Those with full time jobs - how do you keep your house clean?

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To all those who work full time - what are your tips and routines for keeping your house spick and span? I want my house to be “visitor ready” as we seem to get a lot of people popping round! I did a huge clean of the main rooms downstairs before Christmas and the house looked amazing, but I’m worried that now I’m back at work it’s going to slide back into the messy, cluttered state it was before...

It’s taken me a while to get to this stage, but it involved a lot of decluttering and then finding a place for everything. We’ve just developed a good routine, for example after dinner (DH cooks), I will tidy kitchen and we always have two mins to go round before bed.

The best piece of advice is to go around and make sure everything has a place to be put away, that way when you’re cleaning, you aren't wasting that time tidying up

Well having a cleaner helped. But seriously, if you’re not there, how is the house getting dirty?

When i didn’t have a cleaner I blitzed the house on a weekend and did daily stuff like wipe the sink, toilet, surfaces, push the hoover round downstairs. Clean up after yourself as you go along

If your issues is older kids that make a mess when you’re at work, ask them to move out

Do you have DC? If so and they're older than a baby you can start training them to do little things to help.

Little and often. We do a main clean on a Wednesday, then each day I do a quick sweep of the house, never leave anything till later, I.e always put dirty pots straight in the dishwasher, load of washing every day, clean up after cooking and put stuff away when you finish using it

Try and do 30 mins of some sort of cleaning a day. It's the only way I can keep even Nearly on top of it.

never leave anything till later, I.e always put dirty pots straight in the dishwasher

This struck a chord, thanks. I tend to leave dirty pots on the side to wash up later, crumbs on the units, various bottles out - things build up and before I know it the kitchen is back to a right state!

The main area like the kitchen is wiped down and pots in dishwasher or emptied at the end of the day,

Items are tided away most days so it doesn't get messy. Any real 'mess'/spillage etc is sorted out straight away.

Towels etc get washed on set days each week.

The whole house is cleaned on set days every two weeks.

I don't feel like the house is ever really messy or dirty but neither do I feel that I am cleaning all the time.

5 minutes in the morning! I’m really lucky that although I’m working full time my commute is only ten minutes so I don’t have to get up horribly early. As a result I don’t mind setting my alarm 5 minutes earlier than needed to do a quick clean - eg last night I put a wash on before I went to be knowing I’d have 5 mins to hang it on the dryer this morning when I got up and it’ll be dry to put away when I get in later today. Big clean when I have more time at the weekend but the little bits each day help!

Agree with pp who say clean as you go (eg pots straight into dishwasher) and everything having a place too!

I read that fly lady stuff for a while. The only thing that stuck with me was to leave your kitchen sink shiny before you go to bed. I try to do this so that I come down in the morning to a clear kitchen.

I get up v early to tidy around, unload dishwasher, etc, as I can’t bear the thought of coming home to a tip. Also decluttering, a home for everything, encouraging DD to only get one type of toy (ie Lego/crafts) out at a time, to avoid a complete toy tip. And my mantra is “don’t put things down, put them away”

And definitely involve family members wherever possible

Cleaner once a week and 20 mins of cleaning/tidying before bed for both me and my husband - washing up, putting on a load of laundry, tidying living room, putting bins out, etc.

The organised mum method works for us although I’ve been slack recently due to poor mental health. Work is about all I can manage. DH is trying his hardest.

Cleaner not an option for me sadly due to finances. If I could afford one I definitely would!

The Christmas decs are due to come down this weekend - as much as I’ll miss them, I think it will help to get the house back to normal.

Everything’s still looking lovely at the moment (downstairs at least). Long may it last!

It's so much easier to clean if you declutter first. This year I got a cleaner and it's amazing. I feel like a huge pressure has been removed. Begore that I used to do a big clean half a day a week, bathrooms, kitchens, floors etc. I also clean as I go which helps a lot.

Clean and tidy as we go, clear/wipe surfaces last thing at night/first thing eg whilst waiting for kettle. Roomba is useful! Bathrooms weekly, oven occasionally, washing on overnight.

