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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

The Organised Mum Method

542 replies

SylvanasWindrunner · 02/09/2021 10:30

Is anyone doing this/just started?

We just started this week and oh my goodness, our house is clean! Someone could turn up unexpectedly and I could let them in and not die of shame!

Even toddler DD came downstairs today and said 'Oh, it's clean here!' Blush Grin

OP posts:
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11
Cyw2018 · 07/09/2021 12:00

I've followed the method for nearly 3 years since DD was about 8 months old. I've heavily adapted it to my very small cottage and our work schedules. But the basic principles are the same. I think it is brilliant.

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 07/09/2021 12:01

If you do a different part of the bathroom each day, you're still only hitting each thing once a week! I prefer to do it all together while I have the stuff out. And I do give things a wipe as part of level 1 if they need it, so it never looks bad. Just gave mine their weekly going over now, and they definitely weren't manky beforehand.

I keep forgetting to put the dishwasher on in the evenings, it's annoying. I'm going to have to come up with a plan to remind me. It puts my whole kitchen routine out of kilter.

Note to self: arrange to get the chimney cleaned, and scrub the outside of the coal scuttle, it's grimy and fire season is coming.

Cyw2018 · 07/09/2021 12:08

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername

If you have Alexa then programme her to remind you to load the dishwasher each evening.

noshiforever · 07/09/2021 12:28

@chilliplant634

I like the method, but I've found that the jobs take a lot longer than the allotted time....maybe I'm just too slow. It always takes me way longer than its supposed to and then I give up because I hate the feeling I'm cleaning all the time!
This is my experience!

Cannot get it to work for me!

freezerdinners · 07/09/2021 15:06

Me too.... It's the level 1 stuff that for me takes way more than the 15 minutes... And I seem to have loads more on it than she lists. ...

Laundry alone takes almost 15 mins when added together the separate tasks for it. Then there's the loading/unloading dishwasher, washing up stuff that doesn't go in, tidying up general family daily mess, wiping down kitchen....

These all have to be done daily! Can't see how they are possible in 15 minutes

Planttrees · 07/09/2021 16:10

Most of the level 1 stuff I do automatically anyway but there are a couple of things that I will now do more often.

I have decided to adapt the Level 2 plan so my four day week is:

Monday - Kitchen (and clothes laundry)
Tuesday - Sitting room/conservatory
Wednesday - Bedrooms (Alternate weeks for linen changes)
Thursday - Bathrooms (including washing towels)

I don't have a hall or stairs and I wanted a separate bathroom day as there is too much to do it all in the level 1 daily clean. I prefer to do the kitchen on a Monday as I always feel it needs a good clean after the weekend and particularly after a Sunday roast dinner or having extra family around.

I don't need daily clothes laundry for myself so have just added that to Mondays (children do their own now at weekends).

For Level 3, I decided I could just cycle through the same 4 categories so that each got a thorough clean once a month on Friday focus.

Its simple and it suits me, so just need to see if I can keep it up.

DollyPartBaked · 07/09/2021 18:52

Bedroom day here and only got two out of three rooms clean. Our room remains a dumping ground and is actually worse today because I dragged everything out from under the bed to hoover and then ran out of time to put it back.

I hate the endless laundry and it definitely takes more than 15 minutes. I am going to start a routine of doing a load every day but filling it the night before on a timer so it's ready to hang out in the morning.

Indecisivelurcher · 07/09/2021 19:39

Feel like I've done so much cleaning today 😩 Really not fun. I suppose this is what I get for not starting with boot camp... Had to keep going beyond the time thanks to kids messing up downstairs while I tidied upstairs, and blummin cat vomit! I've also spent some time going through the app to set it up better for me. I'm going living rooms + extension, bedrooms, bathrooms + loo, kitchen. I hope it'll mean doing more of the vacuuming in one go and more of the bathroom in one go, so less in out in out shake it all about.

Bookaholic73 · 07/09/2021 19:42

I’ve tried it a few times, but it always takes me so long!
How long does it actually take everyone else to do the level 1&2 jobs?

EgonSpengler2020 · 07/09/2021 19:48

@DollyPartBaked

Bedroom day here and only got two out of three rooms clean. Our room remains a dumping ground and is actually worse today because I dragged everything out from under the bed to hoover and then ran out of time to put it back.

