Off-Topic How Do You Keep Your House Clean?

[Demeris]

Originally Posted by altinker

I don't struggle with the actual cleaning because that is pretty easy. It's getting the stuff put away. I am off every other Friday, so the following is how I do it.

This reminded me of how I did it when I worked. My incentive was to have the best weekend possible, so Friday afternoon/evening was house cleaning time.

I gave myself 7 mins per room to tidy and organize, change sheets, dust, then 17 mins for vacuuming/sweeping/mopping everything but the bathroom, then I moved to deep cleaning the kitchen (no timer, but this usually was a short job because I have lived alone forever) then 17 mins for deep cleaning the bathroom. I was always done done in about 2 hours, and if I finished before the timer went off, I reset the timer and moved on.

I don't enjoy housecleaning, but I always feel so much better when my house is neat and clean.

Laundry has never been a problem for me because I have lived alone for 30 years.

I found FlyLady when I moved and couldn't afford my cleaning lady any more--which was about 25 years ago. I'd had the cleaning lady for about 5 years and had developed a habit of keeping the house fairly clutter clear for her. Flylady gave me routines and habits and a method of attack which I could adapt for my quirks.

[sheepla]

I've had weekly cleaning for years and recommend it HIGHLY. It's never occurred to me to mind them being in my house. I will say, when you have someone come in and clean, it clears up a lot more time to keep the house decluttered.

Having said that, FlyLady changed my life. I'd recommend getting her book "Sink Reflections" as it has everything that is on her website in a much straightforward fashion. I use my timer for everything thanks to the FlyLady.

[tifftaffy]

One of the main items on my Christmas Wish List this past year was a McCulloch Steam Cleaner. With the assistance of amazon gift cards, I was able to get it about 60% off!!! (it's since tacked on an additional 50.00 to the price I paid, so I'm so glad I bought it when I did!)

Anywhoo, I tried it over the weekend in my master bathroom. It works WONDERS! It melts the soap scum like butter. I don't know how I lived without one, honestly. One great side effect of cleaning with it, unexpectedly, was the workout burn I got from it. My legs, slightly my arms, are experiencing some DOMS a good two days afterwards.

I have hardwood (laminate, not real wood) and tile on the majority of my house, and plan to use the steam cleaner's mop head attachment to clean those, and can't wait to get started in the kitchen for the tile counters and stove!!

I swear this little guy gets me excited to clean... I don't think I've ever said THAT before! lol

[Barb L]

Love this thread! Reminds me that there are as many housekeeping styles as there are housekeepers. I promised myself a hired housekeeper a year ago when I got married again and moved from a small condo into a BIG house. So far, no deal. Somehow my Inner Housewife has kicked it (at an advanced age) and I don't mind the job--to the limit of my admittedly moderate cleanliness needs.

When I lived in the condo with the hardwood floors, I did spring for a Roomba. Here's my take: It's stupid--totally random travel, bumping into everything. If you watch it, it'll make you crazy. In the end, it gets around pretty thoroughly, and miraculously finds its way back to base. But don't watch! Mine picks up cat hair, and has to be cleaned every time--an icky job. Also, when I left it running in the house when we first moved in, the bumping set off the jiggle alarm and called the police. Live and learn!

I use my Swiffer holder with a microfiber cloth I throw in the wash. This and the DustBuster are my go-to quick clean tools.

However, after reading this thread, I set the Roomba to work and went downstairs to do my weight workout. Guess which activity was more personally rewarding!

Best wishes everyone.

[bearcatfan]

So apparently I'm the only one who used those loooong rest periods during Cathe's Slow and Heavy to do some light housekeeping and laundry folding?

[LynnO]

Originally Posted by bearcatfan

So apparently I'm the only one who used those loooong rest periods during Cathe's Slow and Heavy to do some light housekeeping and laundry folding?

Too funny, my basement was never so clean as when I did the third mesocycle of STS.

For some odd reason, after 25 years, my husband has taken to cleaning the kitchen (and he does the cooking too). He has always been the no clutter one and I've always cared more about whether it was clean. He is a pack rat but keeps it out of the house for the most part. It is now at our other house that I don't go to anymore.

However, he is only here half the time. I do mow the lawn and do pretty much all the rest of the housework.

My hint is to do little jobs here and there. I like when my work unit has our quarterly 2 hour phone meeting. Get a lot of housework done then, except the vacuuming LOL.

Having 3 (big) dogs it not at all helpful to a clean house. And dd, baby steps. She is mostly keeping her own space clean except her toilet. Huge step.

[Demeris]

Originally Posted by Barb L

I use my Swiffer holder with a microfiber cloth I throw in the wash. This and the DustBuster are my go-to quick clean tools.

This is brilliant. I have laminate (looks like Beech) through 80% of my house, and I Swiffer the floors every day (takes about two mins). After I read this, I snatched a microfiber cloth out of the cupboard and slipped it into the Swiffer holder.

Holy Dust Bunny Buster, Batman! The microfiber turns that Swiffer sweeper into a Super Turbo Charged 2000 model. I won't be buying any more Swiffer sheet replacements.

