[chirogirl]

I usually give the place a going over once a week i.e hoover, mop floors, clean the bathrooms, change the bed covers. Though it would be easy for me to let things slip with a young baby. But so far I manage, no need to call Kim and Aggie

[shinikins]

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

But sure if you just paint over the dirt it will fester and grow into mold.

That's why you use sugar soap on the walls before you paint, to cut through the dirt and grease.

Personally I try to clean as I go, I wash the counters before and after I use them, try to wash the pots after dinner, hoover a few times a week. I wash the kitchen floors and mop the kickboards at the same time, wash down the cupboards at least once a week. Bathroom is cleaned regularly, sink after I use it, rinse down the shower after it's used.

My OH would be happy ignoring it all, he has no problem using every cup in the press in turn until they're all dirty, but I have to admit he's great for hoovering!!! Neither of us are neat freaks, mess doesn't bother me-there's a few piles of paper and books lying around, but they'll be tidied away soon enough. I do like to keep the cupboards tidy though, I like to be able to see what I have to cook with, and it makes it easier to see what I need to replace.

[Dudess]

I have never washed a wall and never will unless I have to.

[73Cat]

Originally Posted by Babybuff

My daughter just returned home after spending three months with her grandmother, at the moment I hear the sound of the mop being swept across the living room floor..it's a joyous noise. Yesterday I came home from work and she had made dinner, from scratch it made me a little teary. The washing machine has been on constantly since she got here and all her laundry has been dried and folded and put away orderly in her wardrobes. Her room is a shining beacon of cleanliness, it just had a makeover so everything is repainted with additional new floors, there isn't a speck of dust to be seen.
Before she went to my mothers she wouldn't so much as pick up a cup and wash it after herself, make food or do laundry. It's like someone has given me back the wrong child. Just hope it lasts because after 18 years of doing it I'm burned out and can do it no more.

(I did manage the washing up in fairness)

Any chance my 18yr old daughter could stay with your daughter's grandmother? Her room is so bad we are afraid to let her bring our 8 week old in there, in case she goes missing.
I detest housework, I do as little as I can! In fairness it's hard to get much done with a small baby. I do sweep and wipe over the kitchen counters most days. Mopping, not so much. The toilets get a good scrub once a week, more if needed, sinks wiped over too. But big jobs like cleaning ovens, and kitchen presses, and the fridge are always put on the long finger. I find I put them off because when I start something like that, I keep wandering away from it as it's so boring, so it takes ages to do. It's putting away clean washing that does my head in completely over everything else. I gave up ironing years ago, got sick of the lovely ironed clothes being wrecked by girls and himself pulling them out of the wardrobes to find something in particular. Sometimes there is a mountain of clothes waiting to be sorted and put away. Himself has become obsessed with having the dirty washing basket empty since I was pregnant, he's a man on a mission washing and drying clothes. I do appreciate it, but he leaves piles of clean clothes on our bed then. More often than not I don't get a chance, or forget about them, so they are there when I'm shattered late at night, and just want to throw myself into bed. Nothing worse. Feck it life is too short to be obsessed with having a perfectly tidy house!!

[angry kitten]

Originally Posted by mrsscott

One more thing to add to the list, when doing the kitchen, how often do ye clean the inside AND the outside of the presses (including kickboards).

I do the outside of the cupboard doors once a week. The insides are a chore I've been trying to force myself to do for a while. I'll probably do them this afternoon, usually every 3 months or so.

[angry kitten]

Does anybody else notice that their bathroom gets very dusty? We clean ours once sometimes twice a week and yet the day after its been cleaned I start noticing dust. I'm not obsessed with dust but it bugs me where it comes from.

[Babybuff]

Originally Posted by angry kitten

Does anybody else notice that their bathroom gets very dusty? We clean ours once sometimes twice a week and yet the day after its been cleaned I start noticing dust. I'm not obsessed with dust but it bugs me where it comes from.

dust only takes a couple of hours to re settle so it's not unusual to see it back shortly after you've gone over it. (I'm qualified Bicsc standard cleaner and speaking from years of experience) Buy micro fibre cloths for dusting as it helps hold on to particles and those dyson type vacs are the business too. Unless somebody has allergies though I wouldn't worry too much about it.


btw I hate cleaning unless I'm getting large quantities of cash for it.

[hdowney]

i have just bought a new mop, bucket and broom (needed to, the state of my floors since the plumbers were in fixing the burst pipe under the concrete floor! and they also used my indoor broom to sweep up after they re-laid the concrete, destroying said broom ). so cleaning the floor commences tomorrow

[carolinespring]

Kitchen get a going over evey day. Cupboard doors washed weekly Fridge washed out before the shopping each week, cupboards get a declutter monthly. Main and en-suite bathrooms get a wipe over every day and a good going over once a week. Sitting room and dining room dusted weekly,hoovered and floors washed. Bed changed every week and given a good go over. Kitchen, hall and bathroom floors get a wipe of a mop daily and a really good wash once a week.

The spare bedrooms only get hooverd and dusted monthy or when we are having someone to stay,

I need to do a lot more decluttering and getting rid of papers/magazines/books and other stff that just seems to build up.

[Tigger99]

Jaypers ladies, you clean far more frequently than i do.

I dunno, maybe cos I don't entertain in my house much and also cos I live on my own, but still, yikes.

[pampootie]

This thread gives me the guilts! Once I have a clean kitchen and bathroom I'm not too bothered about the state of everywhere else. I have visions of others from this thread visiting my house and being horrified!

[Beesand]

Originally Posted by Giselle

Soda crystals - about 1kg for I euro - whack a scoop in on any really dirty or stained laundry wash and it'll come up new. I think its the main ingredient of all those proprietory stain removers.

Also flush a cupful of crystals down the kitchen sink with boiling water, and watch the water flow out faster than ever. 'Tis great stuff.

I love that stuff, it does everything!

[hdowney]

i has oven pride on my shopping list for today. my oven is in desperate need of a good clean, and as others have said, mr muscle stinks the place out and doesn't clean one jot. oven pride it is all the way. so hopefully i can find some today. i'd like the oven spick and span before the 3 course mothers day meal i am cooking on sunday

[IzzyWizzy]

I hardly ever do big jobs like those. I'm happy if the flat even gets a good clean every week. I'd love to have a clean flat all the time, but tbh, I'm busy. I just don't have the time. I work longish hours and have fitness class/language class/volunteer work most evenings and weekends. In order to clean as much as I'd like to, I'd have to give up activities and that seems ridiculous. Myself and the boyfriend just spent over 2 hours cleaning, as we do most Sundays, and that's only a superficial clean. I dread to think how long it would take to do it well, and it's not like we're just slow/useless. I used to clean hotel rooms as a job.

To be honest, I find people who spend hours cleaning and need a spotless house all the time to be a bit sad. I saw a TV programme the other week about a woman (aged about 23 and unemployed, with a school age child) who cleans and cleans, even when things are already clean, and I thought 'would you not just get a hobby?' There is something quite sad about having nothing better to do with your life than go over the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush 5 times a day because you're bored and can't think of anything else to do. I really don't believe it's possible to have a spotless house when you work full-time and have other things on and I refuse to feel guilty for not doing enough. I'm trying out the Flylady thing and trying to do more cleaning as I go, but I'm not going to pretend I'll ever be a domestic goddess.

[Manach]

A general cleanup on an afternoon, once a week. Two hours in total.