms etc.) and also a list of monthly tasks related to a particular room. These tend to be deep cleaning type things.
Most of the jobs you mention would count as monthly tasks. So I guess my advice would be to tackle one or two of these things a week in addition to the usual cleaning.

It massively helps having a DH who is tidier than I am.

I get bored sticking to the same routine but this week as follows: Monday- Tidy, dust and wipe down house and clean one bathroom. Tuesday-Hoover everywhere and clean other bathroom along with litter tray, bath dog and wash pet bedding. Today-Mop all over, ironing and watch tv! Last week I did all of the above but I also wiped down paintwork, skirting boards and cleaned windows inside and out.

I am always tidy, we have a place for everything and it's all neatly organised.

When it comes to cleaning I am slightly less thorough. I have a very quick 15 minute clean once a week and then once a month I do a good 2 hour clean. Some things hardly ever need cleaning - I do the windows and the oven once a year. I wash sheets once a month. I do 2 loads of washing a week and spend about 30 minutes ironing the stuff that really needs it, at least half of our clothes don't need ironing. I always wash up immediately after meals, it usually takes me 5 minutes to wash, dry and put away. I do boring housework super fast so I can get back to enjoying life.

I do the organised mum method. 30 mins a room(s) a day for four days a week plus 15 mins daily tasks. No cleaning at weekends. Manageable even for me and every friday it rotates and you have a 30 min focus so all those niggly jobs eventually get tackled. If you Google her you'll find her website and shes on Facebook and Instagram too. She explains it better than I do but it's an easy system to follow.

I have had people say my home is a show home but I spend hardly any time actually cleaning.

Lots of storage so it's easy to tidy things away, and do the basic cleaning each day so it doesn't turn into one huge job.

I spend about 10 minutes in the morning upstairs and probably 40-50 minutes downstairs when DC are in bed. (That includes washing up, laundry, vacuuming and mopping)

I do a deeper clean once a week which takes me about 2 hours but I'd say only about 45 minutes of that is cleaning - the rest is ironing and putting laundry away.

Hmm see I already have a routine similar to TOMM. I have no problem keeping up to date with the daily jobs. The weekly jobs, also not a problem. It’s just the other stuff, by the time I’ve done the daily and weekly stuff I’ve kind of used up all the happy baby time, or it’s school run time, or time to cook dinner etc. I do try to work my way through all the jobs but there’s just so many of them! I’m never at the point where everything is clean because it’s a never ending cycle.

I suppose it would help if everyone else in the family was a little tidier. And if I didn’t have a baby

I think with a baby and a 3 year old it is very difficult. Mine are older and it's only now I feel I get a deep clean done. Today I did half the kitchen cupboards. Filled a black bag of rubbish. Last night I tidied all the books and charity shopped what the kids don't read. I will do the other half of the kitchen tomorrow. Bloody tubberware.

I keep the place de cluttered and do a bit every day so it never feels overwhelming.

Yes chilledout11, hopefully once(/if) the baby gets into a 2 hour nap after lunch routine or starts reliably sleeping more at night I’ll be able to tackle all the stuff that seems to be hanging over me. Its an adjustment of expectations I suppose, I’ve always been someone who has seen a job and done it immediately so would have emptied out the shoe cupboard and cleaned it as soon as I opened it to put shoes away and saw there was crap on the floor. But when you walk in and the baby is crying for a feed and then you have to wipe the 3 year olds bum, then dash back out to get one of the others to or from an activity then straight back to get dinner cooked etc that stuff just gets left.

Plus I didn’t used to have 10 foot ceilings or miles of picture rails etc so there was physically less cleaning to be done

I wonder would it help to but a to do list (pound shop has nice ones) Mrs hinch uses them. Add one 20 minute job everyday. Timer on. I am thinking of doing this to ease mental load. 3 bags going to charity this afternoon. Took 35 minutes but treating myself to tea and mumsnet.

Try not to let it annoy you though. Baby won't be this small for long.

I'm pretty clean but there will always be a cleaning job to do so we are not spotless. It helps living in a two bedroom mid terrace and being fairly minimalist with everything having its own place.

Nothing is done during the week as I am too tired after work and as I live on my own prefer to come home and vegetate apart from make something to eat.
My house never looks sparkly, just lived in. I clean the kitchen and bathroom weekly, I aim to hoover weekly but sometimes that does not happen, luckily I only have a big rug to do.
Baically I am not very domesticated, especially now the children have left home.

Thanks chilledout11, I do already have a list and it does help ease the mental load. It’s just by the time I’ve ticked anything off there’s another 3 or 4 things on there 🤣

Extra tasks completed this week (in addition to usual daily and weekly stuff)

Larder cupboard
Shoe cupboard
Bathroom cupboard
Kitchen windows and frames cleaned (inside)
Internal door frames on two floors dusted and cleaned

Next week’s extras list
Clean internal glass in porch, also door to porch
Tops of kitchen cupboards
Pull out kitchen appliances and clean underneath/behind
Pull out sofas and clean behind/under them (also get the hoover down the sides of them to get any crumbs etc)
Clean Spindles/bannisters and painted bits at the side of the stair treads (when I move I’m going to a house with enclosed stairs or better yet a bungalow)