5 days to clean my house - what must I know

[MessyHouseExhausted]

I have a week off work, kids are at school/nursery, house is cluttered and unclean. I'm starting this morning with the laundry.

What jobs do I need to get done? Things I might not think of that will make a difference. All advice welcome

I clean my house from top to bottom once a week. So all surfaces wiped with a disinfectant solution, polish where appropriate. Clean the kitchen. Hoover and mop hard floors downstairs. Clean mirrors. Clean bathroom and bleach loo. Change sheets. Same cleaning of surfaces upstairs. Hoover upstairs and do the stairs too. Wipe over windows with glass cleaner. I take a bin bag round to pick up any rubbish. Any kids clutter downstairs is put into a washing basket and deposited in his room.

It sounds as though you need to clear rubbish and clutter first so that's what I'd do so you can clean effectively. It'll also be much easier to keep on top of. I clean loos daily and run hoover round downstairs daily. Never leave stuff to pile up in kitchen. I wash stuff up after every meal. I can't bear mess though 😬

it is much easier to clean and organize after decluttering so start with that
chose the easy stuff first without any sentimental value
kitchen have 2 boxes rubbish and donate/sell
get rid of all out of date food; anything your family won't eat and any containers that are stained or missing lids or lids that fit nothing, only then decide whether the number left is reasonable and how best to stack store them
then get rid of anything broken, then decide how many of each thing you need if you have 40 mugs it's too many but to allow for reasonable use you might want more than 1 each
then look at gadgets do you actually use them, even if you paid good money for them they are adding no value in the back of a cupboard, just sell or donate
people often buy new things because they can't find the one they have or you merge households and so have a collection of potato peelers cheese graters etc
once you have decided how much stuff you are actually going to keep in the kitchen then clean it and put it back, if you find non kitchen stuff in kitchen just take it to right room and leave it there until you deal with that room
5 days
today kitchen, tuesday lounge including toys books and hall, wednesday bathroom medicines toiletries make up utility room if you have one and upstairs landing, thursday clothes shoes and accesories,
friday wash all bedlinen and clean bedrooms
Saturday take all items to chairty shop or recycling centre

Great advice thank you so much @TheFormidableMrsC and @Cottagecheeseisnotcheese

Just make a start! You sound like me… I’d spend a whole day planning too 🤦‍♀️

long term I suggest you follow 2 minute rule if it takes 2 minutes or less just do it immediately, wipe the kitchen table while the kettle boils, put things away not down ie just as easy to put in dishwasher as surface above dishwasher
open mail and decide what to do with it immediately:- bin, note on calendar, pile to deal with once a week in small admin session, if it needs to be kept file it away immediately
do not buy anything unless you know where it will live in your home
check what is in your cupboards before shopping so you don't buy things you already have,( this includes clothes) rotate stuff in fridge so you use things before they go out of date
don't create extra work for yourself if your kids wear clean uniform every day they may as well keep it on till bedtime so you don't have two sets of clothes per day, if they wear most of uniform again then change when they get home, but as only wearing it a couple of hours they can wear the same tomorrow evening as well,
limit the amount of childrens art work you keep, don't bin immediately while they watch but choose best piece to be on dispaly then replace with next masterpiece only put the cutest in a memory box which has a finite size anything can go in it but lid must always shut

You need to turn your phone off and start! De-cluttering as you go will make it take longer but will make it easier to clean next time.

Go and have a look at The Organised Mum Method and look at her bootcamp - it totally works!

Listen to podcast while you work. Really treat it like a 'job' pretend you are being paid and that you have a boss who will check up on you.

1)Declutter first. Get a bin bag and go through the contents of every room and throw stuff out.

2. Organise what’s left. Buy storage items if necessary.

3. Clean everything.

Job done.

If you can, I would pay for a month’s subscription on Patreon to the organised mum method (it’s about £4 I think). She’s like a personal trainer for cleaning - just stick it on and follow what she says. It takes away your need to think about what you are doing.

Please don't spend your precious week off work cleaning! Just do 3 hours this week, 3 hours next week, etc. If you live with another adult get them to do the same. You'll soon see a massive improvement if you just do a bit consistently.

Please go out and do something nice! The weather is lovely atm (or it is here at least).

I would prioritise loo, kitchen sink and draining board and hob. When those are clean everything feels better.

Listen to A Slob Comes Clean podcast. She's great!

1. get rid of the "duh" clutter first. Dirty dishes, obvious rubbish and tat.
2. take it there now, always - no piling stuff up intending to take it later - each item you find that is in the wrong place, take it to the right place straight away. This is because if you get distracted part way through (and this is usual and normal) you will always be in a better, not worse state of affairs than when you started.

My own tip is that clean floors make everything else look better. Start with the things that make the biggest difference, like hoovering and mopping the floors. Prioritise whatever will make the second much difference - for me that would be getting the laundry up to date, the bathroom then the kitchen clean. Then I would dust. Much lower down the list I would wash sofa covers and move furniture to clean underneath it which is why I never do .

