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Original poster

For people without a cleaner - how long do you spend cleaning your house?

76 replies

northerner · 05/12/2005 20:50

And I don't mean general tidying up. I mean bathroom, toilet, floors, skirting boards etc.

How long in one go and how regular?

Am looking for some timesaving tips now I have a bigger house!

OP posts:
Blossomgoodwill · 05/12/2005 20:54

Northener - I hardly ever clean my skirting boards Although when I do I use babaywipes. Infact I ues babywipes on loads of things, leather sofas, woodwork, etc

I clean every single day, just when I think things need doing. Probably spend about 5 hours per week. An extra 5 hours on washing/ironing.
My main bit of advice is to keep on top of things. I always come home from school and spend a good couple of hours tidying and then clean. I do a thorough clean of bathroom, kitchen and floors twice a week and then top it up with cleaning wipes inbetween.

laughinglil · 05/12/2005 20:55

for people without a cleaner? I wonder how many people on here have a cleaner!

Clean the bathroom every day. Once its clean it only needs a big clean once a week and a wipe round every day!

I have wood flooring and give it a sweep once a day, hoover once a week. The carpet in the hall is hoovered at least twice a week.

Skirting boards (when ever they are dirty) wipe round say every 2 weeks.

I say get everything really clean and then do little bits every day and you won't find your self cleaning for so long!

Yorkiegirl · 05/12/2005 20:55

Message withdrawn

Yorkiegirl · 05/12/2005 20:56

Message withdrawn

hotmulledwinemama · 05/12/2005 20:56

MIL comes in once a week to do the bathroom etc (she is a widow and likes to get out of the house - and suits me to get housework done)

Eh - cleaning the skirting boards - very rarely anyway. As long as the house is generally clean that does for me.

FlameRobin · 05/12/2005 20:56

A disturbing amount of people on here seem to have a cleaner...

I am very of all of them!!!

Blossomgoodwill · 05/12/2005 20:58

One big tip from me - don't have everything cream like I do. Shows up all the dirt, marks etc!

Blossomgoodwill · 05/12/2005 20:59

FR _ I couldn't have a cleaner as would have to clean before they came iykwim!

FlameRobin · 05/12/2005 21:00

me too, but tis nice to dream

Bozza · 05/12/2005 21:03

Loads of people on here have a cleaner.

I/we clean all the house on a Monday. It takes all day because I do the upstairs in a morning interspersed with reading DD stories etc. Actually that takes about 45 mins but seems like longer because of breaking off. Then normally I dust downstairs and clean the toilet while DD is having her nap - maybe 20 minutes. So that leaves the kitchen and floors to do after DH gets home. I can't hoover when I'm in the house alone with DD because she is terrified of the hoover. So DH will hoover upstairs and the stairs after tea. Then when the kids have gone to bed we clean the kitchen and hoover the living and dining rooms and sweep and mop the kitchen/utility room/hall and toilet. I reckon if the house is tidy it can be cleaned through in two hours (although not very thorough). We then sweep the kitchen as and when through the rest of the week.

philippat · 05/12/2005 21:05

i'm a slattern, no more than 1hr a week. Skirting boards will get cleaned once every 2 years if they're lucky...

santabops · 05/12/2005 21:06

omg 5 hours a week cleaning!!!!

I do as little as possible.....

hoover - once a week
wash bathroom - once a week
clean kitchen tops - daily
kitchen and bathroom floor - monthly
skirting boards - what????????
dust - every 2-3 weeks when it gets noticable
washing - takes about 10 mins per load to sort put in washer, take out and put in drier then fold
ironing - you have got to be joking?????

I have also had comments about how clean my house is too.....

philippat · 05/12/2005 21:06

oh, dh hoovers (I don't know how to work it and that's the way it's staying), but not every week

Blossomgoodwill · 05/12/2005 21:09

santabops - I need to know all of your secrets, tips etc

How can people not iron? i just couldn't get away with it as clothes look like crisp packets! lol

JiminyCricket · 05/12/2005 21:14

About an hour, me and dh on a saturday morning while dd2 sleeps and dd1 'helps'. I do upstairs, he does downstairs then one of us washes the floors while the other gets a snack ready and we all relax for a bit. I tidy every day and the kitchen gets frequent rough and ready clean rounds, especially the floor with flash wipes. Its less than lots of people but it suits us and the house looks pretty presentable. I'm planning to set dd1 on to the skirting boards with the baby wipes once she's reliable enough...

vickiyumyum · 05/12/2005 21:20

have only just hired a cleaner (today!), but before have been spending about 7 hours a week on cleaning, one big clean lasting about 3 hours and then half an hour or so everyday.

the three hours is cleaning both bathrooms, the downstairs loo, kitchen, sweep throughout downstairs, wash floors (wooden floors downstairs), hoover stairs, landing and bedrooms, dust, pull out sofas and sweep underneath etc etc etc.

day to day cleaning, includes wiping down work surfaces, wipe round bath after use, tidy up, clothes away and anything else general that needs doing. plus then on top of that washing and ironing and changing the beds once a week.

no wonder i am so tired, i work full time too!

Passionflowerinapeartree · 05/12/2005 21:20

Ha ha ha ha, I have big house. I don't have a cleaner and am a complete slattern. I just do stuff when it gets really desperate.

Passionflowerinapeartree · 05/12/2005 21:22

Vikiyumyum how many hours a week did you get a cleaner for?

vickiyumyum · 05/12/2005 21:23

three hours to do the big once a week clean, on a wednesday this week, but will normally be on a friday so nice and clean for the weekend.

Passionflowerinapeartree · 05/12/2005 21:30

Umm, getting a cleaner is one of the things I'm looking forward to about going back to work. It's not going to happen anytime soon though .

notasheep · 05/12/2005 21:32

Hate to think what is behind my sofa!I just clean when i have a minute! poor ds is petrified of Hoover,and thats without even switching it on,so i suppose i have a good excuse!

vickiyumyum · 05/12/2005 21:34

passionflower, i know i have had to wait for ages to justify getting a cleaner, but was fed up of spending my day off cleaning!

Epiffany · 05/12/2005 22:01

I would say too long
My mum would say not long enough...
sigh
I regularly do skirting boards, ceilings, dust, hoover, we have 3 bathrooms - well one w/c one ensuite shower room and one bathroom and quite honestly I'd happily go back to one. I clean en suite twice a week, and others everyday as kids and tolets... ahh well you know.
I tend to focus on upstairs one week, downstairs another.
Kitchen floors needs scrubbing by ahdn every few months too.
DETEST that job.
On average, excluding washing/dishes
1.5 -2 hrs per day
I guess we have quite a big house....

Epiffany · 05/12/2005 22:02

I'm thinking about a cleaner
And I wish I was less fussy...

Mercy · 05/12/2005 22:02

I would find it hard to justify the expense of a cleaner. But then it depends on the age of your children and whether you woth. I hate cleaning but if I had a paid job oth I would deffo have a cleaner for a couple of hours a week

I spend approx only 1 hour per day max cleaning, mainly because of the age of my children. eg,what's the point of me paying someone to clean the kitchen floor once a week when twice a day it gets food and drink spilled or thrown on it?

The majority of my time is spent wiping surfaces, sorting, washing, drying, ironing and putting away laundry, sweeping kitchen floor, tyding away toys, cooking, wiping and yet more wiping and cooking, blah blah blah

Dusting? Skirting boards? Only when it obviously needs doing.