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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

Does anyone else find it impossible to do anything more than the 'normal cleaning'?

31 replies

lilacclaire · 03/03/2008 11:43

Both me and DP work full time.
It's hard enough just to keep up to date with the normal washing/ironing, hoovering, dusting and keeping the bathroom and kitchen clean.
Have 2 ds's as well, one is 3 and he likes to make a lot of mess !
I'm just looking at the doors, windows and skirtings and wondering how on earth do people find the time to do it!
This morning (I don't start until 3pm this week), I have done 2 loads of washing, made chicken risotto, cleaned the kitchen, brushed the floor, polished and hoovered in the living room and am now just about to do a pile of ironing, oh and hung out washing (more still going in the machine).
Where am I going wrong, how do the domestic goddesses do it!!

OP posts:

ska · 03/03/2008 11:45

no idea. i really struggle too. had a cleaner and resented paying for them to just do what i could manage in reality - wanted skirtings etc done and they didnt do it. maybe do abig clean of one room a week?

Original poster

lilacclaire · 03/03/2008 12:03

I thought about a cleaner, but yes I would also resent paying someone for what me or dp could do ourselves.
Anyway, the house needs done at least twice a day (not polishing and hoovering) just to keep tidy, so it would be a waste of money tbh.
Think i'll move to a wee one bed on my own and just buy new clothes everyday and microwave meals.

OP posts:

MuddlingThru · 03/03/2008 12:09

DH works full time, I have been working 3 days per week since Oct, ds is 2, dd is 1 and I am pg. We have been keeping on top of the worst of it but resent how much it eats into our evenings/weekends and have finally bitten the bullet to get a cleaner in. Whenever I am doing anything on my 2 days 'off' it takes 3 times as long as it would if I didn't have the kids under my feet. I figured that a cleaner without kids under her feet could break the back of the weekly work in a couple of hours and if I got her to do the stuff that is most awkward to do with kids around I could then use my time to do the other stuff.

MrsThierryHenry · 03/03/2008 13:41

Bl**dy hell, LilaClaire. You sound like a domestic goddess to me!

nickytwotimes · 03/03/2008 13:43

lilacclaire, i'm a sahm, and i don't do as much as you! Domestic Goddesses are
a) lying
b) able to employ nannies or
c) on medication, prescription or otherwise!

Original poster

lilacclaire · 03/03/2008 14:07

I may have been exagerating the chicken risotto, it was meant to be chicken soup and put too much rice in, so just changed the name
Im off to work now for a rest!!

OP posts:

Original poster

lilacclaire · 03/03/2008 14:08

So does everyone else have manky windows then? Can I stop feeling bad about it?

OP posts:

nickytwotimes · 03/03/2008 14:09

Mine are foul! tilt the blinds, that's my philosophy!

ladette · 03/03/2008 14:22

I'm like you but only work part-time so don't really have an excuse. I'd also resent paying a cleaner, and feel uncomfortable havign someone else rooting through our mess. What I am thinking of doing tho is having a cleaner in with me for a couple of days to really give the place a good going over, on the basis that it might be easier to keep it up afterwards. Has anyone done that and does it work? Am also thinking of getting MN to revoke my registration, as it's too tempting to spend time on here rather than getting on with the work.

booge · 03/03/2008 17:06

That's why we have a cleaner, I really can't cope without help and that's just the regular stuff.

choosyfloosy · 03/03/2008 17:08

looking forward to seeing more domestic hotshots on here to get advice.

blossomsmine · 03/03/2008 21:52

I am the same, i try to have a quick tidy up before work each day, also hoover clean bathroom and kitchen, put washing on and iron at night, also sort something out for dinner......But the deep down cleaning never seems to get done, you know, the skirting boards, windows, organising cupboards and wardrobes, cleaning doors and wood work, de cluttering, all the stuff that needs doing....drives you mad doesn't it! Saying all that i spent a day on Saturday, don't usually have the day off, sorting out my bedroom, this is not a lie but it was like a dumping ground, really embarrasing and i could hardly sleep in it cos of the junk and mess...Anyway it is alot better now, not finished, just better, and i feel SO much happier!!!

KJBM · 03/03/2008 21:59

Yep. I never get any of the deep clean/tidying stuff done either it's sooo frustrating. Glad it's not just me. And as for the windows I have given up! But I think it's only us ladies that notice. One thing I have found brilliant is a hand held dustbuster for a quick scoot under the high chair and kitchen edges etc. Would really recommend one.

Divastrop · 03/03/2008 22:05

amphetamines were prescribed for depression in the 1950's,which explains alot about the typical 50's housewife

anyway,a question-what is this 'ironing' you speak of?

i have lived in this house for 16 months and have yet to clean the windows,wash the skirting boards etc.in fact,i think ive only ever washed the bathroom floor twice in that time.its difficult enough to just do 'normal' housework,with 5 kids including a 2 year old and a 1 year old.i wouldnt want a cleaner but i wouldnt mind somebody taking dd2 and dd3 out for a few hours so i could do some cleaning myself.

