Help me please, how do you keep on top of your house?

[bunnynbumblesmum]

Can anyone help, demented with trying to keep my shittip house clean and homely. Always feel like i never sit down, always busy sorting something out but house always an embarresment!HELP
What do you do? Job everyday? thinking of trying this but work night shift 2 nights a week and different each week but know well in advance. How often do you clean bathroom, floors etc?
Also have laminate downstairs and even though i sweep and wipe it over with antibac floor wipes everymost nights by the kids being up for an hour it needs sweeping again! Also their socks are black within minutes of walking on it, was told not meant to mop it but have seen some mops meant for wooden floors, but very confused!
sorry very boring thread but would really love some good advice
cheers me dears xxxx

All floors are cleaned three times a week and mopped at least twice if not carpeted.

Bathrooms blitzed twice a week.

Kitchen blitzed three times a week.

Ironing once a week

But it takes nine hours a week and it's still untidy - but it's clean untidy!

I have a cleaning routine. It's totally fab as it means I know when I last hoovered upstairs etc.

I clean the bathroom 2x per week. Hoover d/stairs daily (carpets tho not laminate so don't have any helpful advice for you there).

Otherwise routine is basically a catalogue of when to wash what (bedlinen, towels).

HTH

yeah who moved, my house is still untidy, but it's clean under the mess IYSWIM.

Ironing - my top tip is to do it as it appears - then it's never daunting.

For me the routine really helps eg empty bins the day before bin day (even if it's not black bin day as DH helpfully observed last night!) or hoover upstairs Sunday and Wednesday then I know it's done.

Make a list of your big tasks and work it into a routine which incldues daily jobs (d/stairs quick hoover takes me 7 mins - I timed it once) like wash pots and iron the add in weekly jobs or twice weekly to give yourself 3-4 things per night (or day if working nights).

DD is 18 months old. I have a cleaner who does the house once a week. The bathroom is done once a week, as is kitchen floor (and quickly wiped over when needed). I keep bathroom spray in bathroom and just spray over toilet quickly after my bath/shower.

NB: Home is a home, not a showhome. It won't be immaculate, so please don't try!!!

Getting on here for tips needed

I wash bathmats on a Monday (we have a shower mat, bath mat and mat for toilet), change bedding on Thursday when cleaner comes, wash towels on Thursday.

I wash kitchen towels whenever I do a wash - they should be washed frequently for hygiene reasons - especially as DH and DD wipe their faces on them!

Also, don't drive yourself made with housework.

Get rid of clutter - much easier to keep clean and tidy if you don't have loads of stuff everywhere (place for everything and everything in its place and if you don't have room for everything CHUCK STUFF OUT). Then tidy up as you go along eg if you are going out of the living room take out empty cups, old newspapers whatever as you go, if you are in the loo have a quick wipe round the sink and polish the mirror as you come out. With less clutter it's much easier to have a quick hoover round, or flick a duster or wipe the kitchen side etc. I mop my laminate - just wring the mop out well first. I usually have a quick once over at the end of the day so it's nice and clean when I come down in the morning. My kids are six and eight and I try to train them to put stuff away - they make their beds in the morning and put dirty clothes in the basket at night and they are supposed to take dirty plates etc to sink. My philosophy is if you can get on top of it in the first place then you should be able to keep up with a bit of housework here and there rather than letting it all pile up then having a massive blitz. Wouldn't say my house is super-clean, but it always looks clean and tidy iyswim.

Bedding on friday

A load of washing everyday (DH does his own)

Hoover lounge everday

Kids bedroom tidy when they are in bath

My bedroom every morning

Bathroom cleaned once a week, tidied everyday

Lobby tidied everyday

It is a mess, but its a nice mess

I mop my laminate, have done for 6 years, it's fine.

cheers ladies, great tips going to do a rota for house work as only just sat down again . Having to work 13hr shifts next few days but will post to let you know how i'm getting on, wish me luck and keep those tips coming xxxxxxxxxxx

Please keep the rotas coming Very helpful. Oh and any tips of how to stick to it

I am impressed at how much housework MNters obviously do. I do hardly any and have a cleaner because if I didn't I would probably only clean the house if we had visitors coming round. I'd say before we got the cleaner that our house was pretty tidy but probably not all that clean. Now it is both. My top tip is scrap all ironing. Only DH's work shirts get ironed in our house, and he does them. I avoid buying anything for work that involves ironing. I wear tops under my suits. And I always look perfectly presentable. I could count the number of times I have ironed in the last decade on my ten fingers.

Cook double the amounts and keep half for the next night. That should free up time for tidying the house. And plan your weekly shop - probably a tip for real novices.

Mail is a great source of mess-making, especially if your DH is useless and never opens his mail. Have a receptacle for it that is out of sight. We have a chest of drawers in our front room which is beautiful but inside we keep all sorts of rubbish. But no-one sees it.

Laundry - as you fold it, sort it into the drawers it will go into so that when you get upstairs to the bedrooms, the clothes are more or less arranged for you in order.

Right, I have been sitting on here worrying about my pearshaped evening with DS (different thread) and have now come across this discussion which has inspired me- instead of sitting worrying in front of TV I am going to tidy and hoover downstairs (small house so shouldn'e take too long .

Thanks guys!!

I do a wash every day as the DCs have sports and the stuff smells if it lies around too long. I don't iron anything, just fold as flat as possible. I try to hoover every day or we would be up to our tonsils in hair (4 DDs plus cat). I have laminate floors in kitchen and hardwood everywhere else because of allergies. I have always mopped them, using window cleaner spray. For the bathroom and loo I keep a window cleaner spray and paper towels in both and wipe down every day to prevent gunk buildup. I make DCs spit out toothpaste in the toilet because they were getting it all over the sink, walls, mirror, etc. Toilets get a good going over with the brush once a week or as needed in between. Toilet surfaces get done every day. I use a squeegee in the shower to dry off the tiles and keep the bath wiped every time it's used while it's still wet. It's hard to keep clutter from building up, but even if you can't deal with it all and it just sits there, maybe putting a few nice baskets strategically in the places where it gathers would help to just dump it neatly for the time being? Then you can take a few hours to go through it all. I also make the DDs help with laundry gathering (each has her own laundry basket), put-away and keeping rooms neat or they don't get their (small, token) allowance. They also help out with putting away groceries, setting the table for dinner, clearing away after and emptying the dishwasher.

cleaner!

and generally tidying up all the time in between her visits

my dss calls me the neat freak I am proud to be so!

I clean when I think it looks like it needs it. I couldn't stand to have a cleaning "routine"

That's probably why my mother in law said last week that I am lazy and my house is disgusting. Oh well.