Tips for keeping new build house absolutely pristine

[spottycoat276]

Hello,

DH and I are about to purchase a new build house.

Before this the properties we’ve lived in together have been a rented house (pre-children) which was nice but a bit shabby, and then we bought a doer-upper flat which we rapidly realised was an absolute money pit for repairs, and given our life stage (small children) we didn’t have enough time or money to really get to grips with modernising it.

In both these properties I’d say we kept them clean to a decent enough standard, but never got invested in keeping them really lovely as we knew they weren’t going to be our long-term home.

When we move into the new build, I feel this is an opportunity for a fresh start and I’m looking for tips for how to keep it really clean and in good condition.

Ideas I’ve had so far:

• Spray shower glass after every single use to prevent build up of limescale (and product recommendation for this would be helpful!)
• Bleach toilets daily
• Consider investing in a robot vacuum to keep on top of things

Please send me your best tips for making a new home really nice (disclaimer: we have a baby and a toddler so any advice for keeping things manageable with young children also appreciated!)

Ditch the daily bleach for a start! You need a toilet scrubby brush in every loo, scrub after each use. A mild toilet cleaner is fine.

Keep a stack of microfibres cloths in shower and bath. Wipe down after use; Method spray is best with kids.

Windows open in bathrooms ALL day, just a crack if freezing.

Clean bathroom daily. Deep clean weekly - use old toothbrushes to get into nooks and crannies.

When you vacuum, do the edges of the carpets with the attachment.

Rugs for areas of high traffic.

Decent doormats.

Unbreakable rule that you are a “shoes off” household. Guest “hotel style” slippers for the inevitable moaners.

Eat in the kitchen if possible unless dining room is tiled.

Clean kitchen as you go - even wiping the hob down whilst still warm helps.

Don’t forget to clean the extractor fan and the oven regularly.

We use a fortnightly clean cycle on our dishwasher - it’s going strong at 18 years old and never smells.

Ditto washing machine.

Clean inside the window frames - they get grimy fast.

Wipe outdoor window ledges monthly- if it’s white PVC it can quickly discolour

Rules for kids:

Don’t slam doors

No food or drink upstairs

No tricycles or balls in the house(!)

Wash hands before and after meals

Vacuum daily! Even if it doesn’t seem to need it.

Following with interest.

This is your new motto: don’t put it down put it away!

My other tip is get down on your hands and knees often. It’s amazing how much more dirt you see when you are crawling around with your kids!

I often found myself compulsively cleaning the bathroom once the toddler stage mean I didn’t have to prop the baby up in the bath . It’s a good time to do it if you are using non- toxic cleaning products!

oh and we got a steam cleaner for the tiles downstairs - we are too lazy to use it upstairs but we have pale tiles and they are a pain to keep clean. I love the fact the floor is “clean enough” for the kids to roll around, and I have just used hot steam no nasty products (house can be too clean after all!)

Think through your storage carefully as if everything has a place it lives it will be easier to put away. And if everything is put away it’s easier to keep surfaces clean etc.

Hoover and mop kitchen each evening before bed as that tends to be highest traffic area.

I will also add - small kids are a NIGHTMARE in a nice house. My kids have a really awful habit of wiping their sticky little fingers under the bar stools when we eat in the kitchen. Even though I provide napkins. WHY?

And you need to supervise Play Doh and painting - ideally do it outside in summer only! Bring them up as Gamers, not Creative types.

Oh and never let your kids go near nail polish (it doesn’t matter what i do, i still have a sparkly tile behind the loo where dd tipped the bottle open when playing with a friend).

Dh and I eventually agreed we would let the house go to ruin until our kids were all age 10+ and then we’d start to invest in a refurbishment! I kinda want them to be messy and chaotic and drive remote control cars into my walls, and cook cakes independently that end up with an apology for accidentally spilling the box of cocoa powder everywhere, and scratch the table because they forgot to use the board again, and put puffy “Frozen” stickers all over their door and have Serious Regret when they are 12 and realise the stickers cannot be removed . It’s how they learn.

No outdoor shoes in the house.

Give your children away! Honestly, OP, there's no point in trying to hold yourself to some ridiculous standard of cleanliness with a baby and a toddler. I agree with @Cioccoholic.

Dont - I know this is lighthearted but enjoy time with your kids instead.
i am in a pristine home - my DC are grown. Its lovely and I enjoy the peace but its no substitute for the lovely chaos and mess of their younger years.
If I had to give some tips I would say
A shower screen spray, if in a hard water area a filter system for the water, a robot Hoover and or mop.
Window cleaner.
not to many toys for kids - less to put away.

Ooh yes and shows off at the door. No pets

This absolutely covers it!
id say no food or drink anywhere other than kitchen or dining room. My kids survived this mad rule!

