I think that many women of my generation (I'm 58) were indoctrinated into thinking that we have to clean the way our mothers did. My mom wasn't an obsessive cleaner, but the house I grew up in was a lot cleaner than the house I live in now. I grew up in a 200 year old farmhouse with a lot of dust which magically seemed to disappear under my mom's fastidious gaze. After she died in 1985, my dad has tried to keep things clean but he is a naturally messy person who just does not see clutter or dirt. I fall somewhere in the middle. I live in a Victorian house which is a dust and mold magnet. My bete noire is the bathroom, which has a white linoleum floor (bad idea! every strand of hair and piece of dirt tracked in shows!) I am terrified that a guest might find the bathroom disgusting, so I do at least a quick clean every day. BF and I are not diligent about changing the sheets. I try to make the bed every day. And I usually get all the dishes washed or in the dishwasher before going to bed. A grimy kitchen table/counter makes me very uncomfortable, so I am constantly wiping, wiping. BF doesn't notice this at all, but he has a higher tolerance for dirt and clutter than I have. My cat makes sure that I clean out the litter box at least once a day by glaring meaningfully at me. I vacuum about once a week (or BF does it) Laundry tends to pile up more than I would like. We own too many clothes, so I am always weeding out my closet. I'd say that overall the house is clean and neat but the toilet should be cleaned more often.
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Posted 6 months ago #
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Thank you, bandicoot!
As i am also curios: Which routines you all have to clean and maintain your house(hold)?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Suzjazz: best flooring decision I ever made: buying black slate flooring for my kitchen and bathroom. When I mop it the mop turns black, but you can't see all the mud the cats traipse in, only lighter coloured stuff :)
I hate cleaning, but I do it when the house gets too disgusting. I try to do a little bit when I notice it, with the occasional blitz when it gets too much. My standards aren't high, but I have better things to do than constantly clean. It could take over my life if I was too fastidious :) If the bathroom downstairs is ok and the kitchen is clean enough then that's my minimum limit. I try to clean up the kitchen before bed where possible, and give the bathroom a quick wipe in the morning. I mop when I have a load of tea towels and kitchen cloths to put in the machine, probably about once a week (vast improvement over a year ago :)), and I sweep or dustbust crap on the kitchen floor when it gets annoying. Or better still, get the kids to do it as it's usually their cereal! My dustbuster is great for little spillages and clearing cat hair off the dining table, that sort of thing.Posted 6 months ago # -
Lottie, you'll like this story.
I have been feeling really bad about my "floors not sticky" goal - I mean, that's a pretty basic level of cleanliness, and I struggle to make it happen.
So, yesterday boyfriend was sanding mud on the kitchen wall, and he did a really good job of sweeping/vacuuming afterward, so I went ahead and swept the whole house & mopped a few problem areas which were extra visible from the drywall dust sticking to them. Went to bed with my goal achieved!
Then this morning my son poured himself some orange juice during his "you can watch as much TV as you like as long as you don't wake us up" holiday morning. Of course some went on the kitchen floor. He very carefully wiped it all up with a towel, which is awesome for a six year old. But it was sticky. So when I got up I noticed it and was wiping it with a damp cloth, thinking, hey, I am really keeping up with this!
And then as I was wiping I heard the cat puking upstairs.
Now boyfriend is insulating in the kitchen.
There's just no winning. All I can manage is keeping up :P
Posted 6 months ago # -
Lol, Rosa! Some days are just like that, but it sounds like progress, especially having your 6 year old wipe up his spillage, keep up the training :)
Posted 6 months ago # -
My house was not very clean at all. Growing up, I got the impression that cleaning only happened when people were coming to visit...I had no concept of daily maintenance. I always felt overwhelmed by the idea of cleaning and never knew where to begin (or when to stop!).
