Cleaning

[motocrossmom]

How often do you clean your house? And what are your best cleaning secrets?
I feel like that is all I do- clean- I know I am a little obsessed about it- so I am looking for info on how other moms do it
My husband and kids make fun of me because I clean everyday

 

[karinbelle]

flylady.net has a great system that I'm trying to use.

A good cleaning once a week, with daily maintenance.

 

[mercydisney]

Cleaning and laundry. This is all I do. The more I clean the more the house gets mesier.

 

[blanq]

I clean every day, but I don't clean my entire house everyday. I work FT, and the only thing that works for me is to break it all up so that I am doing a few chores a day, and getting to most of the house over the course of the week.

I do make sure the beds get made, the dishes done, and the kitchen and bathroom counters cleaned every day. I also vacuum the kitchen floor once a day, and vacuum by our back door, which is our main entrance. Today, I am cleaning bathrooms and changing the sheets on the beds. I also am doing a couple loads of laundry. Tomorrow is my day to vacuum, Tuesday my day to dust, etc.

I keep basic cleaning supplies in our upstairs bathroom, and in the kitchen; having supplies on both floors means less lugging my supplies around.

We have wood floors in our kitchen, laundry room, dining room, spare/computer room, and stairs and hallway. DS (age 17) is my wood floor cleaner, and gets to all of them on his hands and knees once a week.

 

[motocrossmom]

I clean every day, but I don't clean my entire house everyday. I work FT, and the only thing that works for me is to break it all up so that I am doing a few chores a day, and getting to most of the house over the course of the week.

I do make sure the beds get made, the dishes done, and the kitchen and bathroom counters cleaned every day. I also vacuum the kitchen floor once a day, and vacuum by our back door, which is our main entrance. Today, I am cleaning bathrooms and changing the sheets on the beds. I also am doing a couple loads of laundry. Tomorrow is my day to vacuum, Tuesday my day to dust, etc.

I keep basic cleaning supplies in our upstairs bathroom, and in the kitchen; having supplies on both floors means less lugging my supplies around.

We have wood floors in our kitchen, laundry room, dining room, spare/computer room, and stairs and hallway. DS (age 17) is my wood floor cleaner, and gets to all of them on his hands and knees once a week.

We have wood floors in most of the house too- what do you use to clean them? We built this house last year and I am still trying to find a good way to clean them and make the shine

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I vacuum, sweep the kitchen and dining room, do dishes and clean up the kitchen, and do some laundry every day. I don't think I would do the floors or laundry that often if I didn't have such a large family, they get dirty fast with 5 kids. Every Monday I wash sheets, scrub the bathrooms, dust, and clean mirrors/glass. Everything else is just picking up and cleaning up spills.

 

[lttlmc3]

It's just me and my husband so I don't clean constantly. I do straighten constantly. I do a deep clean probably every two weeks. I use a lot of white vinegar when I clean. Sheets washed weekly, house swept daily, and of course, dishes and kitchen cleaning done daily.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Think about your life as a whole and how you want to be spending it.

If you want your home to be perfectly dust free, then yes you have to dust every day. Is this how you want to spend your time? Would you rather be playing with the kids? Working out? Spending time with your husband.... Or would you rather be dusting?

Does having dishes on the counter, or a mess from a snack drive you so bonkers that you cannot concentrate or enjoy anything else? Then yes you have to clean it right up. My mom would literally explode before she could leave crumbs on the counter.

Do toys "need" to be picked up every day? No, unless they are a tripping/safety hazard. Do you find yourself not letting the children have/play with certain toys because they are too messy? Again, what is more important to you? A clean house or letting your children get the house messy?

Growing up in a spotless home I am fine with letting toys "stay out" for days. We have a "Lego Land" in the basement which would have driven my mother nuts because you can't vacuum if the Legos are out.

Does the inside of the toilet have to be sparkling clean to be sanitary? Again, personal question. Do the floors have to be clean and crumb free? Do the cushions have to be in place?

Is cleaning a "hobby" that you enjoy doing? Does it make you feel satisfied or resentful? Do you feel like you are slaving away and the rest of the family is sitting on their butts relaxing. Do you feel you are the only one who can clean well, and the rest of the family doesn't do the job up to your standards?