Look at it another way. How can we make our house a great home for our kids and a fun, welcoming space for our friends and theirs?
Not sure that is compatible with pristine carpets and shower screens, which are just inanimate objects that will break and wear out soon enough anyway.

But I do agree with no food or drink outside eating areas.

Don’t have carpets downstairs. You don’t have to worry about spills, stains, food etc when you have hard floors, a quick hoover and mop and they’re back to looking like new again

Glaco (a rain-repellant liquid that is usually used for windscreens) is said to be good for keeping shower screens clean.

Minimise ornaments, as they collect dust, and get rid of carpets. It's a lot quicker and easier to clean mess off wooden flooring. If you go for vacuum cleaners, have one for upstairs and one for downstairs. Set them both on a timer before the novelty of them wears off and you forget.

Maximise storage, and get rid of anything that you do not need.

Employ a window-cleaner, and possibly a cleaner, to help with keeping on top of things, if that's an affordable option.

Wipe down surfaces (and if your vacuum mops, set that to go before bed; I love coming downstairs to a clean floor, and it has time to dry before getting covered in dog prints) last thing at night.

Keep the windows open as much as you can. If you have an issue with flies, fitted fly screens are a good investment.

And... good luck with keeping a house pristine when you have children!

Absolutely no food eaten anywhere other than a table!
I suppose there was one time we ate tea on our laps, years ago, for transmitted TV! I think we had cake, the odd time, in the living room while people were over. My kids are now adults and still don't eat in their rooms 🤣

Get a cleaner from the start if you can afford it.

Thank you everyone for the replies!! I will take the time to read them all in detail later but some really helpful points about shoes off, storage solutions, keeping food to kitchen/dining area, also the point about cleaning the dishwasher and washing machine which I admit I don’t regularly do atm.

Sorry the word “pristine” in the title was not quite the right choice - I know it won’t be possible to keep it like a show home all the time with young children. I think what I’m trying to say is I want this house to feel like a really lovely proper long-term home, so I want to keep it as nice as I can within reason with small children!

I’ve never lived in a new build before so I kind of feel a sense of responsibility to look after it well, because we’ll know that any grime that builds up is ours rather than somewhere that’s had generations of previous inhabitants!!

Yes, no food or drink other than at a proper table. Vital, even for adults!

I am a bleach your toilets daily kinda gal.

squigee your shower after every use, you don’t need to spray it.

hoover downstairs daily, hoover upstairs at least weekly.

deep clean bathrooms once a week, wipe down every couple of days. Use a damp microfibre cloth to clean the floors on your hands and knees, it’ll pick up all the dust.

keep your surfaces clear, if it hasn’t got a home then find one or chuck it.

clean your windows at least once a month.

bathroom window open all day, kitchen window open while cooking.

This is counter intuitive but don’t expect your house to look perfect all the time. Housework happens in cycles. The time that the floors are gleaming, the ironing isn’t done. The day the laundry is folded, and put away, the windows might be due a wash, etc.

What you want is that you’re about 10-30 mins to guest ready, and that when you’re sick, the house only gets about an hour or two out of whack.

It’s important to understand the difference, because you can’t live (particularly as a family) in a state of instagrammable perfection, and if that’s your expectation, you might get worn down and give up altogether.

The secret is to think small: do the stuff, the maintenance tasks daily. Don’t let small jobs turn into big jobs. It seems like it would be more efficient to wash dishes once a week but it definitely isn’t 🤣. Keep the amount of possessions small ( decluttered ) but do that in small increments - eg weed out clothes when you’re folding laundry, and check what hasn’t been worn when you’re putting it away. Look at toys and books when you’re tidying. Dropping off a half bag to a charity shop is easy, and probably won’t be turned away. Turning up with 6 bags and they may not have the space to take them.

Doing a small tidy up everyday helps you keep track of so many aspects of your home. You’re constantly handling stuff, assessing your storage, evaluating, seeing what needs tending (while it is still small).

How old are your children? It’s ambitious and stressful to maintain a pristine home with kids surely? You can have toy free rooms and no snacking in the lounge etc. Otherwise clean and tidy most of the time is good enough.

Your following suggestions are excessive:
• Spray shower glass after every single use ...
• Bleach toilets daily
• Consider investing in a robot vacuum ...

Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.
Shoes off if you have carpets.
Have a routine for cleaning and laundry and stick to it.
Train the people who live with you to be clean and tidy.
Do quick jobs as they arise.

Make sure things are clean before they are put away.

What does bleach down the toilet do except give extra work to the sewage works.
You could vacuum daily but you could also just pick up any bits of fluff etc you see and vacuum weekly.
main thing is having homes for things so bags/ shoes go in a cupboard, keys go in a drawer, coats ?utility room , no dumping stuff on tables/ shelves/ floor. Limit the number of handwashes/ shampoos etc are left out.