Then we (my mom and I) started to implement the cleaning schedule in Erin's book, and that helped a lot. (We clean for 30 minutes a day, at the same time every day, one room that corresponds to one day of the week, M-F.) Now things have gotten dirtier again, mostly because the vacuum broke...it will apparently take 2 months to get repairs because at Hoover, there are only two people handling repairs for the whole US, and one of them is on vacation. WHAT.
Anyway, this routine really works for me, and I can't envision ever going back to the haphazard way I used to clean.
In terms of cleaning, my #1 priority is getting rid of dust, which I'm allergic to, and keeping the pet hair under control. I wouldn't say my cleanliness standards are very high, though.
Posted 6 months ago # -
mimi, we don't have any routines at all really.
we wash up after meals, at the bare minimum once a day.
we swish the toilet every day or so.
we do laundry as needed.
we change the bathroom linen every four days....two towels, one hand towel , one bath mat into the wash and the other set gets hung up.
we shake out rugs as needed.the cleaners come once a week.
i get them to:
de-cobweb
dust
vacuum and mop
deep clean bathroom
wipe down all the wooden blinds....6 windows worththe window guys come once a month and do the glass and frames, inside out, house and workshop.
i vacuum about midweek between cleaner visits, and spot clean the floor as required.
i change bedlinen and daybed linen once a week and more often if it has been hideously hot (no aircon).
everything else....fridge cleaning, stove cleaning etc happens as soon as it needs doing.
i am pretty good at cleaning-as-i-go, so things don't build up into massive dramas.Posted 6 months ago # -
My mother set the standard. She was an excellent housekeeper but not fanatical. She never complained, and we never saw her actually do any housecleaning except the dinner dishes. It was our job to clear the table, then she shooed us out of HER kitchen. All of her housekeeping chores were done during the day while we were at school and dad at work. Dad had charge of the yard work and keeping the two cars spotless. My sister and I were responsible for keeping our own rooms tidy, but my mother did the deep cleaning in there, such as changing sheets and cleaning curtains and carpets. My playmates' homes were also clean. I never saw a messy home... that is, until one day when I was 16 and I encountered piles of clutter and sticky floors at a new friend's home. I was appalled! Eew, my shoes had never stuck to a floor except occasionally in a dirty movie theater... that's how sheltered I was. I remember reporting this horror to my mother, though I don't remember her response.
The problem with my mother's seamless invisible housekeeping was that my sister and I didn't really have a clue about the amount of work involved in keeping our own apartments when we moved out into the world. I went through several bumpy messy periods of adjustment. Mom offered occasional tips but wasn't pushy or judgmental about it. I eventually found routines that work for me. I try to uphold my mother's standards, clean but not fanatical.
Posted 6 months ago # -
LOL Ella. My mother grew up as an only child in a home which included her grandmother as well as parents. She NEVER had to clean or cook, and could do neither when she got married. My sister and I were the reluctant beneficiaries - she was determined that we wouldn't be so ignorant. And I am grateful now, though certainly not growing up. I was the only 9 year old in the neighborhood who had to start dinner for the family when my mother went to work. This was the mid-50's when wives/mothers working was not the norm. Still, my DH is more fanatical about cleaning than I am, except laundry, which I keep up quite regularly. And speaking of that, I noticed this morning that between the cats and the woodstove, my living room is in need of the vacuum cleaner....
Posted 6 months ago # -
I tell my kids that I'm training them to be good husbands, and that all women love a man who is domesticated :) Not that they do much: empty the dishwasher, make baked bean toasted sandwiches and eggy bread, simple stuff like that maybe once a week, put their laundry away, feed the cats and change the toilet roll (my proudest achievement!). My youngest does love polishing tables though, I should take advantage of that more often! My mum didn't make us do anything, and it didn't really help much preparing me for life. I learnt to cook by watching her, but sadly her enthusiasm for cleaning didn't rub off on me...
Posted 6 months ago # -
i think it is a great service to one's kids to teach them how to cook and clean.
people aren't born just knowing how to maintain themselves or their dwellings.
i learned at the knee, and it has stood me in good stead and i am grateful for it.Posted 5 months ago #
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