I hate the endless laundry and it definitely takes more than 15 minutes. I am going to start a routine of doing a load every day but filling it the night before on a timer so it's ready to hang out in the morning.

I find with bedrooms that once your are on top of them and they are tidy that 10 minutes per bedroom is plenty and missing a week doesnt matter too much. I only have 2 bedrooms to do so some weeks if I'm too busy with other stuff I will skip the bedrooms (just change the sheets) but if you have 3 or 4 bedrooms to do then try rotating then.

But you need to be clear that tidying is not cleaning which is what the 30 minutes is for and therefore it is the responsibility of the occupier of the bedroom to keep it tidy.

DollyPartBaked · 07/09/2021 19:49

I know that feeling! Also the level 1 jobs don't take into account all the other stuff that needs doing - I think I'm finding it even harder because at home all day (which means I have some time except for the baby and toddler!) but then there's all the lunches to clean up and I'm weaning the baby who eats at a different time... so basically always cleaning

Going to time how long it takes me to do the suggested level 1 jobs !

Russell19 · 07/09/2021 20:33

Where do I find the plan?! Haha

chilliplant634 · 07/09/2021 20:51

If I am understanding it correctly the level 1 tasks include the following:

1.Make up beds in morning

  1. Clean bathroom sink
  2. Put a load of laundry in the washing machine
  3. Take out clean laundry, hang to dry or put in tumble dryer.
  4. fold and put away dry laundry
  5. Vaccum all main areas of house. In my case this is living room, kitchen and hallway.
  6. Before vacuuming I have to pick up or help kids tidy away toys etc

How do you do all that in 15 minutes ????

Then on top of that you need another 30 minutes minimum for other cleaning. And still need to cook! It took me half an hour to clean off my kids dirty handprints from the kitchen units the other day. Confused

The method is good in the sense you keep on top of things throughout the week, rather than leaving it all for the weekend. But I do think if you are a family with kids you will need to be realistic and factor in a lot more time!

chilliplant634 · 07/09/2021 20:58

@freezerdinners

Me too.... It's the level 1 stuff that for me takes way more than the 15 minutes... And I seem to have loads more on it than she lists. ...

Laundry alone takes almost 15 mins when added together the separate tasks for it. Then there's the loading/unloading dishwasher, washing up stuff that doesn't go in, tidying up general family daily mess, wiping down kitchen....

These all have to be done daily! Can't see how they are possible in 15 minutes

That's so true! I didn't include unloading Dishwasher, washing up, and cleaning up after kids! And tidying away child associated clutter which ends up spread all over the house!
Original poster
SylvanasWindrunner · 07/09/2021 21:32

Beds are literally folding back duvet. Hoover is a quick run over, takes maybe twice the time it takes to just walk over the area. You aren't doing corners or crevices. Bathroom is a quick wipe of one or two things, I do that when I go for a pee. Takes like a minute.

The only time-consuming thing is the laundry and my husband and I do that together.

Tidying toys takes a couple of mins in our house because we have big storage boxes that everything just gets scooped into.

I think the problem people have when they think about level 1 stuff is they go to deep, but it's really just a very quick going over for the daily stuff. It's not scrubbing on hands and knees. You don't hoover corners or crevices, you literally just run the hoover around the busy areas very quickly. You properly hoover the rooms on their individual days - that's what the level 2 stuff is for.

OP posts:
Original poster
SylvanasWindrunner · 07/09/2021 21:39

Things like cleaning the kitchen as you go aren't level 1 jobs - they are just jobs you have to do as part of life, really. You have to clean kitchen surfaces or wash up - there's no way of avoiding that. The level 1/2/3 jobs are ways to keep on top of stuff that could otherwise build up, but it's assumed you are already doing washing up and wiping kitchen surfaces before preparing food I guess.

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chilliplant634 · 08/09/2021 05:25

@SylvanasWindrunner

Beds are literally folding back duvet. Hoover is a quick run over, takes maybe twice the time it takes to just walk over the area. You aren't doing corners or crevices. Bathroom is a quick wipe of one or two things, I do that when I go for a pee. Takes like a minute.

