pleeease tell me what products/your tips to reduce time spent cleaning?!!

[mad4mybaby]

hi guys, i have a 2.6 ds and an 11 week ds and a very slobbish dh. We live in a 3 bed house but not particulary big. i seem to spend so much time cleaning/tidying and ive had enough. i cant afford a cleaner otherwise i'd get one in. i do a big clean once a week, clean bathrooms, dust, hoover etc over the house and each day i hoover the kitchen/dining room/front room which are sort of one big room and put toys away and tidy. upstairs i just pick up toys/clothes and put things away that need it so i dont actually seem to do that much yet i spend alot of time doing it! ds1 i get to help me tidy his toys away at end of day. dh works long hours so housework is completely down to me or he will empty dishwasher at w/e (!). the bathrooms need more than once a week clean as they are too dirty when i do once a week. i barely get 2 mins to have a pee at the moment and its getting me down.

ds2 is poorley and on meds and doesnt sleep very long so cant do a great deal when hes asleep and i barely have time to play with ds1. dont understand where i go wrong really. im trying to sort out storage at the mo and my dad is coming to put the tele up on the wall and build some shelves in a little waste of space type cubby hole in the front room. what doesnt help is we have a cream carpet that looks awful if not hoovered and cant afford to replace it. i do tidy during the day i.e put cups etc in dishwasher as i go.

are there any products that cut down on cleaning time? particularly bathrooms? We have downstairs loo, bathroom and ensuite. Anything not worth it/worth it?

Housework may be down to you but make sure your dh isn't adding to your work - you shouldn't have to tidy after him and what he gets out he should put away. I made a list of rules at one point for my dh (I'll post them later if you're interested) at least it made him think a bit.
I don't think it's the products so much as the method/system/routine that will save you time. Although if you "swish and swipe" the bathroom each day that will be a start at cutting down the time spent cleaning it when you do a real clean.

For the bathrooms, put kettle on to boil, spray on cleaner and go and have a coffee (or load washing machine etc) then the cleaner has done all the hard work already, much less scrubbing and much quicker.

Last night when the DC were in the bath I washed the floor, was dry by the time they got out.

Sorry just seen age of your DC, do not clean bathroom floor whilst they are in the bath!

Roomba

I always clean the bathroom while my ds (19mths) is in the bath (obviously the bath has to be done at another time), i do it while singing and chatting to him so he doesn't feel left out! Not sure if this will help with an 11 week old though.

Also, start now with your ds1 ensuring that he puts away one toy before getting the next out - this is particularly for anything with 'pieces' - duplo, jigsaws, railway etc - hopefully it will mean that there is less to tidy away later for you - and it will get ds into a good routine - ds hardly ever complains about putting one thing away first now - it is just what happens.

Clean around the bathroom daily while your DCs are in the bath.

Have you got a very good vacuum cleaner? Makes a big difference.

Just a little poem for you, might help in not stressing about the housework.

I hope that my child
looking back on today,
remembers a mother
who had time to play

Children grow up
while you are not looking
there'll be years ahead
for cleaning and cooking

So hush now cobwebs,dust
go to sleep.
I am rocking my baby,
and babies dont keep.

Can you get a large rug to go over the cream carpet? Something dark that can hide the dirt.

I do find it easier to break things down by room, we have a tiny flat so it's not so hard, but one day I'll do the bathroom, the next day I'll change the beds, the next day I'll blitz the kitchen, then back to the bathroom and so on. We do have a cleaner, but I work full time so it's very hard for me to keep on top of things but she hasn't been for two weeks so doing a room a day was my solution.

Storage does help a lot, we have a couple of these for ds's toys, but I am fighting an up hill battle with the great crap accumulator that is my dh. De-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter would be my best advice.

i like those tubs! that poem was so so true.i may stick it on my fridge! i cant do cleaning b/rooms at bath time as dh isnt in by thast time so due to feeds and bed time i have to take both dcs in th b/room and cant leave them in the bath!

I have quick floor wipes just for convenience. Ditto bathroom wipes (from the pound shop/Wilkos) (not very environmentally friendly though. Although I properly clean the bathroom 1/2 times a week, I will quickly wipe down the sink/ toilet while waiting for my bath to run. I try to do as much as I can as I go- so if Im leaving a room Ill take something that needs putting away with me. Try to keep things in the areas they are used so they can quickly be put away. Iron in front of the TV. White vinegar cleans loads of stuff so keep it handy for windows mirrors limescale etc. Keep cleaning products where you use them as well so bathroom sponge and cleaner in bathroom

yeah i want to keep products for b/room upstairs....just got to buy a cabinet to put high up on the wall! ds1 has a habit of carrying his stool round (for brushing his teeth) and reaching everything he shouldnt!

