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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Be honest! What things do you judge in other people’s houses?

623 replies

Teaandsleep · 14/02/2022 21:07

Just a fun post.

Recently doing a huge renovation in our own home and am absolutely mortified at the dust everywhere, I keep having visions of visitors coming to the door and seeing all the dust everywhere, it is thick!

I also currently have a spatula sticking out my down pipe drain as we have just unblocked it and it’s to catch any old leaves/moss until it’s replaced 🤣

OP posts:
MaternityMama · 15/02/2022 00:01

@whenwillthemadnessend

Confused as to how you can judge a skirting board?
^ this!!!

Who on earth has the time to go round cleaning all their skirting boards?? Mine are full of dust.. i'll give the odd bad looking one a wipe if its in view but thats probably once a year😂😂😂

NeedAHoliday2021 · 15/02/2022 00:03

Oh dear, our books are upstairs in every room but not downstairs due to puppy then I never moved them back.

I have a friend who only hoovers the middle of the carpet in every room so the pinky carpet is grey/almost black round the edges.

Lovemydoggie · 15/02/2022 00:05

I genuinely do not judge my friends homes. I love them all for different reasons…cannot understand why anyone else would.One of my friends house is very messy because her mum died recently..I have just done a bit of sensitive cleaning without her noticing..ie washing up
I never clean my skirting board ,nooks and crannies..life is too short!

Lovemydoggie · 15/02/2022 00:08

@BoredZelda

I judge people with no books.

Why?

Our books are in our bedroom 🙄
greenlynx · 15/02/2022 00:10

Not taking shoes off
Hygiene measures
Smell

Doodar · 15/02/2022 00:13

no bog brush and skidders
dirty tea towels and wash cloths
cat piss smell

CleansUpButWouldPreferNotTo · 15/02/2022 00:13

Broken loo seat, dirty loo, no loo paper. I check the loo roll when expecting gusts and if more than half gone, pop it in the cupboard and put out a new one. Swap back when they've gone. Rest of house can be messy but loo should be immaculate!

CleansUpButWouldPreferNotTo · 15/02/2022 00:14

Guests, not gusts - but maybe even more important to have plenty of loo roll if expecting gusts Grin Grin Grin

SirenSays · 15/02/2022 00:14

I'd prefer to see no books over messy or unorganised bookshelves.

HasaDigaEebowai · 15/02/2022 00:18

People saying “no books” are just being twatish. You could go into my house and not see many books at all unless someone has left one out on a coffee table. But I literally have a library. It is on the first floor so you wouldn’t see it.

People say it because they think it makes them sound intelligent.

I judge people who say they judge others for not having their books on display!

Rhannion · 15/02/2022 00:20

I only judge if people don’t have books!

Rhannion · 15/02/2022 00:21

@HasaDigaEebowai

People saying “no books” are just being twatish. You could go into my house and not see many books at all unless someone has left one out on a coffee table. But I literally have a library. It is on the first floor so you wouldn’t see it.

People say it because they think it makes them sound intelligent.

I judge people who say they judge others for not having their books on display!

I would want to see your library! 📚
FireMeetGasoline · 15/02/2022 00:33

I honestly don't think I judge other people's homes. I think I judge mine more than others. I have a dog. I'm nose blind to him, and he is welcome to sit on the couch, or sleep in our bed, or be where he wants to be. It's his house too, and my family and friends know that. When they are not here, my home smells lovely, as soon as someone turns up I can smell sewage Grin. I also get really pissed off with the mould stains on the white sealant in the bathroom. I'm forever asking my dp to replace it.

One thing I am fastidious about is clean crockery and cutlery, in an obsessive way. When I go to a friend or family members house, I often refuse a brew because I'm concerned about their washing up skills. The only houses I'm happy to question it is my sisters' houses. I'll usually make sure the cup is clean and I end up making the brews, they leave me to it. It works for me, and them, because I end up making the brews.

TicksallBoxes · 15/02/2022 00:35

Off* *

your house is filthy when you’re know I’m coming, then you early live like that all of the time and that’s gross.

DillDanding · 15/02/2022 00:36

Downstairs loos that have a slight smell of piss.

Toilet brushes.