[donnamp]

I just try to stick w/ the basics and try to do the following:

vacuum - several times a week - - I have two medium/large retrievers and they shed a lot. We have hard wood and area rugs - and our house is not big, so this doesn't take up a huge amount of time - maybe 15-20 minutes - especially if I'm good about doing it a few times a week.

mop - once a week - said dogs track a lot of mud and dirt!

bathrooms - a couple of times a week - I think I learned this from "flylady" - I keep cleansers in every bathroom and after brushing teeth/washing my face, etc. I'll take a minute to do a quick clean up of the sink. The toilet and tub get more detailed attention once or twice a week.

Kitchen - I keep up w/ this daily - after cooking/doing dishes, etc. it is easy enough to just wipe down the counters, clean the sink, etc. I find if you do it every day it actually takes less time than if I just let it go for a week or more

dusting - try to get to that once a week - but this is my least favorite thing to do and I admit I'm sloppy with it - one thing that may help is don't have a lot of knick knacks around - it just adds to the dusting!!

putting away junk - I try to do it nightly - so stuff doesn't pile up - if nothing else, I'll just put everything back in the room it belongs in - w/out necessarily putting it away - this way everything is at least in the right room and then when I have extra time I will put it away properly

I will try to clean out the fridge before grocery shopping, so maybe once a week -

Junk Mail/Catalogs, etc. get recycled immediately - they don't even make it into the house half the time!

I learned a lot of these tricks from Flylady - if you break it into small chunks of time, it really isn't bad and if you keep up w/ the basics on a daily or several times a week basis, it doesn't leave you w/ a big mountain of housecleaning to do on the weekends.

I am lucky that I work from home part of the time b/c that helps me keep up w/ laundry - I pop it in to the washer when I start working, take a break to the dryer, and then in the evening I fold it and put it away.

I would like to hire a cleaning service to do a deep cleaning several times a year - maybe every quarter or so! B/c those deep cleanings require more time and I don't want to spend my weekends or vacation time doing that!

Last year I did get into a major decluttering phase and doing that helped w/ overall organization. I should probably do another round this year!


Donna

[LoveVA]

Originally Posted by donnamp

I just try to stick w/ the basics and try to do the following:

vacuum - several times a week - - I have two medium/large retrievers and they shed a lot. We have hard wood and area rugs - and our house is not big, so this doesn't take up a huge amount of time - maybe 15-20 minutes - especially if I'm good about doing it a few times a week.

mop - once a week - said dogs track a lot of mud and dirt!

bathrooms - a couple of times a week - I think I learned this from "flylady" - I keep cleansers in every bathroom and after brushing teeth/washing my face, etc. I'll take a minute to do a quick clean up of the sink. The toilet and tub get more detailed attention once or twice a week.

dusting - try to get to that once a week - but this is my least favorite thing to do and I admit I'm sloppy with it - one thing that may help is don't have a lot of knick knacks around - it just adds to the dusting!!

putting away junk - I try to do it nightly - so stuff doesn't pile up - if nothing else, I'll just put everything back in the room it belongs in - w/out necessarily putting it away - this way everything is at least in the right room and then when I have extra time I will put it away properly

I will try to clean out the fridge before grocery shopping, so maybe once a week -

I learned a lot of these tricks from Flylady - if you break it into small chunks of time, it really isn't bad and if you keep up w/ the basics on a daily or several times a week basis, it doesn't leave you w/ a big mountain of housecleaning to do on the weekends.

I would like to hire a cleaning service to do a deep cleaning several times a year - maybe every quarter or so! B/c those deep cleanings require more time and I don't want to spend my weekends or vacation time doing that!

Donna

I was just coming here to ask if people kept cleansers in each bathroom or just one set in one place. I think I could do more spot/quick cleaning if I had cleansers in each bathroom. I might see something that needs cleaning in the downstairs bathroom but all my cleaning supplies (except for kitchen stuff, which is under the kitchen sink) are upstairs. So I don't bother, which means that's just more to do on the weekend, which then doesn't get done at all because I've left too much to do.

I also like the flylady suggestion to do some decluttering/put stuff away each day. We have several hotspots that just accumulate junk and last night I did a 2-minute hotspot attack like she suggested. I also did a 5-minute decluttering Sunday night, which then allowed me to dust something that has not been dusted in months.

A quarterly cleaning might not be a bad idea. I could have a service come in on a Saturday while I'm there and just do the bathrooms, baseboards, hard to reach dusting, etc.

ETA: What is the best cleanser to use for nightly/quick wipedown of granite countertops in the kitchen? Just hot soapy water?

[JackieB]

When I had baby #4 I hired someone to come in 2x/month to do some deep cleaning. My kids were young and although it was $, it was worth it.

Now that my boys are older, we don't have a housecleaner anymore. I felt like I have enough able bodied people that I'd be doing a disservice to if I didn't teach them to clean. We do a one hour clean on Saturday and with 3 older boys, dh and myself we get a lot done. All the jobs are divided up and the main living areas plus bathrooms get done.

I'd love to hire someone again...but it's $. I don't want my kids to think they are entitled to just lay around and not contribute to the upkeep of the house.