Hi. I have been doing a lot of research trying to find some examples of maintaining a clean home when both my husband and I work full-time outside of the home. The problem is that many of these cleaning routines are from people who either now stay at home or work at home. We probably spend 11 hours a day away from the house and when we get home, we only have about 4 hours available each night. We have considered a housecleaning service, but that cost is not possible right now.
Can anyone who works full-time outside of the home please share with me their cleaning routines? Thank you.
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Hi :o)
There is a forum post called Housekeeping Routines, here: http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/house-keeping-routines -- maybe there are some tips in there for you. I love how some people manage do to just little enough each day, that's what I'm trying to do... after a few weeks, I usually get lazy and end up cleaning in a rushed, exhausting, stressful way, likely an hour before guests arrive. So nothing to learn from me ;o) Just a link!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Erin's mentioned this before:
Set aside a weekend where you do a deep clean of the whole house. That way you start from a level playing field (if you do the next part faithfully, you won't need to devote any more weekends to cleaning).
Then, every day, devote 10 minutes to general picking up around the whole house and 20 minutes to one room for cleaning (like the kitchen, for example). That way you only have to clean for a total of 30 minutes every day, but your house is always ready to have an unexpected guest come over. It's up to you what day gets which room.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thank you for your suggestions. I have actually read the house-keeping-routines forum and I also own Erin's book. However, I am looking for more specifics like how do you fit into your schedule the monthly or quarterly chores. Also, I have more than one bathroom and more than one bedroom. It would take at least 20 minutes just to clean one bathroom.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@fulltimeemp, that sounds like either you have a huge and awesome home, or that you are perfectionist, or that you could improve your way of cleaning the bathroom. I don't mean to be rude (after all, this is clearly me preaching water and drinking wine often enough), I just mean: Maybe you could simplify things? For your own benefit? :o) For example: Alternate cleaning the mirror and using drain cleaner with each other, doing each every two weeks. Try minimizing the amount of cleaning supplys (like: don't use a different bottle of cleaning stuff for each thing in your bathroom, don't sweep then vacuum then mop, do just one or two).
And it sounds like your husband is on board with this, so you could maybe play a little game: What is the logistically most efficient way to get things done with two people -- like one doing the dishes while the other does a quick pickup of the living room, takes the trash out, and then helps dry the dishes. It's always amazing how much one let alone two people can get done in 15 minutes!
And as FlyLady says (oh, I'm so fly-brainwashed), housework done incorrectly still blesses your home :o)
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have one small bathroom that I quick-clean every day (wipe everything down with a paper towel wet with cleaner, 2 minutes) and clean more intensively every week or so. The "more intensively" consists of using cleanser on the sink, the shower walls and tub, and the toilet, then mopping the floor. That's about 15 minutes. It doesn't seem too onerous.
It does help that I use a squeegee to scrape down the walls of the shower after I shower, so that I don't leave scurf and soap scum and hard water on the walls.
Makes cleaning a lot easier.Posted 2 years ago # -
One thing I did when I was a single mom in law school was to reconcile myself with being OK to do only a half job at a time. For example, if I had a spare five minutes, I would clean the bathroom counter and sink, but let the tub and toilet go until next time. Or if I had a few minutes in the morning, I would dust, but I would wait until I got home to do the follow-up vacuuming.
I joked that when I finished law school I didn't have a degree in law so much as I had a Ph.D. in time management.
Ditto @Zora with the bathtub squeegee. I found one for about $2.50. I takes about two minutes to swipe the walls and the tub, and it lets me go, gosh, about a month before I need to really clean the tub again.
Posted 2 years ago #
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