The only time-consuming thing is the laundry and my husband and I do that together.

Tidying toys takes a couple of mins in our house because we have big storage boxes that everything just gets scooped into.

I think the problem people have when they think about level 1 stuff is they go to deep, but it's really just a very quick going over for the daily stuff. It's not scrubbing on hands and knees. You don't hoover corners or crevices, you literally just run the hoover around the busy areas very quickly. You properly hoover the rooms on their individual days - that's what the level 2 stuff is for.

Thanks for that. Yes you're right, cleaning kitchen surfaces and dishes etc is something that is already happening on a daily basis. I'm not knocking the method. My point was that when you add up the total time cleaning, for me at least, it ends up being more than the allotted time. But you're right. This is life and nothing else can be done!

The toy tidying takes a bit longer because for example if the kids are playing with a jigsaw puzzle and have left the pieces all over the floor, I try and make them put it back together before it is put away in the toy cupboard. Also I'm trying to encourage them to pick up their own toys, which takes them longer. They are only 4 and 2. I try and limit the number of toys allowed out at a time, but inevitably sometimes they take things out themselves while I am doing something else and it all gets a bit out of control!

CrasterKipper · 08/09/2021 07:37

I think this is the issue for me - the general kitchen/dishes, daily laundry, toys/kids clutter, shoes coats bags strewn around, is as much as I can realistically manage to fit in. So the tidying really.

Then every so often I'll manage to change a bed or hoover/mop a spillage, clean an appliance, etc.

The house is still a bombsite, it never gets tidy enough to start the level 1, although I like the idea of making the beds each day and trying to put away clean washing every night. Going to start that. There might be a few other titbits that are useful.

We have a cleaner once a week and without their help I genuinely don't think our house would ever be cleaned. I wish I was much better at this stuff, and unfortunately I don't get much help from the others in the house (that's another issue!)

freezerdinners · 08/09/2021 08:22

@SylvanasWindrunner thanks for that - that's a helpful way of looking at it. And I can see it would get easier as time goes on. I'm definitely guilty of doing too much in one go, getting frustrated at how long it all takes and giving up.

This week I'm going to try and stick to the timings, and just add in some extra declutter to help....

I definitely like the idea of the method and feel strangely excited at it's potential. Would like some more buy in from the other occupants of the house, but, yeah like @CrasterKipper
That's another issue! Plus one is only one year old and does his absolute best to undo any tidying I manageGrin

Original poster
SylvanasWindrunner · 08/09/2021 18:05

What's been key for us is making sure that everything has a 'home'. We were guilty of just moving stuff around from room to room or letting it build up in certain places rather than actually putting it away anywhere, so we sorted out our storage first so that everywhere has somewhere to go, and for stuff like toys we just have canvas storage boxes you can just scoop everything into.

We still have a pile of shame in the spare room that I need to tackle though! But at least if it's contained in one room I can close the door on it Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
SylvanasWindrunner · 08/09/2021 18:06

I'm returning from my trip away tomorrow and DH assures me he has been following the plan, but we shall see! Hmm

OP posts:
DollyPartBaked · 08/09/2021 18:52

@SylvanasWindrunner let us know how he has done! I've yet to co opt my partner into TOMM as I'm on maternity leave (and he does the majority of the cooking and a lot of childcare when not at work) but will be on my return to work.

I haven't been that successful today but probably managed the level 1 stuff (not timed!!)

SoundBar · 08/09/2021 19:23

Just downloaded the app. Added dishwasher to the level 1 tasks. It does make a difference to set it off every night regardless of how full it is, and empty it every morning.

Although I do like the idea of having 2 dishwashers and never putting anything into a cupboard Wink

DollyPartBaked · 08/09/2021 20:51

@SoundBar - I also added dishwasher. And I broke down the wash/ hanging / putting away to motivate me to tick each part off the list.

Washing is already in the machine on timer. I actually think doing one wash a day is a good idea and then the weekend will hopefully be clear of laundry!

Wilma55 · 08/09/2021 21:11

I'm now having trouble customising on app. I've added porch to Wednesday and saved it. It then says remember to refresh. New item disappears. Anyone help please?