Similar to what a previous poster said about making sure everything has a place, I heard on a podcast that your whole house should be modelled on your cutlery drawer - you know where the knives and forks go in the little divider in the drawer, so extrapolate that to the rest of the house. Then when you're tidying, it's much quicker.

Cleaning products in every room. We have 3 bathrooms so there's a cloth, bleach, and a spray in each. Means you can do it quickly while you're in there.

10 minute tidy up after the kids are in bed works for us too. Quick look around and making sure plates are in dishwasher, table is wiped, clothes are taken upstairs, then we can relax for the evening.

I have little deadlines to avoid leaving things lying. So i will clean up from cooking as much as a possible can before I eat the meal. Everything goes straight in the dishwasher as I go so by the time the meal is over, i only need to put plates and cutlery away, wipe the counters and sweep.

Empty dishwasher while I'm boiling the kettle.

Quick bathroom clean while i'm running a bath.

Toys always get put away before we go out or sit down to eat.

I alternate a quick hoover upstairs and downstairs each day using the cordless dyson while DH baths DS or walking the dog so we can both sit down together.

My house isn't a show home but it is tidy and I don't mind visitors popping in. It's only really messy when DS has his toys out which is fair enough.

I chose a (male) life partner who loves cleaning.

At the risk of sounding evangelical, a robot hoover and mop. They go round every single day, sometimes twice. They pick up so much which keeps the floors clean but also means there is less dust in the house generally so they reduce the amount of dusting required.

They also mean floors stay cleared of clutter because I want to keep them clear for the robots.

That's 50% of the work done without much effort and a tidy, clean floor makes the whole room look so much better - even if it's a bit untidy.

1. Get rid of anything you don't need and arrange the rooms so they are really easy to use, look after and clean.
2. Give each room a clean and tidy once a week. I posted a weekly cleaning schedule here which could be adapted as a weekend-only cleaning schedule. austerityhousekeeping.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/weekly-cleaning-schedule-2/
3. Sort out your morning routine. I give tips here austerityhousekeeping.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/morning-has-broken/
4. Use your Sunday night to maximum effect in planning for the week ahead. This post gives advice austerityhousekeeping.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/sunday-night-organisation/

I do a big clean on a Friday night. Controversial, I know! We both chip in a full hour right after work doing a proper clean. Means we can relax all weekend.

We clean the kitchen every evening after dinner, including the hob and sink.

We do a big de-clutter once a year and everything has a home so there's rarely anything lying around and we put things away each day after using them.

Through the week I will wipe down the bathroom and hoover to top it up. I also do a load of washing about 4 or 5 days a week. I don't spend more than 20-30 mins per day putting washing away, general tidying, dishwasher while OH cooks, then the big Friday clean we both do together.

Realistically you also need to divide up the tasks between all household members, with everyone doing as much as they can.

I never stand still and wait for something. All the small moments in the day waiting (running bath, boiling kettle) add up, and I fill them with small jobs that also add up.

When I brush my teeth I swipe around the sink and taps at the same time.
When I bath my kids I give the toilet a good clean while they play with their bath toys for a few mins.
When I finish my bath I swipe down the tiles (a quick job if done regularly).
When I boil the kettle I either wipe cupboard fronts or do the draining board (again super quick if done regularly).
I never leave the room without looking around to see what I can take with me.
Things for upstairs/downstairs get put next to the stairs and I never go up/down without taking something along.
I delegate - hoovering, dusting, and ironing are DHs job and I never think about these. He's happy because he hates bathroom/kitchen jobs and I take care of these.

Just a few examples, but it means a lot of the housecleaning feels like it just gets done automatically. Then it's just the spot-checks/decluttering I have to make a conscious effort for (I say 'just'!).

Declutter,tidy the kitchen as you go.

Complete declutter (as soon as something outgrown it’s passed on), wake early to get laundry through and have a coffee, time to myself. Empty rubbish daily. Cleaner weekly (Inc ironing and bi weekly linen change). I meal plan, order food online. Tidy away after every meal. Everyone in the house keeps it and understands what chores involve. If repairs need to be done I get a handy person to do them ASAP. I don’t care if the curtains are not perfect, the house interior could be painted and the carpets might be changed - that’s the work of another decade.

Without having a spot for things v difficult to keep on top of. Good luck.