Question yourself. It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks as long as you and your husband are on the same page.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

We have wood floors in most of the house too- what do you use to clean them? We built this house last year and I am still trying to find a good way to clean them and make the shine

I use vinegar with a mop

 

[bridget]

I do certain things every day... I clean the kitchen (dishes, etc), make beds, sweep the kitchen.

We usually do laundry on Friday night/Sat morning.

I clean bathrooms and vac two times a week.

My house is pretty (well very) organized, and my children pick up their messes and everything has a place.

Then on Sunday's when I'm emptying the trash, I windex the front and back doors and the kitchen windows (big bay window floor to ceiling).

If anyone was to walk into my house at any moment, they would say, "wow, your house is so clean". I don't spend lots of time, but I hate clutter and since everything has a place, it makes it quite a bit easier to keep up!
I have a blog about organizing...
http://organizingsimply.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

Right now I'm doing scrapbook organizing on my blog, but it has lots of helpful stuff back in Jan-Feb.

I don't spend tons of time cleaning. I still find time to workout, play with my children and spend time with my husband

 

[JamesMom]

Daily (takes about 15-30 minutes a day)
- collect laundry and if have enough for a load, do it. I don't separate colors from whites or towels. Hubby does his own darks on cold. Every 2-3 loads, fold and put away (I'm lazy about putting away). Only count the time I am actually handling laundry. counting the 1.25 hours it takes to do a load is cfheating.
- wipe kitchen counters & table and manage dishwasher (put away clean, rinse and load dirty, run when full).
- sweep kitchen floor
- declutter living room. Can't go to bed with a floor littered with toys.

Weekly tasks usually take about 30 minutes to an hour.
Monday & Friday - Mop all hard (tile) floors. Vacuum living areas. Hubby does trash & recycling
Tuesday - Deep clean bathrooms and wash bed linens, make up beds
Wednesday - Dust, handle paperwork/mail - clear kitchen counter. amazing how fast 'stuff' accumulates.
Thursday - Pick up and vacuum bedrooms. I admit this might actually get done every 2 weeks..

Generally once a month. I probably spend an extra hour or two a week doing these projects.
- clean fridge, ceiling fans, windows (rotate around the house so all cleaned at least semi-annually).


Quarterly - steam clean carpets, wash walls/baseboards and touch up paint. Clean blinds & self clean oven. Clean furniture.
Annually - clean cabinets, closets, garage.

Products:
wipes, wipes and more wipes
Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, Lysol scrubbing wipes for bathrooms. Pledge wipes for dusting when need more than just a microfiber cloth. Bathroom also use Scrubbing Bubbles MegaShower spray and clorox wand for toilet. Takes me 15 minutes to clean a bathroom from top to bottom with these products.
Mopping is bucket of **** and span. Use that to clean fridge, fans and windows too - no streaks. Also use clorox Clean Up spray with bleach for sanitizing or stubburn stains. Magic Eraser is my best friend.

To be fair we don't have much stuff. Our living room has an entertainment center and a couch. I have family pictures on the mantle. That's it. No curio cabinets or even a china cabinet full of dust catchers. Less stuff = less cleaning. I don't have time with 2 boys to spend the day cleaning...

BTw - on the weekends - I do as little as possible - it's my weekend, too My house is not spotless or 'company ready' all the time either, but I am satisfied and hubby/kids wouldn't even notice if I stoped for a week their tolerance for dirt & clutter is much greater than mine.

 

[r&kmommy]

I do certain things every day... I clean the kitchen (dishes, etc), make beds, sweep the kitchen.

We usually do laundry on Friday night/Sat morning.

I clean bathrooms and vac two times a week.

My house is pretty (well very) organized, and my children pick up their messes and everything has a place.

Then on Sunday's when I'm emptying the trash, I windex the front and back doors and the kitchen windows (big bay window floor to ceiling).