PSCMUM · 03/03/2008 22:11

i have a cleaner. and my house is still not very clean. i really do dread to think what it would be like without her. it would be some kind of toxic health and safety risk.

we could all shut down mn right now and go and do half an hours cleaning before bed.
but WHY?!

blossomsmine · 03/03/2008 22:16

At the risk of sounding really OLD.....i used to keep my house spotless when the kids were little, they are now teenagers, but you know what...thinking back i wish i had used that time to do more stuff with them....i know it is a cliche but they are only young once. Whilst i still love spending time with the kids, they are not around as much as they were when babies/toddlers....

laura032004 · 04/03/2008 06:41

My DH is away with the Navy, and although I'm a SAHM, I have one of the worlds most clingiest 1 year olds. Anything I do has to be done holding him, and it drives me mad! Anyway, we decided to get an aupair to ease the situation. We're just a normal family in a 3 bedroom, one bathroom house. It's worked really well to take the pressure off me, and enables me to spend some time with the kids, have a clean and tidy house, and also get to bed at a decent hour. I'd recommend that anybody in a similar position consider it.

My bathroom cleaning tip is to do it whilst the kids are in the bath. I do the loos quickly every morning, so they never get that bad. I also love my mini-Dyson, so all my skirting boards etc stay clean, as they're done every day or so. When I just had DS1, I sent him to nursery for a morning so I could clean. I got a whole weeks worth done in those three hours. It worked better for me than having a cleaner. Hope DS2 can go as well one day

llareggub · 04/03/2008 07:36

Lilaclaire, of course you can do what the cleaner does. Ths point is, you just don't have the time. Hire a cleaner and give up trying to clean. You'll feel better for it, honestly!

blossomsmine · 04/03/2008 12:43

Seems a good idea Laura032004, obviously works well for you
I used to do the same, a whole weeks cleaning in a morning they were at nursery, only problem is, my house seems to be in a state every morning
I have one of those pledge fluffy dusters on a stick and tend to swipe around at skirting boards when i am doing normal dusting, it helps to help them abit cleaner, but could do with a proper wash.

rookiemater · 04/03/2008 20:39

I have a cleaner, but now I'm wondering if we need a spring cleaner as well.

She does all the mundane day to day stuff in 3 hours each week, but despite this house appears to be getting grubbier and yes its things like the skirting boards, the doors, dusting in high corners, our food shelves .

I work 4 days a week and have been trying to tackle some of it on my day off and weekends, but I just think that I'd rather be spending some time with DS. Dh thinks I'm slightly barmy to hire another cleaning firm when we have one already so maybe I will wait until we are on holiday and get her to do the jobs she doesn't normally get a chance to do.

2GIRLS · 04/03/2008 21:31

My dd3 is 10 months and I just can't get anything done, my house is a tip. He does sleep for 2 around 2 hrs in the morning after I've dropped offthe older 2 at school, but in that time I unload the dishwasher, put the washing on, make the dinner, tidy up a bit, do a bit of ironing (makes no difference to the huge pile, more is added everyday) sort out the washing put another load on, make baby's lunch (he's on proper solids, and doesn't eat sandwiches), I try and sit down have a coffee and have something to eat and then the baby is awake and I concentrate on him then it's time to picl the pther dc's up, one at 2 oclock and the other at 3, total waste of an hour, then they're home more choas and mess until bed time. I do a few bits in the evening but don't really want to clean the skirting boards at that time!

I'd love to get a cleaner but couldn't afford it really. I can't help but wonder what people with small kids and really tidy houses do with the children while they are cleaning. If I wanted a tidy house with everything done, I'd have to ignore the baby all day, maybe they gettheir mum to look after th.em while they clean

BrownSuga · 04/03/2008 21:36

I had to drop 9mo ds off at grandparents so I could do the upstairs uninterrupted. I hadn't cleaned up there for oh, about 9mths! Took 3.5 hrs of solid work, to vacuum, mop, do the bathrooms, and just a cursory around the skirtings, mirrors and have a tidy out of some hoarding. I'll have to send ds off again so I can do downstairs!

poppynic · 04/03/2008 21:40

Thanks 2Girls, your description sounds VERY like mine. I have been trying (for several days now) to keep a tidier house - to not much effect. Will focus on Blossom's advice.

2GIRLS · 04/03/2008 21:40

I'd love to send my ds off (in the nicest possible way!) but my mum doesn't live nearby and mil is useless. I do send dp out with all 3 of them but he's only gone for 2 hrs then he's back (as fast as he can probably) and it just doesn't seem enough time to get on top of everything, and I mean everything so I canjust maintain it. The upstairs is just awful...

blossomsmine · 04/03/2008 23:46

I find it bad enough now and my lot are older, i do remember how hard it was when they were little 2girls, i had the same problem with parents and in laws as you do, also i remember dh taking them out and he always seemed to come back just as i had got going Just can't win can you!!
Can't remember who it was that was talking about getting someone in to spring clean even though they have a cleaner.....couldn't you ask your usual cleaner to do a spring clean? You give her a list of what you expect and ask her what she would expect on a spring clean and then agree a price, but expect it to be quite a hefty sum as spring cleans almost always are!!

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