How often do you clean your house?

[Glendamax]

upstairs one week, downstars the next week

This sounds like a great idea!

 

[sjh801]

Clean??? Are you supposed to clean???

 

[alldiz]

my cleaning lady cleans twice a month...
whether it needs it or not
Kerri

 

[ducklite]

I try to choose one major project a week--cleaning the blinds, dusting all the baseboards and crown moldings, powerwashing the lanai, polishing the cabinets, etc. The rest of it--dusting, mopping, vacuuming, bathrooms, etc. gets done at least once a week. I spend 15-30 minutes a day doing some "light" housekeeping so it never feels overwhelming.

Yesterday I had a "free day" for the first time in a couple months, and I spent most of get cleaning the house. It's nice and sparkly now.

Anne

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I have a schedule and I do a part of the house every day. Today is Monday, so it's the front of the house--dusting everywhere, cleaning the powder room, and vacuuming the living, dining, and foyer. Tuesdays I vacuum the family room, all the stairs, and the upstairs hallways. Wednesday I work on the kitchen and Thursday I finish it (or if it's not bad I can do it all in one day, but I tend to be cluttered in there, so sometimes it takes me a day to do damage control--my weakness ).

As many of you know, I have a Roomba and am not afraid to use it. I love my Roomba and use it between regular vacuuming. We have 4 cats and 2 dogs, so lots of pet hair.

We clean our upstairs every other week, with spot cleanings when needed. I do a load or two...or three of laundry every day. I have three kids still living at home so between the clothes, towels, sheets, etc it really piles up quickly.

I used to have a cleaning person who came every other week, but now that I'm still a SAHM and my kids are all in school, I needed something to do every day besides the DISboards.

I don't clean. If it wasn't for the dust bunnies I wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

 

[mickeyfan2]

DH and I are extremely neat and clean people. The kitchen gets cleaned every day, floor whenever it needs it. We have extensive air filtration in the house and no carpets. We only dust the 1st floor once a month, vacuum and swiffer then too. Our bedroom is done every 6-8 weeks and the rest of the bedrooms every three months. The bathrooms are done every two weeks.

 

[Martha7]

I had a great cleaning lady when we lived in South Florida, who only charged ten bucks an hour. I did away with that luxury when we moved to MI, where cleaning people charge 25 bucks an hour! Now, we're here in the Minneapolis area, and I'm told that the going rate here is also $25 hourly. I really can't justify that much money to have someone do what I could do, (I'm a SAHM). Would I love to have help again? You bet! To the OP: Be really careful about marrying someone who differs significantly from you on the housecleaning thing. My DH thought that I should be June Cleaver, keeping a spotless house, dinner on the table when he comes in, etc. I hate it! It has always been an issue in our marriage. He tries to kick in a bit now and then, but I really hate housecleaning. I like doing the laundry, but hate vacuuming, and anything involving real exertion! I'm like the other poster who said that the house only gets really clean when people are coming over for dinner! Must be why my Dh has scheduled three different dinner parties over the next few months....hmmm

 

[helenabear]

I try to get all that in once a week. That way it makes it easier on me in the long run. I'm a bit behind right now, so it probably will take me two weeks to get teh house back into shape.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Martha, that's a good point and it's normal to have different expectations up to a point. Personally, I want a home that is lived in, not a house just to look at.

I am happier when things are neat, but I do not expect spotless and would drive myself crazy if I tried to keep my house that way at all times, even though I'm a SAHM. There is a mess constantly being generated and I'm not going to hover over my kids (and pets ) expecting them never to leave anything out of place. It's not how I want them to remember me or growing up. Not to say that I don't expect them to clean up their stuff and since they are older, my expectations from them have increased. Before long I will be longing for socks to be left on the floor, backpacks to be scattered about, and papers to be all over the coffee table. Remind me of this if I complain about the clutter now, ok?

 

[ducklite]

Lot of good points about keeping expectations reasonable. Anyone with three kids and a couple of pets that has a spotless house is someone I'd really wonder about. There's a difference between acceptably clean and spotless.

When my son was younger it was a lot harder to keep the house looking showroom perfect all the time. Now that he's an adult (albeit still living at home) it's a lot easier. He's not the neatest person in the world, but he contains his mess to his room, and keeps the door shut.

