Page 2 | Cleaning house efficiently

Theothername · 2024-05-06T16:32:53+00:00

If you’re good at housekeeping, or a professional cleaner, would you share some tips. How do you size up a room? Decide what to prioritise and what to leave? Is there a logical order? Are there things you won’t house because they make cleaning harder? I’m such a faffer, and I have a feeling I’m making difficulties for myself. I was never taught housekeeping skills. I have two teens and I’d like to impart some skills before releasing them into the wild! If it feels too obvious to type, that’s probably exactly the advice I need!

HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 12/05/2024 23:29

My routine

Tidy room
Dust room
Shine mirrors tv screens etc
Empty bins
Hoover
Mop if hard floor

If I get time I'll do skirtings and tops Of high furniture and dust lights. But that's a once a month or two as I can manage it every week.

I do my upstairs one day
Downstairs another to break it up

Beds are on rotation. I hate changing beds

Bathrooms are spray with cleaner. Leaving sock in for 20mins or so while tidying other rooms.

Go back and clean rinse shine
It's much
Easier
And is
Done in
Ten mins

buffyslayer · 12/05/2024 23:41

I set a timer after seeing someone on instagram do it
30 mins and I've usually made a decent dent in things (I do live alone so not as much to clean) I can get a surface clean done of two bathrooms, living room and kitchen in that time

Allshallbewell2021 · 12/05/2024 23:48

JLT24 · 08/05/2024 07:39

I’ve always wondered why people spend hours a week cleaning. We have a four bed detached house and spend 2 hours on a weekend cleaning. One week we do upstairs (including changing the beds) and the next week we do downstairs. A deep full clean.

We then do 15 mins each a day also. I tidy (everything gets put away apart from a few nice decorative items around the house and kettle/toaster on worktops) and bleach the sinks and toilets (3 bathrooms). DH wipes down the kitchen worktops and sink, empties the kitchen bin, empties the dishwasher (we stack it throughout the day) and hoovers downstairs.

No shoes in the house and the floors rarely get dirty, if anything gets dropped it gets brushed and wiped (wooden/tiles floors) or hoovered and shampooed (carpet) straight away.

Everyone always comments on how tidy and clean our house is, but as I said we don’t spend a lot of time on it. I believe it’s a case of keeping on top of it daily and a bigger clean weekly.

The other thing is, skirting boards get hoovered with the little brush attachment whenever the floor is hoovered, I’ve never considered skirting boards as a separate job from hoovering the floors!

Edited

I am I awe of this...

This is my dream - but too disorganized cluttered at the moment to imagine achieving this.

stayathomer · 12/05/2024 23:52

Remember a whole house is generally not able to be fixed up fully in a day. Make a list of the things (even the tiniest ones!!) that irritate you the most and work on one a day (if possible)

stayathomer · 12/05/2024 23:55

Ps also remember that everyone has different needs and different houses, kids, pets, older houses, smaller, bigger, more furniture, people with messier/ grubbier work, kids that play sports daily, kids that attract dirt!!!

Cannotbeasked · 12/05/2024 23:56

Withswitch · 08/05/2024 06:45

Clean skirtings are what make me think a house is clean (mine is not)

I had a cleaner a few years ago and she had to show me what a skirting board was 🤦‍♀️

Precipice · 17/05/2024 01:14

JLT24 · 08/05/2024 07:39

I’ve always wondered why people spend hours a week cleaning. We have a four bed detached house and spend 2 hours on a weekend cleaning. One week we do upstairs (including changing the beds) and the next week we do downstairs. A deep full clean.

We then do 15 mins each a day also. I tidy (everything gets put away apart from a few nice decorative items around the house and kettle/toaster on worktops) and bleach the sinks and toilets (3 bathrooms). DH wipes down the kitchen worktops and sink, empties the kitchen bin, empties the dishwasher (we stack it throughout the day) and hoovers downstairs.

No shoes in the house and the floors rarely get dirty, if anything gets dropped it gets brushed and wiped (wooden/tiles floors) or hoovered and shampooed (carpet) straight away.

Everyone always comments on how tidy and clean our house is, but as I said we don’t spend a lot of time on it. I believe it’s a case of keeping on top of it daily and a bigger clean weekly.

The other thing is, skirting boards get hoovered with the little brush attachment whenever the floor is hoovered, I’ve never considered skirting boards as a separate job from hoovering the floors!

Edited

But you are spending hours a week cleaning...

If the two of you are doing 2 hours a week, that's 4 'man hours' altogether. Then your 15 mins each per day are another 2.5 hours, assuming it's only weekdays and separate from the weekly cleaning, so you've got 6.5 hours a week, or 7.5 hours if you're also doing the 15 mins each on the weekend. Either way, you're spending nearly a workday's worth of time on cleaning a week, in terms of your labour hours together. Your 3 hours 15 minutes of work each are also 'hours a week'. You may feel them to be well-spent and efficient hours, but they're still hours.

JLT24 · 17/05/2024 13:19

Precipice · 17/05/2024 01:14

But you are spending hours a week cleaning...

If the two of you are doing 2 hours a week, that's 4 'man hours' altogether. Then your 15 mins each per day are another 2.5 hours, assuming it's only weekdays and separate from the weekly cleaning, so you've got 6.5 hours a week, or 7.5 hours if you're also doing the 15 mins each on the weekend. Either way, you're spending nearly a workday's worth of time on cleaning a week, in terms of your labour hours together. Your 3 hours 15 minutes of work each are also 'hours a week'. You may feel them to be well-spent and efficient hours, but they're still hours.

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We spend 15 mins a day each and 2 hours in total on a weekend not 4 hours. What I meant was I can’t imagine spending hours in one go cleaning, the idea of spending a whole or even half a weekend day is a big no no from me, especially when free time is so limited. Cleaning a few mins each day keeps the house looking and feeling nice.

saxsenna · 11/03/2025 14:07

I stick to a simple routine—kitchen and bathroom daily, dusting and vacuuming every other day. A robot vacuum helps a lot, especially with pets. I also keep cleaning wipes in every room for quick wipe-downs.

If deep cleaning gets too much, janitorial services atlanta has been a lifesaver for me. They handle the tougher jobs so I can focus on daily upkeep without feeling overwhelmed.

HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 11/03/2025 20:56

House was a mess this week today I did this, took about 5/6 hours! It's a big house Just downstairs Upstairs is tomorrow

I have teens and animals but no toys to worry about.

Tidy general stuff. Put in correct places
Tidy a kitchen drawer that was really bad

3 sort a load of laundry 4 dust all rooms 5 shine mirrors windows glass 6 empty bin and recycling 7 wipe kitchen tops oven fridge handles 8 clean downstairs loo and sink 9 hoover downstairs Extra. Get the steamer out and steam door frames and few other areas that have got really grubby. 10 mop with steam mop

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