If anyone was to walk into my house at any moment, they would say, "wow, your house is so clean". I don't spend lots of time, but I hate clutter and since everything has a place, it makes it quite a bit easier to keep up!
I have a blog about organizing...
http://organizingsimply.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

Right now I'm doing scrapbook organizing on my blog, but it has lots of helpful stuff back in Jan-Feb.

I don't spend tons of time cleaning. I still find time to workout, play with my children and spend time with my husband

your blog freaking ROCKS!!!!! I have been saying "I've got to clean/organize the bathroom closet and drawers" for 6 months and never get around to it. I'm going to start small, with 1 shelf or drawer a day starting tomorrow and be done by next weekend

 

[sherry7]

My primary housekeeping problem is paper clutter. In an effort to reduce it, I now open my mail right next to the trash can and paper shredder. What doesn't need my attention, goes straight to one of those. For the bills, etc, I write the due date on it and put it in my bill paying basket. I signed up for automatic bill pay on everything I can as well.

For financial statements and paid bills that need filed, I purchased a couple of organizing folders that have 12 pockets (one for each month). For me, this is easier than taking stuff to the file cabinet since the folders fit in my china cabinet drawer where they are handy. Once things are a year old they get shredded, with the exception of the year end financial statements which then get put in the file cabinet.

Magazines go straight to the bathroom, since that is the only place they get read anyway. Most catalogs get thrown out immediately.

As far as "real" housekeeping, I'm probably a little laxer than most people. At any given time, you'll probably find cat fur on my carpet and dust in the corners.

As far as cleaning products, the only cleaner that really stands out in my mind is The Works bathtub cleaner. It's only $1 a bottle, and you can buy it at the Dollar Tree. Our tub gets extremely grimy since my DH does highway construction, and this cuts right through the grease and dirt with very little scrubbing involved.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

Dollar General has a cleaner that's called Awesome Cleaner. It too is a dollar a bottle. I dilute it with water and I swear this stuff will clean ANYTHING. We just moved into a new condo last weekend and I have cleaned everything with this stuff.

 

[2Tiggies]

I am like some of the PPs. I have to clean a bit every day. I am a single mom with an 8 year old DD and I work full time. To get her on board, twice a week we do a 60 minute challenge. It's not to see who gets done first, but rather who does the most and does it properly. Once we are done we sit down and have something to drink and a cookie, icecream or something nice. It works okay so far. My house is not as organized as I like it to be but I had to accept that there will always be housework but my daughter will grow up and move away one day.

 

[sherry7]

Dollar General has a cleaner that's called Awesome Cleaner. It too is a dollar a bottle. I dilute it with water and I swear this stuff will clean ANYTHING. We just moved into a new condo last weekend and I have cleaned everything with this stuff.

I have a bottle of that but I haven't tried it yet. What ratio of water do you use to dilute it?

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Cleaning-Neverending
Favorite Tip: Cleaning the microwave-this is the best because it really gets every dried on drip off the microwave. Put one cup (microwave safe) of water and a couple drops of Lemon (I usually do a couple squirts of lemon juice) and bring to a boil (3-4 minutes) let sit in the micro to steam (I usually leave about 10 minutes) and everything just wipes away...Saw this tip in Heloise and it really works like a dream plus no chemicals in the micro

 

[dyna]

A neat trick I recently started using is the old plastic credit card or any plastic card for scrubbing works great on pans an safe for the nonstick pans as well, that scum we all get on table an countertop that we can feel but not see.

I have a tiny space between stove an countertop not even 1/4 th inch wide an I forever spilling an droppin food in that crack the plastic card was just the thing to clean the gunk there.

 

[mookie]

Love this thread. Just wanted to give a tip that saves time (since I'm all about that!)....

If you have any dishes that are really caked on with gunk from cooking, put it in the sink, fill it with hot water, and add a dryer sheet. Let sit for an hour, and it comes right off! No scrubbing at all...no using SOS pads...love it!

Not exactly a "cleaning technique," but a definite time-saver!

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I have a bottle of that but I haven't tried it yet. What ratio of water do you use to dilute it?

I have been doing 50/50 since we moved but I'm thinking for normal cleaning 20 cleaner/80 water. I wanted our new home as spotless as it could be for a little bit.