But with just the two of us and DH half the month, it's pretty easy to keep the place looking pretty neat and clean--other than his room, we won't go there.

We've got pets, two ferrets, but they are generally confined to their pen most of the day, so I don't have fur all over the place--plus two ferrets is still smaller than one cat.

I remember a lady I knew from Upstate NY who had five kids and a dog and you could eat off her floors. I always thought that was really odd, and found out a few years ago that it was because she made the kids each do two hours of chores a day, including washing the kitchen floor with a scrub brush every night! I'm not against kids having chores, but that ladies obsession was totally unfair to her kids!

Anne

 

[mickeyfan2]

We live by the motto - Clean enough to be heathy, dirty enough to be happy.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We live by the motto - Clean enough to be heathy, dirty enough to be happy.

Great motto!

Anne, that's very true and how sad about the 2 hours of chores. Actually, a person could eat off of my kitchen floors...if they don't mind coughing up hairballs. They're really not that bad, but one of the dogs shook this morning and in the light shining in the window I could see the hairs flying and I just groaned.

 

[iwynlea]

I "detail" clean 15 minutes every weekday -- no cleaning on the weekends, and no stress the rest of the week, because I can do anything for just 15 minutes! I follow the FlyLady way of cleaning, including the monthly schedule of how to divide up the house... www.flylady.net

Before FlyLady, I was always stressed by my house. Now, it's always clean and neat, and no stress! Surprise company doesn't cause me to be embarrassed!

 

[minnieandme]

I'd say once a week for a good scrub down.

 

[Robinrs]

I did that when we moved in.....1997.

Once a week for me, too. My son is an extreme neatnik, too so I don't have to do much.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

We do some sort of house cleaning every day. Anyway, here's the breakdown:

Tile floors get scrubbed every other week. Tile floors are swept every or close to it.

Wood floor is swiffered nearly every day and wet swiffered once a week.

Carpets are vacuumed two or three times a week.

Kitchen is majorily cleaned once a week, wiped down every day.

Bathrooms are cleaned once a week.

Dusting is done once a week (minus blinds, ceiling fans, high areas, which are done once a month).

Windows ae cleaned inside about once a month, outside a few times a year.

Clutter is put away every day.

Changes out towels twice a week, change sheets once a week and I do laundry once a week.

DH does most of the cleaning and we both work full-time. He didn't feel the need to teach me how he likes things done, he does it himself and we are both happy that way.

 

[cstraub]

Martha, that's a good point and it's normal to have different expectations up to a point. Personally, I want a home that is lived in, not a house just to look at.

I am happier when things are neat, but I do not expect spotless and would drive myself crazy if I tried to keep my house that way at all times, even though I'm a SAHM. There is a mess constantly being generated and I'm not going to hover over my kids (and pets ) expecting them never to leave anything out of place. It's not how I want them to remember me or growing up. Not to say that I don't expect them to clean up their stuff and since they are older, my expectations from them have increased. Before long I will be longing for socks to be left on the floor, backpacks to be scattered about, and papers to be all over the coffee table. Remind me of this if I complain about the clutter now, ok?

I usually tidy the house a bit while the kids are in school. It always amazes me how messy everything gets when they get home from school! Three pairs of shoes go flying, 3 backpacks, sometimes socks, papers, jackets, hats, coats, gloves and who knows what else!!! LOL Let the chaos begin.

I'm with you though, I know someday I'll miss it all!

 

[Glendamax]

I "detail" clean 15 minutes every weekday -- no cleaning on the weekends, and no stress the rest of the week, because I can do anything for just 15 minutes! I follow the FlyLady way of cleaning, including the monthly schedule of how to divide up the house... www.flylady.net

Before FlyLady, I was always stressed by my house. Now, it's always clean and neat, and no stress! Surprise company doesn't cause me to be embarrassed!

You beat me to the punch! I was about to post this site!

This a great thread! I'm taking notes!

 

[mamatojon]

not nearly often enough

 

[jemiaule]

We have a housekeeper that cleans, stem to stern, one a week.

Same here - every Monday. But with four males living here you would never it know come Thursday.

Make that 5 males...even our dog is a boy!


I am so outnumbered here.