Use microcloths to do between weekly clean on the bathroom and kitchen - they make it shine very quickly and are environmentally friendly too as no chemicals needed.

Also don't pass anything that need doing - it gets done with minimum fuss (she says looking at the lunch dishes that need to go in the dishwasher which needs emptying

Love the idea of cleaning bathroom floor when dcs are in bath - will do that from now on.

Give yourself and hour each day while dcs are napping or watching tv playing.

So one day do bathrooms properly, just do a quick clean in between (eg wipe around basin, clean toilet with toilet wipes [non-eco emoticon]

Another day do hoovering upstairs. Tbh I would only hoover downstairs twice a week and save it for days when I am having visitors [slattern emoticon]

And so on, depending on how much cleaning you like to do. When you have done your hour/task for the day STOP even if there are other things needing doing - there is always the next day.

Obv some things need to be done everyday like load dishwasher, laundry, wipe down worktops but they don't take long or can be done while kids are milling about.

Oh definitely second grapefruitmoon about stopping. What I do is say cleaning before 12 only. After 12 I make sure I do something else or it feels like you have just been cleaning all day. obviously I still do the quick jobs like cleaning surfaces and washing dishes after coking but nothing else.

im so glad you guys understand! i do like doing housework bizarly which i think doesnt help because i cant stand to see it all. annoyingly i cant just shut the door on it as downstairs is open plan. what are microcloths?

I quite like housework too (shhhh, don't tell dh)... actually what I like is the after effect. My favourite thing is when I've blitzed the house, ds is in bed and dh is out for the evening. I love it when the house stays clean and tidy for a whole evening.

microcloths are great cloths that clean and sut without need for any products like sprays etc . can get them all over the place, tesco, dunelm mill...great for dusting blitzes becuse you just get 'em out, do your thing and job's done!
That said, I'm not very eco friendly with floor wipes but I find they're so quick and effective and I couldn't easily mop floors and dry them when I had the kids running about.
Doing things in 10 minute blitzes really helps and also stops the feeling that you've spent every hour cleaning! It's amazing what can be achieved in a short space of time if you just go for it and then once the 10 mins are up, have a break - cuppa, phonecall, play etc
Bigger jobs can be done when you have a longer period of time - I tend to do the more timeconsuming things at the weekend when DH home with the boys.
Also, it's so much quicker and easier to clean your bathrooms after they've just been used when the warm air and steam from the bath or shower helps to loosen grease and grime so I try and do the shower in the ensuite right after me or dh have been in.

Sinks - good old cream cleaner (eg Cif) does a grand job. Dry them afterwards and they sparkle = more rewarding.

Glass - Water and E-cloth. Minimal effort and FAB.

Stainless Steel - After cleaning, I wipe cheapo baby oil on my hob/toaster etc (using kitchen roll) and they come up like new.

microfibre cloths definately for a quick swish around the sinks/bath. they look like you've been scrubbing for hours even though it takes 2 seconds while you're in the bathroom.

agree with whoever said do stuff as it needs doing, makes everything quicker imo rather than letting things pile up until the end of the day to do in one lot & you don't feel like you've achieved nothing all day

p.s. I hear a lot about white vinegar being an excellent cleaning product but am not sure what to buy as the only thing I can find in the supermarkets that seems close is distilled malt vinegar which is clear liquid but stinks of vinegar and I can't help thinking that's not what Anthea puts down her plugholes!! Help please!

Stairs - between hooverings can be swept with either a stiff brush, or a damp cloth (remembering to work downwards of course!)

Those Eraser blocks (Lakeland/Tchibo) are pretty good at very quickly removing marks. Then again, cream cleaner is good on paintwork too. Maybe it's the novelty of new cleaning products which makes me do it!

peachface, that's the stuff! It doesn't smell for long when you use it. I use it to keep the tiles in the kitchen free of grubby marks, the washer & dryer & fridge clean of fingerprints & marks, descale the kettle with it overnight, just make sure you rinse thoroughly before using the kettle for your morning cuppa!!!!!

I seem to recall reading something about using it instead of fabric conditioner with a couple of drops of essential oil but can't think where.

Get your DH to pull his weight would be a good start