Oh and if you're actually decluttering, use a donatable box or bag for charity shop donations, and do visible spaces first - it is tempting to start inside the wardrobe but getting the visible wins done first not only helps the overall house but you get a little motivational dopamine hit every time you see the decluttered space which helps you keep going.

Also: make an appointment with yourself for when you will take the stuff to charity and make sure you stick to it. Otherwise that just hangs around too.

I also agree with the person who said spend some time in the sun and do nice things, too! Maybe a couple of hours working on this in the morning, 4 hours for a leisurely walk/lunch/trip out, then another couple of hours tidying in the evening.

That’s what I was going to say. Here it is.

Following for ideas! I'm slowly moving from SAHM to housewife now all my DC are at school and nursery.

I like the idea of flylady but need to declutter first.

So far I'm trying to treat it like a job and plan out my day eg 9-10 might be clear breakfast dishes and wash up, 10-11 might be laundry, 11-12 admin, 12-1 lunch break etc.

I'm also trying to focus on one room a day!

Its not going very well tbh!

I'd love to have a week like this. Good luck OP. I echo the key advice to actually make sure you take the donate or tip stuff Out Of the House.

Also give yourself some love - progress might be slow. But it's all progress. So don't tell yourself you've failed at any time.

I would take a "before" photo before you tackle an area. That could make you feel even better once you've done a bit, to look back at how it's improved.

It's up to you what method you choose - there are loads out there, lots with similar principles. I use TOMM. I've tried doing one big weekly clean, but I work so hard during the week that taking up a full day on the weekend breaks my heart.

You've got a week. You can't clean clutter. Each day this week divide the house up into five and focus on cleaning and decluttering one room each day.

Have three bags - rubbish, charity and recycling. Make a trip to the tip each day if you can to stop a pile of bags cluttering up your house.

Pick a podcast or playlist to keep you motivated. Try not to sit down for too long on your phone as an hour can easily disappear.

Once you've done this huge clean and declutter, it's just about little jobs each day and keeping on top of things.

Enjoy and good luck!

@Decafflatteplease off the subject, but what is the difference between SAHM and housewife? Does it just mean you're at home with no children because they're at school? I'd always assumed (wrongly!) that they were the same thing!

Get a box. Walk around the house and put all your dirty dishes etc in there. Load the dishwasher and run it.

put away everyone’s clothes. If you have clothes to sell or donate. Make a separate pile. Be realistic about what you will sell. Just donare them. Put this bag in the car. Leave earlier today for the school run and donate the clothes

now declutter the obvious to give yourself some clear spaces
box one
broken/old to be thrown away stuff
box two
for sorting into the right place/home.

Now you can clean.

Dust all surfaces and wipe down. Then vacuum throughout. Then do each bathroom
bleach the loo bowl. Leave that to work while you clean the sink and other surfaces. Spray your shower down with lime scale remover. Scrub the loo. Scrub the shower. Rinse the shower. Clean the mirrors and glass. Steam mop the floor.

make your beds
fluff up the sofas.
wash throws/blankets
clean the hob
steam mop all hard surface floors

now you should have a mostly clean house

tonight-
oven pride the oven overnight.

tomorrow
Finish cleaning the oven
wipe down all kitchen cupboard fronts
pair all the shoes and throw away any old ones
dust and polish all light fixtures
use spray glass cleaner on on glass pictures.
do some ironing. Put away ALL laundry

tonight-
strip all your cushion covers and wash. Dry them overnight

next day
iron cushion covers and place back on
wipe down all radiators and skirting boards

I do think you should also do nice things this week clean from when you drop kids at school till 12 or 1pm then do stuff for yourself until you collect kids maybe one afternoon they can get on board with decluttering toys and books they are too old for, or clothes they have outgrown. Have fun one morning as you try on your own clothes making up new outfits out of stuff you have got or trying new combinations and get a list of gaps in wardrobe for a planned rewarding shopping trip

I agree with pps who said don’t plan, just do! Don’t be me basically.

Get yourself a bin bag, pop a few of your favourite songs onto a playlist and go into a room and get rid of as much stuff as you can in say 10 minutes. Afterwards, you’ll be amazed at how much you achieved and energised to keep going. Good luck!

m.youtube.com/user/ASlobComesClean

@MessyHouseExhausted

Dana K White on you tube.

Progress & only progress
No mess decluttering
container concept
2 Questions

she's the best!!

Follow her 'method' and your life WILL be transformed. She's very down to Earth, developed her methods from trying so many others & finding they didn't work for her.

she has books & flow charts etc, but the free you tube videos are all you need.

A bedroom always feels instantly cleaner to me with fresh sheets and well made.

A kitchen always feels instantly cleaner to me with the dishes done, sink cleaned and shiny and stove top cleaned.

A bathroom always feels cleaner to me with toilet bleached, shower or bath sprayed and wiped and mirrors cleaned.

If you have a robot vacuum, clear floors in each room and set it off.

Following with interest as I'm in a similar position!