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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Since the lockdown, what's the state of your home?

137 replies

Times10 · 11/04/2020 14:58

We're 3 weeks into lockdown and I was hoping our house would be tidier and cleaner, but that hasn't happened so far, although we have done some tiny jobs that needed to be done for a while.

Is your home a) better b)the same c) worse since lockdown ? Us it's b mostly (but our b = untidy and not lovely) with a bit of c some days, so the opposite to what I hoped would happen!

OP posts:
Times10 · 11/04/2020 18:01

If we had to downsize right now we wouldn't have any floor space! So I can imagine the job you have to declutter to fit everything in!

OP posts:
nancyjuice7 · 11/04/2020 18:06

A steady B)

Washing is getting done a lot quicker and we've washed all the pillow and mattress protectors today. But that's mainly due to the weather and being able to dry it.

But generally is more messy as I'm working from home and OH is furloughed so we're both at home a lot more.

The garden however - is spotlessGrin

GetUpAgain · 11/04/2020 18:07

Mine was worse than ever.

I'm working (more than) full time from home and resent also being the only one who ever cleans.
DH is slowly decorating and thinks he is the only one who works hard.
Both teens are 'on holiday' and therefore think they shouldn't have to do anything.

I sat them all down for a talking to the other day and things have improved thank goodness.

Musicalmistress · 11/04/2020 18:21

Trying to keep on top of things but with us all home a lot more there is a whole lot more mess!

HollyBollyBooBoo · 11/04/2020 18:28

Much better! It is so nice to be able to do all the jobs that have been building up, especially in the garden.

Finallyamummy · 11/04/2020 19:18

B) we're a family of 4, 2 dc under 6. We're usually out of the house all.day so just being home is creating more pots and washing. My dishwasher is on twice a day and the washer daily. I am good at getting jobs done and staying in top of them but it feels constant at the moment. The warm weather doesn't help either as I've been sunbathing rather than getting in with jobs.

mrshoho · 11/04/2020 19:45

Better in some ways. I've been doing the jobs I've been meaning to get around to. My oven is gleaming so much so that I didn't want to use it 😬. Bathroom de-limescaled, light fittings taken down and cleaned, hovered behind big sofas and beds, windows and skirting boards cleaned. paperwork filed and binned. The downside is the kids schoolwork but I've got some storage on the way so hoping to get it in order. My floors are getting cleaned and hovered more too. Our tip is closed for now so limited to what I can get rid of as don't want to clutter up the garage.

Honeyroar · 11/04/2020 19:55

Still a mess! I’ve passed the first two weeks doing a lot of batch cooking, making sure all the veg got used up. The last week has been spent doing outside jobs (we have fields and stables). I’m embarrassed that everyone else has sparkling houses and are doing diy! Still time though.

MayTheGodsBeEverInYourFavour · 11/04/2020 19:58

Travesty.

FrenchyQ · 11/04/2020 20:05

Better...we did a massive clean last weekend and am actually keeping on top of it now.

dyscalculicgal96 · 11/04/2020 20:14

It was messy around here for days. Yesterday afternoon I did a full spring clean. I mercilessly inspected all the cupboards and got rid of a lot of unwanted or unusable items. I either put them into black bin bags or shredded them. I found a lot of my old textbooks in cupboards.
Our cleaner also stopped coming so I made everyone help me. I spent most of yesterday doing that. I also did some laundry and mopped the floors. All the children's books and beloved art supplies now have a new home as well.

Weepingwillows12 · 11/04/2020 20:16

C definitely. 2 kids age 6 and 4 needing lessons plus 2 of us working full time from home. I think it's the lack of routine mainly. Hoping once things start to settle,I will figure out when to do housework. There is so much more mess and washing up when we are at home. Laundry situation is better as it's not uniforma and casual clothes each day. Also the weather has been nice so been using downtime to do spring jobs in the garden as thats 100% more enjoyable than hoovering, scrubbing, dusting etc...

CremeEggThief · 11/04/2020 20:20

B but slightly cleaner, as I have done a few deep cleaning jobs, but not as many as I could have done!

My house is always surface clean and extremely tidy anyway though.

LuckyLuckyWoman · 11/04/2020 20:25

Started decorating as I have the time, which means everywhere looks like a bomb site. Hoping it looks better after the weekend.

All the washing and ironing is up to date though

Unknown2020 · 11/04/2020 20:43

Mines pretty much the same as usual. I’m OCD and have a set cleaning routine I do throughout the day or I can’t relax, so my house is still clean and tidy but I’ve had loads more to do with 2 young children about. Although they have been playing out side a lot so the house is staying fairly tidy in certain areas

IWillWearTheGreenWillow · 11/04/2020 20:51

We've moved from A (because DS1 was nocturnal for a week when he was forced home by the Uni) to C (because 6 almost adult sized people in even an extended semi gets a bit squeaky) to A again after I gave them all a severe talking to on the topic of I Am Not A Between Maid.

drunkyhumptydumpty · 11/04/2020 20:51

Today. Right now. OKish.

Yesterday. Apocalyptic.

Tomorrow. Probably not great.

IWillWearTheGreenWillow · 11/04/2020 20:52

Ah, shit, sorry - B to C to B. Because now some of them put things away.

Rockbird · 11/04/2020 20:53

Better. Much more time to tidy and clean. Would love to decorate my bedroom but don't have paint or anything. Such a wasted opportunity.

pastapestoparmesan · 11/04/2020 20:55

Massively better. I’ve discovered I quite like chores! The only problem is I’m running out of space to store all the stuff that needs to go to the charity shop.

NamedyChangedy · 11/04/2020 21:01

A - quitea bit better, but with less effort.

Our cleaner hasn't been for a few weeks so I'm having to do a deep clean of the bathrooms once a week, but I find that I have more time to reset - put things where they belong before bed etc. Otherwise I kind of follow a lazy version of the organised mum method so I do a quick swish of the whole house on top of that every week.

Also we're generating far less laundry than we would normally, from doing much less sport. And not having any playdates, which usually result in the house bring turned upside down.

TheMostHappy · 11/04/2020 21:05

Ours is a tip!! 😩 Our 8 and 2yo Ds can trash the joint much quicker than we can clean and tidy it around work.

Jeleste · 11/04/2020 21:25

Better! I have been washing curtains and cleaning out every single cabinet in the kitchen!
But im a sahm and cant go out atm, so i have a lot of time.

Bridecilla · 11/04/2020 21:34

@Times10 I actually finished tidying the toy area. The Lego shit nearly finished me off but I'm so glad I did.

I reckon 2 hours tomorrow and the whole huge (never thought about the one room = always looks messy unless you're bang on top of it) kitchen diner / toy room will be shiny.

Except the windows. The windows can fuck off

rottiemum88 · 11/04/2020 21:37

A little better than normal. I'm a bit of a neat freak by nature, so it's always pretty clean and tidy (despite the toddler and dogs best efforts!), but since lockdown and saving time on commuting etc I've actually had time to tackle some of my spring cleaning jobs list that otherwise go by the wayside, like cleaning all the windows, scrubbing the skirting boards and deep cleaning the bathrooms. That said, all it's really convinced me of is my lack of time to actually do any of these things in anything but a lockdown scenario, so we'll be hiring a cleaner once the current situation ends! Smile