How Clean Is Your House?

[me again]

Oh, gosh, I can't believe people who just clean their bathrooms once a week!

I clean ours (3.5 baths) every day! No, i'm not obsessive/compulsive. Just like a clean bathroom. Actually its no big deal. I do spot cleans every day, then heavy clean 1x week. It really doesn't take that long, the trick is to have cleaning supplies on hand in each bathroom. Every day I do the mirrors and counters with an all-in-one cleaner, dump Comet in the toilet for a quick clean, wipe off surfaces, empty trash, straighten towels. Then once a week the tubs and showers get a thorough clean/scrub. I have the kids help, so each takes a turn with light/heavy clean. Its just part of our morning routine, do a light clean, the heavy clean usually on saturday's. Beats letting the mold build up!

 

[lady9]

What a great thread! I don't feel so bad about my house. My close friends in the neighborhood all seem to have neater houses than mine. Mine is clean enough for the minister to stop over but I would be embarressed for him to see my daughter's "studio." DD is 5 and has an art desk and several drawers and a cupboard with supplies. She is extremely creative. We have a finished basement so her desk is in the corner. I never go back there because it is a source of argument and it is not worth it to me. To her, cleaning up is throw a towel over the paint on the floor! Once a week DH helps her clean up and then he secretly gets rid of the bits and scraps laying on the floor. She'd have a fit if she knew he threw anything away.

I too love the flylady but her e-mails were making me too OC. I was starting to drive my DH and kids nuts so I stopped receiving them and followed a plan that worked for me. As long as I go to bed and everything is reasonably picked up and dishes are put away, I'm happy.

 

[graygables]

"Show me a clean house and I'll show you a house where an older female relative is coming to visit"

Even that can't help me at this point...

I've started a more-than-full-time business out of my home, plus homeschooling 2 DDs, my house is a stacking ground. The floors are swept, kitchen is clean (thanks to my previous FlyLady training...I climbed off the wagon a few years ago ) and DDs and my bathroom is OK, but not something I'd want company in. DH keeps his bathroom for that. My living room and office look like a scrapbook truck exploded in there along w/ DDs' school things. I'm overrun with papers that need dealing with/filing, but have no energy to do that sort of thing after I've done 18 hours of working my business/teaching children.

I have decluttered the knick-knacks, so that's been a huge help and we are getting ready to have a "Clean House/Clean Sweep" yard sale with some more things I've decided I'm ready to let go of, plus a BUNCH of DDs "stuff". They have big plans for new bedrooms, so it's gotta go!

I keep getting postcards that say, "Life's too short to clean your own house" and I hear my Grandma gasp 1000 miles away. Even if I had the money, there is no way I could bring myself to pay someone to do something I'm capable of doing myself. I'm just too darned cheap. (I carry my own suitcases if I can, too...) So, until I can figure out how to survive on NO sleep (or get hubby to chip in), the house will just have to stay a bit of a stack for now.

 

[me again]

My aunt always used to say that its easier to keep a clean house than a messy one.

The times I stayed with her I saw what she meant. Being organized means you can complete a task in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the stress. Instead of running frantically around trying to find shoes, homework, etc., I could enjoy a second cup of coffee and leave for work/school in a non-harried fashion, confident I had everything under control.

Also, its nice to be able to open the door (all the way) to whoever rings the bell, not looking over your shoulder to see what they see--a mess!

My goal over the summer--get organized, get rid of the clutter, get on a schedule so no job gets overwhelming, it will eliminate a lot of stress. I might even invite my aunt to visit!

 

[gasperdam]

My kids' rooms are always clean - I do my 2-year old's, but my daughter keeps hers clean all the time - she is always prepared for a surprise visit from the House Fairy, who comes to visit and leaves her notes and a small prize if her room is clean. Works like a charm - at least for now! I usually tackle a "project" each week as well - like clearing out the filing cabinet, purging old clothes, etc.

I LOVE this idea! I just wonder if it will work with my 2 dsons

I suppose that I am lazy but I could never vacuum or clean my bathroom every day. I have 2 kids at home right now, and a CRAZY dog and I just can't seem to do the daily regemin.

 

[reginaastralis]

I love the house fairy idea. My dd is two, but we're starting now with her putting her toys away and making her bed every morning. It's working.

My house ... it's "clean". We're in the process of moving in, so all of our "stuff" is in boxes. It's pretty nice, but eventually I want to park my car in my garage! I've been working on one room at a time, the kitchen is mostly done, I need a shoe organzier for the foyer though. My dining room is nice and clean, and my living room is pretty clean. For a two year old living here anyways. She is constantly bringing something new downstairs to play with, which is fine by me, we just need some baskets down here to keep everything in.

She cleans the bathroom as well. I don't know how it started, but it's funny. She takes a washcloth and cleans the wall and the corners of the tub, and also the fixtures. I asked her what she was doing one night and she calmly answered "Well, cleaning my bathroom mommy!" I clean the sink and wipe down the bath when she gets out ... we've been here a month and the bathroom is shiny and pretty. I'll keep this one.

With Julie, she wants to help, and really is happier with a task at hand. I am considering some storage stuff for her room, but haven't found anything I am in love with. I do think I am going to lower the bar in her closet, so she can hang up all of her princess clothes. They are everywhere! If I could tackle my room/office ... that would be a dream.

Oh, and I practice flylady as well. I love her, though her emails were too much. I love my notebook, and carry it around with me everywhere. Now that I am in my own home, it's so nice to have everything in one central location.

 

[lpandorf]

Our house is pretty messy. It drives me crazy but I just don't have much time to clean it. I work at a pretty demanding job and also commuting 35-45 minutes each way so not home until dinner time. And DD 7 has activities to go to on weekends like soccer games. The last thing I want to do is clean. My husband is not much help, either. He has a disability and walks with a cane so can do some basic stuff around the house but I have to do the heavy duty stuff like mowing the lawn, taking out trash. I was resisting a cleaning lady, hate the thought of spending the money. But I got the name of a neighbor's cleaning lady last week and really think I'm at the point where I'm going to call for my own sanity.

 

[kinntj]

I'm an organizedhome.com person, so my house stays decently clean. When I'm taking classes it can get a little untidy, but the kitchen and bathrooms are always clean. My kids are slobs in the bathroom, so I'm cleaning those every day...usually while they take baths.

Once you get the house cleaned up, it doesn't take much time to keep it clean. It's what I call maintenance. Believe it or not I still have time for my kids when they ask to go outside and play softball or kick around the soccer ball and go for a bike ride. I just clean around this time.

The trick is never leave a room empty handed if something should be brought to it's right place. Also when I watch tv is the time to go through mail and old catalogs or mags or I dust and clean in the room where I'm watching tv.

Every Spring and Fall I declutter the kids rooms and the basement.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

I'm a clean-freak. I hate having clutter sitting around. I make sure the DS picks up his toys when he is finshed playing with them. I'm a SAHM, so I have pleanty of time to get it all done. I wash floors several times a weeks, vacume, dust and clean bathrooms couple times a week. I also do laundry very frequently.

I wasn't like this before when I was working FT. It never bothered me before, but it does now!

 

[Sandi12404]

I finally figured out what works for me. I took two days and cleaned the house so it was spotless. I work dinner shift at a local restaurant so I get home between 10-12 each night. I'm never ready for bed as soon as I get home so I tidy up the messes that my kids and husband made while I was gone and then each day one room gets thoroughly cleaned. The kitchen gets done everyday, dishes and swept (I long for a dishwasher) and my girls are responsible for their room and playroom. With this system my house stays mostly clean. Our house has very little storage space so there is always clutter but I can at least say it's clean.