Realised today I don't actually know how to clean.

[ohfook]

Basically my method of cleaning is to spray with antibac and wipe with a cloth and if that doesn't work I don't know what to do.

I lived in a new build for years and that seemed to be enough but now I live in quite an old house that seems to get dusty very easily and my old methods are no longer working.

I fell down a total you tube hole last night watching people clean various areas of their home and I really enjoyed it. So I'm planning on 'teaching' myself how to properly clean one room a week until I know what I'm doing.

This thread is just basically me asking for all your you tube/instagram recommendations or just any tips that you might have - please throw them all this way!

I was not taught to clean. I did not grow up in a dirty house. At all.

I have had to learn to clean for myself, but I'm very aware that I don't do things in the proper way. At the end of the day they are clean so it doesn't matter if nobody is around to see me getting it all wrong. My mother ridicules me and calls me useless if she sees me doing something wrong but she won't tell me the right way to do it and this has knocked my confidence a bit.

There are other things I was not taught, such as personal hygiene, and I did not know I had not been taught these things. You don't know what you don't know. I would hear my dad ranting about people not washing behind their ears and then I would realise I needed to wash behind my ears, rather than be taught to do it. At school my mother would be furious because I would come home from school with a tide mark on my collar, but nobody told me to wash my neck. There are still things I am not 100% sure about, such as how to use a flannel correctly. I do shower every day with soap so I'm not dirty.

I am trying to teach my DC how to clean and cook etc which is hard because I'm not doing these things properly myself. I have said to my parents that I want to equip my DC with life skills for university. My father insists that everybody starts uni not knowing these things which was certainly not my experience. My mother takes my wish to teach my DC these things as a criticism of her parenting and gets huffy.

I would like to go on a course where you learn all these things but they don't exist for middle aged adults with no SN. I have seen projects teaching young people how to adult and I think that's a great thing for those who have been let down in some way by those who should have taught them.

Withholding these basic skills from DC is a thing. I have met somebody else who had a similar but different experience to me. Not taught life skills then criticised for not knowing. We are both very much not fully integrated into society in the way you would expect people of our backgrounds to be. We know someone who helps care leavers and she thinks we are about the same skill level as teenagers leaving care. We are adult children of professionals.

This is all very embarrassing to admit. Please don't all reply and say I should have taught myself. I have taught myself. I have done that.

I loved Kim and Aggie - I wonder if there are old episodes online.

On Youtube I like Aurikaaterina although it does seem like everybody in Finland has exactly the same kitchen, so if you have different surfaces, cooker etc then it might not be as useful. But I really like watching videos where they are actually cleaning something dirty and making it clean (Mrs. Hinch cleaning already clean things totally baffles me) - also the aspect of someone who isn't going in judgemental but is just excited about the challenge of cleaning is great, and (selfishly) it's nice to see houses that are dirtier than mine Makes me feel like I'm doing OK.

Sort Your Life Out on BBC iPlayer is great too - doesn't have that many cleaning tips, but lots of inspiration for decluttering and transforming spaces.

I will also join the linked thread as had been looking for something like this.

Wow! What fabulous tips thank you everyone who has taken the time to reply. I love how non-judgemental most replies were and how so many people have found a way that works for them. I'm going to spend a bit of time reading through everything then get started.

My story is very similar to @Cleaningclueless, the hygiene bit really resonated with me too, I've managed to get by but there's just a lot I don't know.

I learnt how to clean as a chambermaid in the local B&B when I was 15/16. I think I know how to clean but it's more about finding time and energy these days with working + a family. I tend to focus on keeping the kitchen tops and sink clean and the loos + bathroom basins clean. I also try and make sure the living room is tidied of any toys, discarded clothes, plates, etc, before bed. I find a tidy living room makes a big difference to the feel of a home.

@Cleaningclueless that's a stunning confession. My partner wasn't taught lots of basic life skills, but isn't afraid to ask the internet and give something a go.

