How many hours a day do you clean?

[Lovelygardening]

I know obviously depends on who is in the house etc we are a family of 5. I am a carer to my youngest age 14 and have 2 older teens that work are at college and hubby that works long hours. I’m definitely not lazy but also I’m a rubbish housewife! How can I improve? It just isn’t something that comes naturally to me but bizarrely like a clean tidy home. For instance, the house was a tip the other day so I decided to dettol all my skirting boards and stair spindles. No one could tell I had done anything, I may as well have been sitting on my backside all day. How do people do it? I have no excuse of time and the chores should be down to me as that is my ‘role’ in the family life (no sexism just the way it is) my family don’t say anything and are very kind and forgiving but that makes me even more guilty. Help!!!!

I spend about 2 hours a week doing a proper clean and that includes changing the bedding, mopping floors etc.

Every day, I spend probably 30 minutes in total tidying and cleaning. That doesn't include washing up! But making the beds, tidying up dirty washing, doing a quick hoover.

I don’t understand why if your house was a tip you chose to Dettol the skirting boards and stair spindles, would tidying up not have been better?

I’m retired and tidy as I go. Have a large house and 3 cats, i large dog, they all shed fur so my biggest thing is vacuuming that takes the longest time, only 2 of us at home, I’ve never counted as in hours but I’d say one half hours a day!

To add though, we don't have much "stuff" aside from the children's toys and games, and even then I'm pretty strict on only having one thing out at a time. Me and DH have awful dust allergies which can trigger asthma so we're a bit neurotic about having as few surfaces as possible where dust can settle 😂

I have a cleaner every two weeks so I do almost no cleaning other than wiping table/surfaces in the kitchen after meals and wiping the bathroom/loo clean every few days. So about half an hour each day. My husband hoovers and mops floors every other day or so but I don’t keep track of that I guess he does it when it needs it

My best tip is never confuse cleaning and tidying. They are two different activities.

Do the bathrooms and hoovering every morning before leaving. Surfaces etc too and a deep clean once a week with an audiobook.

Maybe 30 mins for a general tidy and wipe sides down in the kitchen.

Then we both do a proper clean at the weekend, probably 2-3 hours as it's a big house. We don't have children though and are quite tidy people.

I don’t include tidying in cleaning. Tidying is a half-hour or so blitz at the end of every day. I don’t restrict the toys my children get out, they play really creatively across different types of toys

A day? Are you supposed to do it every day?

About an hour or so per day but my house ALWAYS looks like it hasn’t been touched. I hoover multiple times per day and mop daily but my toddler/bird/cat make it look like it hasn’t been touched within minutes of cleaning it.

I clean the kitchen and bathroom daily also, a load of washing and obviously the dishes. Then tidying toys etc. I do a big clean on a Friday where things like skirting boards, high dusting, fridge cleaning, windows and dusting etc all gets done.

Awful, isn't it? I've perfected not seeing my skirting boards 😃just in case the urge to dust and Dettol them gets too much.

20 / 30 mins a day only on weekdays (loosely follow organised mum)

I only havean open plan kitchen / living space - 2 bedrooms, Hall & bathroom

Monday i do the living space (hoovering/mopping/dusting make sure everything is tidyed away)

Tuesday bedrooms (hoovering/mopping/dusting make sure everything is tidyed away)

Weds Hall (hoovering/mopping/dusting make sure everything is tidyed away)

Thursday Living space (hoovering/mopping/dusting make sure everything is tidyed away)

Friday Bathroom!

For kids toys I literally have a few kallax boxes and chuck it all in end of the day (there is a toy chest in the bedroom too)

So place always seems tidy a by end of day

We have been very strict with decluttering baby items / toys since daughter was born and we give stuff away on olio every few months!

ALso have a robot hoover and send that round most evenings so the place is fairly clean

This! I check the bathrooms, cook and load dishwasher every day, but that's the only cleaning I do every day.

Sweep floors when they look dirty, dust ditto. I clean bathrooms at least once a week though. Hoover when I can make someone else do it (I hate hoovering).

But we have no pets and the Dc are older now so better house trained. They help.

What chores do your teens have?

It's good for them to have things they are responsible for, even if you aren't working outside the home.

Is shouldn’t take hours to clean a house. Especially if most of the household are out all day.
Where is the mess coming from?
Are you trying to fill your day?

When I can leave footprints in the dust on the floor and write my name in dust on the surfaces.....and I'm not lying. I detest cleaning with a passion. I clear up mucky stuff and the bathrooms - but that's it....................now where on earth did I leave that duster????

9 until 10.30 Mon-Sat, it’s still not spotless but I find this the only way to keep on top of all the cleaning/tidying. I have two children and a husband who are very messy!

I'm impressed by anyone who can count their time spent cleaning in "hours per day"!

Only 2 of us though so we don't have a bunch of kids to tidy up after and our place is still quite clean.

A couple of hours at the weekend (live in a small flat). Daily, just dishes. You really don't need to 'dettol' skirting boards, or anywhere in fact.

It sounds like your prioritising might be a bit off. If your house was a tip, was cleaning the skirting boards really the top priority?
I spend a lot of time tidying as I have 3 young children (1 disabled). Actual cleaning probably 1-2 hours a week, and we also have a cleaner who does 2 hours a week. DH probably does an additional hour a week on top of that.
I do value a clean/tidy house; clutter, mess and dirt affects my mental health. So for me it’s worth it, even if no one else notices.

About 45 mins a day Mon-Friday. Nothing at weekends other than maybe laundry and wiping down kitchen surfaces after meals. I do TOMM.

I should add that includes a bit of non-cleaning stuff such as the laundry though.

Like 10-15 minutes wiping down kitchen after cooking etc? That’s all…we have a cleaner who comes twice a week and are tidy / organised people anyway. So the house gets 5 hrs of cleaning a week, then just daily maintenance stuff on top.

I found the organised mum method good when I was doing the cleaning myself but it does mean you basically clean all the time.

Oh and finally I don't do it all by myself, we split it, so it's more like 20-25 mins each across a whole day.