DillDanding · 15/02/2022 00:39

You could visit my house and see virtually no books. My study however is full to bursting with books, also my upstairs hallway has 3 massive book shelves.

I just choose not to have books in our sitting room. Plus for several years now, we have been a kindle family.

starfishmummy · 15/02/2022 00:58

@riog

My sister in law never seems to have enough cups/plates/cutlery. She has a lovely clean home but seems to only have enough cups or plates for those that live in the house. We end up eating our food with kids plates or paper cups and it just seems weird to me. My sister doesn't have a kitchen bin- again has a lovely house- but just has a bin bag on the floor Confused
Cutlery at the PILS. The knives and forks are, I think, a 1970s "Steak set" with very pointy heavily serrated knives. Which just don't work if you need to spread something. There are only enough for people to have one set, so if she has done a starter we have to keep them for the main. Which is a personal hate of mine. Not that I say anything but DH knows and sneaks into the kitchen to wash them for me.
silentpool · 15/02/2022 01:02

I don't live in a show home or buy books any more - so now I'll know people are judging. But I do belong to the library so you might spot those books...it's not exactly tidy but it's cleaned regularly.

I don't know anyone with a seriously grimy home, so that's ok. I don't like cats on kitchen countertops or dogs begging around dinner tables, so I probably would secretly have an issue with that.

KneadingKitty · 15/02/2022 01:05

If they have lots of cringey quotes or something like a crushed velvet sofa. I hate velvet though so that factors in.

starfishmummy · 15/02/2022 01:05

@AllotmentTime

Doors that should lock but don’t.

I do not want to sit on the loo wondering if it really is true that if the door is shut then no one will walk in.

Somehow I’ve managed to stay in several peoples houses where there’s just a kind of good faith system about privacy. And not where there’s a pervy man keeping it that way on purpose or anything, just because genuinely that household has got used to not having a broken lock on the bathroom door and has forgotten it’s weird. Or took the lock off when their child was 3 and they’re now 14, or something.

Ugh. Just NO.

We don't have locks on ours because our SN son (adult) has epilepsy and we can't risk him locking himself in and having a seizure. But we don't have overnight guests or big parties so we would usually notice if someone was missing.
Kanaloa · 15/02/2022 01:06

@SirenSays

I'd prefer to see no books over messy or unorganised bookshelves.
People on these threads always say no books. They think it makes them look super duper intelligent because they don’t even have furniture, they just perch themselves lightly on stacks of Jane Austen hardbacks and balance their cup of tea on a little Brontë stack. I don’t think it makes you look intelligent at all to judge others for not displaying their book collection - just makes you look too stupid to consider that there are many reasons why someone may not read much, or they might even read so much they have a kindle so as not to have piles of books.

I only really judge if it’s very dirty. I tend to think if the house is really dirty then the person living like that must be uncomfortable.

Kanaloa · 15/02/2022 01:08

@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine

I do judge on the no books thing even though I know there may be thousands on kindle etc. I just don’t feel as comfortable without physical books around (as my house will attest!) I like nosing at what’s on the shelves and seeing if we have shared reading tastes. And no this isn’t a snobbish thing as I don’t read anything ‘improving’ - friends have commented that my books are all absolute cr*p (think lilac covers and chick lit!) and that I should be embarrassed!
If you’re close enough to be invited to someone’s home surely they don’t need to display their books for you to decide if you have shared tastes. You could just ask them. ‘Reading anything good at the moment? Ooh I like x author too.’

That might alleviate your discomfort at the lack of physical books Confused

TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine · 15/02/2022 01:15

Oh I do, Kanaloa, I do, but sometimes their bookshelves reveal the guilty secrets they don’t admit to, like those cheesy historical bodice rippers! Found some on a friend’s shelf once after her teenager had put them on the wrong bookcase (they were apparently normally hidden upstairs) and she was so embarrassed as she WAS a bit of a public book snob! I had to promise not tell anyone 😂 I have no shame though

TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine · 15/02/2022 01:16

Oh, and I love those cheesy books so was delighted to see them for that reason

Paramummy3 · 15/02/2022 01:17

When people don’t put covers on their quilts!

Food/drink waste left lying around

Sticky kitchen sides!!