I think the difficult thing is that everyone has a different idea of cleaning. I don't really give a rats arse about the toilet. It's where people shit. So as long as it's clean to sit on that's fine. But I wouldn't obsess about eating out the bowl or anything. There are some people that chuck chemicals down their loo daily.

The supermarkets are full of cleaning products, and most aren't needed. And many are probably hazardous. We keep it simple with just vinegar, soap, bicarb, soda crystals, and bleach for emergencies. We try not to use bleach at all if we can help it. (Septic tanks etc.)

There's a huge market for products, and it can skew our perception. We try and keep germs out the house, change into house clothes. Wash when we get in. Leave shoes at the door. I'm not too fussed about dirt in the garden. But do wash my hands. Our house is messy, but generally clean and hygienic.

Tips would be, be careful with glass, use the two bucket method, to avoid scratching, you don't want to introduce dirt and scrub it in. Don't cross contaminate. You wouldn't want to use toilet cleaning cloths in your kitchen for example. Only use a very small amount of soap with hot water, you need but a drop. You can use your feet on cloths to do something like a floor. To avoid bending over etc.

When using a flannel you can rinse, squeeze out, and it becomes a towel.

Following. Our house growing up wasn’t dirty but mum wasn’t the air freshener and zoflora type - she mainly just hoovered and wiped things down with a cloth and some CIF. Nothing wrong with that but it would be nice to know how to make it all seem more polished.

Came on to recommend gypsyxo, she's a gypsy and really cleans! She doesn't really do much else in life, but she has young dc and dogs and is good to watch if you need any inspiration.

Also OP. I moved from a very old house that was always dusty and looked filthy into a new build and I can't believe how much less cleaning I do now, and the house looks so much better! So don't be hard on yourself.

Decluttering is at least 50% of the battle. I find it much easier to keep all the surfaces and floor clean when there is nothing on them. I clean the bathroom a couple of times a week when I’m in the shower, so I don’t mind splashing soapy water everywhere. I give the kitchen a pretty thorough wipe down every day. And mop and vacuum on alternate days, everyday.

But, I do struggle to get round to the bigger jobs, like windows, cupboard doors, skirting boards.

Also I have a dc with chronic lung disease so have to be really careful with sprays. I make my own - in a spray bottle add a glug of Fairy, a few drops of alcohol (rubbing, or any spirits you have at home, it acts as an anti mould) and 10 drops each of tea tree oil, eucalyptus and peppermint. Give it a shake and it not only cleans but freshens too.

Following with interest.

I like the idea of the last poster. Just to add, alcohol is antibacterial and antiviral, only don't use the best scotch! On another thread someone asked how often you clean the bathroom.some said weekly, some monthly! I clean as soon as I get out of the shower. Toilet, we're at home,only the one,both got IBS and some....it's cleaned after use. This is why it only takes me minutes each day.

Marry a man who’s mother used to make him clean her house every morning before school 🤣
my husband does all the dusting and washing if it needs doing.
i wash dishes he dries and puts away!

Avoid that Mrs Bloody Hinch woman, she’s paid to promote the stuff she uses and majority of it doesn’t work!

Do people not care about the environment when they use things like those flash dusters and mops? They’re just disposable versions of reusable versions we’ve had for flipping years and not had any problems with? It makes me sad.

I was thinking something similar the other day op - I obviously clean but don’t know how to do things ‘properly’. My issue is hard floors - how do you mop them without just spreading the dirty water around? I think I need to get down on my hands and knees to scrub the kitchen floor at this point as there are marks, but don’t know what kind of cloth/brush to use. I feel like an idiot not knowing these things!

I'm hopeless.
I like cleaning with hot soapy water but then worry about whether you need different buckets for different parts of the house and whether you can wash kitchen and bathroom cloths together.

I use cheap disposable dish cloths (J cloths) for kitchen work tops. Every other day I take this cloth in to the bathroom and use it with hot water and bleach to clean the toilet. It's then thrown in the bin.

I know this is landfill. I know it's wasteful. I just can't bring myself to reuse dishcloths and it stops another cloth being binned because I can't bring myself to reuse a toilet cloth!

All my other cleaning and dusting is done with cloths I wash.

ENJO, hideously expensive cleaning cloths from Austria. I'm about to replace my kitchen set, I've had it for 7 years ( 3 more than recommended) no cleaning fluids required, all sorts of things vanished after I got rid of them, OH's eczema and my water retention. And most importantly they work.

I do use vinegar for limescale .

Hot soapy water can do a lot around the house.

I sometimes use limescale products when doing a deeper clean of bathrooms and around the kitchen sink.

I only regularly use antibacterial products in the bathroom, particularly having sons that are a bit messy.
Black harpic is good for toilets that get limey, and children that hadn't realised that the flush hadn't dealt with everything. I am in team toilet brush. The container has bleachy water, and after use, a second flush washes debris off.

Windows, I use a window spray. Wipe with one cloth. Polish with a microfibre. If they are particularly dirty, I wash first with soapy water.
Shiny surfaces are polished like the second round of a window.
Damp-dust most surfaces. The damp cloth stops the dust flitting around.

For harder dirt, I use Cif cream. It's surprisingly good at dealing with conservatory window sill dirt that stealthily builds up through the summer. Also good on the bath/ bathroom sinks and tiles. Needs a rinse/ wipe with wet cloth after.

My most used weapon is a large stock of cotton cloths. After use, they go in an airy tub, and get a pre-wash with bio powder and Zoflora, then a second wash with other items. Having used washable nappy and sanitary pads, I'm not squeamish about what goes in the washing machine, and we survived the toddler years which involved explosive food allergies, and cleaning cloths are nothing compared to dealing with several poonamis each week and I certainly wasn't treating his entire wardrobe as being disposable.

Microfibre cloths get light use so aren't washed nearly as frequently.

I try to reduce disposable sponges and scourers. A washing up brush and old tooth brushes are great at getting into gaps.

Vacuum before mopping. It helps to stop the water going so bitty.

Cleaning and tidying are skills that need to be learned and not everyone learns or has the chance to learn by observation. It's good that there are more books and media about it. We don't think it's odd that most people have driving lessons with instructors. We don't rely on people learning to drive by observing other people for 17 years!

Slightly damp microfibre cloth so the dust clings. I have loads so use clean ones as I go.

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that in most cases dirt is just old dust.

@Roselilly36 @ChevyCamaro @Houseplanter I don't suppose you can share the links to your brushes could you. I have several crevices I struggle with 😂😆🤣

I moved house last year after living there for 12 years. Due to lack of space, furniture hadn't really been moved the whole time, and on moving day I had a heart attack when wardribes/bookcases had been moved and there was so much 'dirt' on the walls, which on closer inspection was dust that had fossilised 😩

Cleaning doesn't come naturally to me either! So I try to make it as easy as possible. As others have said tidying is really a separate job. I also keep cleaning stuff in my bathroom cupboard so doesn't seem quite as much of a faff. Also think about how often things need cleaning and what time you want to commit to cleaning. I aim to clean bathrooms and toilets once per week. I have a hairy dog so hoovering is usually twice per week but i only mop once unless I am expecting visitors. My DD was recently working as a chamber maid in a posh hotel so I grilled her on their methods!

Dirt is old dust,most ",dust" is old skin cells. Don't people care about the environment, makes you sad. Well, I've been recycling for over 50 years before it was "fashionable". We spent DH pension lump sum on solar panels last year. I have a sewing machine and aren't afraid to use it! I've unpicked home knitting recently to make jumpers for latest DGD. I have bought a few things recently in a charity shop,a handbag for £5, puffer coat £9. My cream trenchcoat and beige going out jacket are over 40 years old. I still have a pair of cream court shoes I originally bought for a wedding in 1988. So, nope not feeling guilty about having a flash mop! I have arthritis and tenosynovitis in my hands, often it's difficult or really painful to move items,I can dust under the bed,sofa and round stuff on the table.

@LolaSmiles please can I ask which eco friendly cleaning (alternative to stardrops) do you use?

Some really great info and tips on this thread 😀